Kennedy returns to Senate (Updated)

Here's a quarter, call someone who cares.

Welcome back Senator.

Whatever your thoughts may be on Ted Kennedy, he is to be admired for his courage and his wilingness to continue to sreve during what must be a frightful personal battle. At this juncture, many others would opt to sit at home with the dogs and stare at the ocean.
Welcome back Ted!

100 staffers....Ummmm...this is like everyone rep/sen has this??? Ummmm...soundslike a CUT BACK should be started ..and my TAX money pay's for these Staffers...??? Ummmm.......

Yeah, well, we'll see how this goes.. If I was him I would be done. When you're old you have a tendency to not think as clear as you did when you were young. Sometimes, you just have to stop.. especially when you've had a brain tumor.

Why was he missing?
\Did anyone notice he was absent?
The government didnt come to a screaming halt with Teddy boy not steering the ship????

Maybe he should stay away permanently !!!

I'm very proud of my Senator. A tireless champion of the poor and powerless. A great American.

As I type this there are as-yet no comments posted. Yet I know that by later on today there will be comments from Right-wing wackos from Red States across the land who monitor these forums ridiculing Senator Kennedy. No matter. Obama won, your guy lost, and our Teddy is back in Washington. :-)

God Bless, Teddy.

Thanks, Senator Kennedy! Keep up the great work for those whose voices did not carry to the outgoing administration for a long, long eight years. With Mr. Obama in the White House and you leading the charge in the Senate, reform will come, it has no choice. Sweet Victory.

There really are some whackos out there by the looks of some of these comments. Is it a full moon tonight?

Senator Kennedy is highly regarded for his hard work in the Senate by both parties.

I am glad he's back to continue the struggle for working people.

I am proud of Ted Kennedy for all he has done and will continue to do for all citizens of the United States. To those who do not wish to cheer him on, but have only negative comments - remember that Karma is a funny thing. What you throw out will come full circle and hit you right back in the face!

rwells...Keep in mind some of the 100 staffers are volunteers, unpaid interns, or students on staff for college credit not for pay. Kennedy also has a larger staff as a committee chairman. Not every one of the 535 members of congress has 100 staffers; Teddy in the top 5 senior members has a large staff for that reason.

So yes, for some staffers your tax money pays (notice no apostrophe, maybe your tax money should have paid for grammar lessons) their salaries.

For many cancer patients, my mother included, going back to work does more for their spirits than any amount of rest can. I am so happy to see Sen. Kennedy back in the Senate, where he belongs. I'm sure the rest of the Senate is glad to have him back as well. The Liberal Lion will be around to see the 44th President take office. Lets hope he gets the health care package he's been pushing since Clinton was in office passed! It could be his final bill. What a way to top an amazing career.

This is great news. Independent of one's political beliefs, there is no disputing the fact that Ted Kennedy has devoted his life to the US Senate and due to his efforts, many people are better off. Further, this man has a life-threatening condition and the means to just "pack it in" and he hasn't. We should all have such a personal will and strength of character.

Another "also ran" in the Senate. A poster boy for TERM LIMITS! Easy to look the hero when your giving away other peoples money.

In response to #9 comment by M. Sutol: Isn't it nice that the Internet gives you anonymity? How dare you speak such vile language about a child with a disability. Would you express that sentiment if you were face-to-face?

It would be good if comment #9 were deleted.

It doesn't matter which side of the fence your on, this man is a force to be reckond with. What type of person could knock that. And I'm no bleeding liberal
I wish you well Senator Kennedy.
Welcome Back !

Apparently there are some really nasty people out there. Jealousy or post traumatic stress disorder caused by the presidential election??? I'm glad to see Senator Kennedy back at work.

The comment from "rwells" is a perfect example of bias clouding reason. The article says that "100 Senate staffers and aides" gathered. This does not mean that they are all Kennedy staffers. Also, Senator Kennedy has never taken a Senate salary. He declines it. A pretty generous gesture on his part. Stop the mean-spiritedness and give the guy credit where credit is due. He is a tireless worker for the common man and has helped write and pass many legislations that benefit every single one of us. God bless him and his family.

Gotta love the censorship on this board

Glad to have the "Lion of the Senate" back.

It's a shame the Repubs lost all their power considering the great job they have done the past 8 years.

Oh happy day.
I hope my man Ted is working on drafting legislation for healthcare reform to be submitted on January 20, 2009 at 4 pm.
We can not get started soon enough on this reform.
It is time for the good ole USA to join the rest of the 1st world in insuring its citizens so that they are healthy enough to pursue life, liberty and hapiness.

Glad to see you're back, best of luck sailor. You Ted, like many Americans, are capable of great acts of kindness. Unfortunately, as we've seen from some of these posts, they are also capable of extreme cruelty and hatred. And that is a shame.

Glad to see him back and looking pretty good at that.

I'm not a "left-wing liberal" or an "ultra-conservative". Middle of the road is what I am. NOBODY has ever tried to do more for the middle class than Ted Kennedy. Not always successful, but he can't be faulted with items that were voted down.

I'd like to see him work with McCain and Obama to first bring healthcare reform nationwide and second get the immigration reform underway.

Go Ted GO!

Yeah Ted!! Thank you for putting the needs of the country ahead of your own. God knows, time and again, no one with half a heart would have blamed you for taking the easy road, but instead you've fought one tragedy after another and come back each time more dedicated to the causes of those less fortunate. We are a better country for having been blessed with your presence in the Senate.

quarter for anyone who cares.... you give too much... especially since you are in MA. Will cost you too much.
Ted, leave! You are not needed anymore! Let someone that will actually do something get in that office!

"This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it." I'd suggest that the blogger get busy, because the lunatics are out in force. It's pretty frightening to realize that some of the folks posting here (and to the boston.com blogs generally -- makes me wonder if I've died and gone to Alaska) can vote and reproduce (and in their case, it wouldn't surprise me if they did so simultaneously).

It's good to see you back Senator!
It's hard to keep a good man down!
What's with all these losers with their negative comments?

The People’s lion takes his ease, the youngest member of the House of Camelot reaches autumn.
Four shy of four score, his throne atop the compound, the Cape his kingdom, the ocean his manor. His withered face, etched by salt, wind and tragedy, still holds the charming smile and vivacious laugh, protective weapons of a child in a family of gods, the last progeny atop Olympus, brothers gone; heroes in their own separate myths.
Not as handsome, not as gifted, tainted, like Achilles, he worked like Hercules to earn his birthright, his brothers Mars, Apollo and Hermes, he the labored Hephaestus.
Through seven terms now, he has fetched the golden apples, his subjects grateful, the kingdom a better place,
Tis, There are no Gods on the Cape, only mortals. Zeus, after all, made the race from iron, which rusts and grows old. But, though the baby slows, hope still endures, the dream is not forgotten, and the kingdom never rest.

Please stop the venom. Ted Kennedy has given decades in service to this country. Whether you agree with his politics or not, let's wish him health and admire his commitment.

Its obvious from all these comments that there are political hostilities and soreness with the election outcome and resentment for the quality and success of the great work that Ted Kennedy has done all these years as well. Tsk, Tsk get over it! God Bless You Senator, and may you continue to do the work you love and do so well for many years to come! Your an inspiration to us all!

Reading newspaper comment sections makes it clear how much trouble we're in as a society. The people who still love Duhbya and hate liberals are boiling over with bile at a man who, despite his flaws, is choosing to spend the rest of life trying to make America a better place - even for them.

You have had my vote ever since I was old enough to vote.
You have my admiration, my respect, and my prayers.
You have been a strong supporter of The Little Guy, those who cannot speak for themselves, for the Mother seeking guidance for her wounded son, and for those with no one else to turn to. You have a brilliant and responsive staff beyond comparison. You also have the bone-deep LOVE and RESPECT of all of us in Massachusetts who are proud to call you Senator. You have done "what you were sent here to do." And you have made us Irish descendents very proud.

re: abbyplaya
TOTALLY agree! It is truly as if the gilded, golden hands of the Greek Gods etched his ruddy face from the peaked, sandy stones from the Gulf of Calloni! One quick criticism, though, you didn’t totally express how much TK ROCKS!! That’s correct, I called him TK. I feel like I can totally call him that, because he told me to call him that. I was 10 and he shook my mom’s hand in the parking lot of the Sheraton in Plymouth (where I’m from, it’s reminiscent of Greece, in that there are no laws against farting on Albanians- but who’s counting… sorry, I sometimes mess up sayings when I write them). Rats! Lost my own place! At any rate, I totally think that he’s a shoo-in for the best senator ever! Though he lacks the cloven-hooves and devilish grin of the mighty Centaurus - Progenitor of the centaurs; son of Ixion and a cloud. This unorthodox parentage came about when Ixion, who had thrown his father-in-law into a fiery pit, was purified of the crime by Zeus. TK KNOWS THIS! That’s what makes him such a great senator! I love you with all my heart! I hope we can hang later.

--- but seriously, i love me some Teddy K, and I really did enjoy your comment, abbyp.