Yes, it’s crass, but given that Ted Kennedy (or any other particular recent decedent at any given time) was a politician who spent his entire life trading on his name politically and the bulk of his energy and effort fighting for particular political causes, I doubt that he would have been particularly bothered by the notion of politicians — of either party — making political hay of his death. I assume he was a smart guy and he obviously knew his way through the political maze, so it’s difficult to image he anticipated anything other than that people would use the opportunity of his death to score points for their side. Frankly, I think that if he could see or hear people arguing about him now, he’d be smiling about it — everyone is talking about him, everyone is talking about his policies, and that lets him continue to score points from beyond the grave.
As for those of us who survive him, let’s at least try to stay classy. That goes for people on both sides of the political spectrum.
