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Ted Kennedy’s Memorial Service at the Capitol

I had the honor of standing on the Capitol steps for the short memorial for Ted Kennedy on his way to his final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery. Here’s the video:

Ted’s Funeral – Post Mortem

I watched every minute of Ted Kennedy’s funeral. For me, it was a validation of everything I hold dear. As I’ve explained below, I was personally gratified that he chose Mission Church for the ceremony, given that it was my mother’s childhood church and the place I prayed for her when she was sick.

But what struck me most was the humility of the memorial. To the untrained eye, it might sound odd to call a memorial, held in a “Basilica,” and attended by four presidents, vast numbers of luminaries and Boston’s Cardinal humble. Not to mention having Yo Yo Ma and Placido Domingo provide the music.

But on those elements of the service which contained the most meaning, Ted chose the humble option in almost every case. First, consider the church. Setting aside my personal connection, it is important to understand where Mission Church sits. It is in Roxbury, the poorest section of Boston. And while Mission Hill is coming back economically, it remains, at best, a working class neighborhood, which it was when my mother, the daughter of Irish immigrants, grew up there.

Then there was the Mass. Again, it may have looked majestic, but it was not a “High Mass.” The music was awe-inspiring, but, significantly, none of the prayers during the ceremony were sung. That makes it a low Mass. And, while the Cardinal was in attendance, he did not say the Mass. In fact, Kennedy’s local parish priest in Hyannis was the celebrant, with a number of concelebrants, none of whom were high in the Church hierarchy. One of them, Fr. Percy DaSilva, is a former priest in my church of Blessed Sacrament. Sen. Kennedy was a parishioner at Blessed Sacrament some years ago and I would see him occasionally at Mass, usually at the children’s Mass. Fr. DaSilva is a diminutive priest from India with the heart of a lion who was beloved by all in the parish, particularly the children. He loved my daughter Bridget and she him. He made national news when he indignantly called from the pulpit for Cardinal Law’s resignation during the abuse scandal at a time when the Church hierarchy was still standing behind the Cardinal. In addition to his love for my daughter, the other thing I most appreciated about him is that while he preached the Church’s doctrine condemning abortion with conviction, he never, ever mentioned abortion in a sermon without also denouncing the death penalty. His presence on the altar spoke volumes about Ted’s priorities.

Of course, within the constraints of a low Mass, you can still reach the heights. Most people would love to have the President of the United States do the eulogy at their funeral. But it was the music that made the ceremony transcendent. I have never heard Ave Maria sung so beautifully as by Susan Graham. It literally took my breath away. And Placido Domingo singing during the Communion, well, what can you say? At the Capitol memorial later in the day, I spoke about the service to Congressman Jim McGovern from Worcester who said, “Receiving Communion with Placido Domingo singing, I felt like this must be what heaven is like.”

Fundamentally, as I’ve noted below, it was the Irishness of it all that so moved me. Forgive my paean to Irish culture, but I do believe that the Irish have a special awareness of human frailty. It brings out both the best and worst in us. On the downside, it makes us somewhat mordant, fatalistic and even reckless. I’ll never forget hearing one of my uncles say at a family gathering, “I believe that life is a vale of tears, with a few bright spots thrown in.” I was about eight years old and that comment has stuck with me all my life. That view, I believe, contributes to the kind of behavior that Ted exhibited in his younger days, the drinking and womanizing. You figure you don’t have much time, so make the most of it while you can. For those that survive long enough to gain some wisdom, the Irish mystical traditions kick in. These have been with the Irish from pagan times. Since St. Patrick, it inspires a deep devotion to the Catholic Church, which provides hope in this “vale of tears.”

Of course, it’s more than physical frailty, though, God knows, Ted saw the consequences of that with all the tragedy in his family. We all knew about the tragedies of his own generation. But I never fully knew about those in his immediate family. Three of his kids faced life-threatening disease at some point in their lives. There is no greater emotional trauma one can face than the risk of losing a child and he faced it three times.

But human frailty involves moral frailty, as well. And that’s where the humility comes in. It makes you less judgmental of the failings of others when you see the moral frailty that is within yourself. I have no doubt that Mary Jo Kopechne’s memory haunted Ted to his dying day. Recognizing that – and others of his moral failings, made him, I believe, a more humble man, which is hard to be when you are a U.S. Senator, particularly a Kennedy. This moral humility was reflected in his letter to the Pope where he writes, “I know that I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith, I have tried to right my path.”

Clearly, we should take the advice he offered in his eulogy of his brother, Bobby, and “not enlarge him in death beyond what he was in life.” But I have to say, more than any other other event of its kind, I do feel changed a bit by these memorials to Teddy. He does provide a model for living a good life and the hope that it’s never too late. When he was my age, he was still “Wild Teddy,” drinking and carousing with Chris Dodd. And yet he changed in a very deep way and died at some peace. It’s a story of redemption that offers hope for us all.

And, finally, he vindicated another quality of being Irish in which I believe strongly. No culture puts on a better funeral than the Irish. I think it comes with that fatalism mentioned above. I recently bade farewell to my mother and I have to say that we touched, in her memorial, many of the same themes that were explored in Ted’s memorial, the music, the laughter, the melancholy. We didn’t have Placido Domingo, but we did have the singer from a local parish church sing Our Lady of Knock at the same place during the Mass, which generated a lot of tears. And there was singing and laughter at the post-funeral celebration.

So, goodbye Ted. You didn’t know me. But you made me proud to be a Boston Irish Catholic Liberal Democrat. And, excuse me while I check on my kids.

Rest in Peace.

Harvard beats Yale

I watched a great movie with my 19 year old son yesterday. It was a documentary on the Harvard Yale game of 1968. Fascinating sports movie. I’m embarrassed to say I was unaware of this game. But Harvard was supposed to lose badly and ended up tying, which was considered a major upset. In addition, they scored 16 points in the final 2 minutes to get the tie. Very exciting game. But the movie goes beyond the game to discuss the war in Vietnam and other issues of the sixties.

The Yale team included many of the characters who live on today in Doonesbury as Gary Trudeau was in that class. Tommy Lee Jones played on the Harvard team and has a lot to say in the movie. He’s still bitter about a missed point after early on the game which would have given Harvard the win.

Good movie. Rent the DVD. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

— Post From My iPhone

On the deck in Falmouth

Weather is overcast and muggie. Just narrowly avoided disaster when I almost put my eye out with a screwdriver trying to get the bike off the van. Lotta blood, but I can still see.

— Post From My iPhone

Stop Long Voice Mail Greetings

Here’s a campaign I can believe it.  I had no idea that those long voicemail greetings that come after the user’s greeting were a money-making scheme by the cell phone companies.

David Pogue at the New York Times is starting a campaign to get the companies to stop.  I strongly endorse this campaign and encourage you to do so, as well.

Here’s Pogue:

These messages are outrageous for two reasons. First, they waste
your time. Good heavens: it’s 2009. WE KNOW WHAT TO DO AT THE BEEP.

Do
we really need to be told to hang up when we’re finished!? Would
anyone, ever, want to “send a numeric page?” Who still carries a pager,
for heaven’s sake? Or what about “leave a callback number?” We can SEE
the callback number right on our phones!

Second, we’re PAYING for
these messages. These little 15-second waits add up–bigtime. If
Verizon’s 70 million customers leave or check messages twice a weekday,
Verizon rakes in about $620 million a year. That’s your money. And your
time: three hours of your time a year, just sitting there listening to
the same message over and over again every year.

In 2007, I spoke
at an international cellular conference in Italy. The big buzzword was
ARPU–Average Revenue Per User. The seminars all had titles like,
“Maximizing ARPU In a Digital Age.” And yes, several attendees (cell
executives) admitted to me, point-blank, that the voicemail
instructions exist primarily to make you use up airtime, thereby
maximizing ARPU.

This must be stopped!  Join the cause!

Shatner as Palin

This is an absolute classic. Up there with Jesse Jackson reciting Green Eggs and Ham.

Bye bye Barcode

Researchers have come up with another replacement for the barcode, called “bokodes.”  It’s the little circle at the center of the attached picture surrounded by the current suite of barcodes.  It can be read by mobile phones, leading to a whole range of new ways to shop.  By the coolest new thing is how it could be used with Google maps:

Dr Mohan said they could also be used to augment the information incorporated into Google Streetview, a service which allows users to browse a selection of pictures taken along city streets.

At the moment the images for Streetview – accessible through Google Maps – are collected by trucks and cars fitted with several cameras.

“Shop and restaurant owners can put these Bokodes outside their stores and as the Google truck is driving down the street it will capture the information in that.”

For example, a restaurant could put menu information inside the tag.

When the data is uploaded to Google Maps, it would automatically be displayed next to the image of the restaurant, said Dr Mohan.

Bill Gates Predicts the Future

In a speech in New Delhi, Bill Gates talked about some of the next breakthroughs in technology.

Mr. Gates spoke of cellphones that would recognize people around them or be used to test for diseases, computers equipped with voice recognition and an Internet that was used for much more than Web pages.

Gates v. Crowley

Here’s my view of the incident in Cambridge. Whichever of the protagonists I was, I would respond the same way.

If I was Professor Gates, I’d be royally pissed that a cop was hassling me in my own home. If I was the cop, I’d be pissed that this elitist jerk was hassling me for doing my job.

I could play both parts and it would end up the same way. In fact, it probably would have been worse because there would have been violence.

Whaaa?

Here’s the headline on the afternoon notice I get from CQ everyday:

House Leaders Say They’ve Met Concerns of Dissident Democrats

My spirits lifted.

Here’s the headline you get when you click through:

House Dissidents Still Not Satisfied on Health Bill

It’s going to be a long, ugly debate.