In his own words: Hacky on Ted 1962- July 2009 Who's old Joe Kennedy trying to kid? Foisting off his unemployable baby boy on the good people of Massachusetts? If his name was Edward Moore, he'd be a sandhog on the Callahan Tunnel. – February 12, 1962 I guess Teddy hired someone to take his driver's test for him, just like his Spanish exam.  He just wrote his political obituary. Wonder if he could spell it?  – July 20, 1969 Did you catch Fat Teddy on 60 Minutes last night? He couldn't come up with a single comprehensible reason why he should be President. And this is the guy who's seeking the opportunity to run again master orators Ronald Reagan and George Bush? How does he think he's going to get our hostages back – bring the Ayatollah a chocolate cake? – October 14, 1979 His party couldn't stand him. His country couldn't stand him. Now even his wife can't stand him.   – January 20, 1981 Have you ever seen anything fatter than Ted Kennedy? Hard to say if it's the booze or the double cheeseburgers that's to blame, but one thing's for sure, if you look 20 years older than President Reagan, you'd better drop the butter knife.  – August 9, 1984 Tubby, uh, Teddy Kennedy put down the Scotch bottle long enough to stumble onto the Senate floor to smear a great judge and a great American, Robert Bork. So Bork doesn't think the Civil Rights Act is constitutional. At least you can say he's as sober as a judge.  – August 1, 1987 There's nothing worse than having your nights of boozing and carousing in Palm Beach  interrupted when your mean- looking nephew is rousted on felony rape charges. If Fat Teddy keeps regressing at this rate, in a couple of years, he'll be eligible to join the Cub Scouts.   – December 7, 1991 Tired old Teddy might finally get the retirement party from the voters of Massachusetts. With young, vigorous, pro-business Mitt Romney on the hunt, we're expecting Kennedy's bloated carcass to wash up on the Hyannis Port beach this November.   – September 2, 1994 Do you believe that old Ted Kennedy had the nerve, after our country was savagely attacked on 9/11, to undermine the efforts by our Commander-in-Chief, George W. Bush, to protect our homeland from Saddam Hussein and his gang of Islamoterrorfascists? Note to Terror-Coddler Teddy: Al-Qaeda isn't a bottle of Chivas – you don't surrender to it. – October 12, 2002 You have to hand it to Teddy Kennedy: as sick as he is, he's still trying to stick his hand in your wallet to pay for abortions on demand and health care for illegal aliens. If the Democrats return to the White House, you'll need your change, because big-spending liberals like Kennedy and Obama will take all the paper money out of your pocket.  That's why America will reject the failed Kennedy politics of redistribution and choose the calm, tested leadership of John McCain and his likely running mate, Joe Lieberman. – August 26, 2008

Ace Columnist Hacky Carp has covered Senator Kennedy for over forty years.

By Hacky Carp
Ace Columnist

I'll never forget where I was when I heard the terrible news about the passing of a political legend, Senator Edward M. Kennedy.   [He already did – Ed.]

In a sense, Ted Kennedy and I grew up together. I've covered each of his campaigns since 1962 and I like to think that we bonded on a level beyond ace columnist and target. I'd like to think that we're friends.  

I can still recall the young Ted Kennedy barnstorming across the state, still "wet behind the ears" at the tender age of 30. He had come to a campaign rally at Asbestos Hall in Old Sludgebury and I was assigned to cover the event.

After the rally, I asked him how he had managed to avoid service in Korea despite being drafted in 1951. He turned on that famous Kennedy million-watt smile and said, "Hacky, you're an a******." What a kidder!

Our paths crossed next seven years later on the vacation paradise of Martha's Vineyard as he was being led out of the Dukes County Courthouse. Sure enough, in response to my shouted question about obstruction of justice, he quipped with the perfect recall of a born politician: "Hacky, you're still an a******!"  

Now after a 47-year career in the United States Senate, the lion's roar has been stilled, and Massachusetts and the Nation have lost a great Senator and human being.

Despite his eminence, he never forgot his constituents. In the '80's, when some federal bureaucrats tried to claim that I should have known that my gardener was undocumented merely because he gave me his Social Security number as 123-45-6789, I, like thousands of others in the Bay State, turned to Ted Kennedy for help.

I promptly got a call from one of the Senator's crack staffers, who told me that "the Senator said he will do what he can even though you're such an a******."

Truly he was a force to be reckoned with in politics for four decades. Few now remember that, when he came to the Senate in 1962, its work was throttled by a cabal of reactionary white men from Southern and prairie states. How times have changed!

Ted was the last of the New Deal liberals, who held quaint beliefs like the duty of government to ease the plight of the poor and unfortunate, even if it meant that the most fortunate had to contribute a portion of their wealth to do so. Although such old-fashioned ideas have been routed by visionary thinkers like Ronald Reagan, Dick Cheney, and Sarah Palin, one could not help but admire the vigor and tenacity with which Senator Kennedy fought for them.

So let us say farewell to a great Senator and a great American, Senator Edward M. Kennedy. As I've always said, his service to our state and our country is the proverbial glow of the candle that truly lit the – [That's really enough Hacky – Ed.]