The term "mixed feelings" cannot begin to describe my reaction to the death of Senator Edward Kennedy. An awful lot of the legislation he backed did things I thought should be done and had to be done. Not only that but he generally achieved those things the hard way: Though they were Liberal initiatives, he nearly always managed to enlist at least one prominent Republican as a co-sponsor or strong supporter. Given how Washington works these days, he may have been the last elected official who knew how to make bi-partisanship happen.

Against all that, of course, were his personal failings. A lot of us wanted to admire him, respect him and cite him as a leader. He certainly didn't make that easy. Even now, when some might want to mourn him unreservedly, you have to wonder. He's been in dreadful health for months now. Why oh why didn't he step down last year so that his successor could be in or near office today? The Democratic push for Health Care Reform (his pet issue) didn't need this additional complication.

I met him once…in 1979. He was thinking of challenging incumbent Jimmy Carter for the presidency. A supporter of his in Hollywood gathered together a band of comedy writers for a dinner party/sales pitch. The pitch was that if Kennedy ran, we should write jokes for him to punch up his public appearances and help him win the White House.

Late in the evening, Kennedy himself appeared at the party, looking very presidential indeed. When he entered, the mood went electric, and he proceeded to give a brief, utterly mesmerizing speech that captivated everyone present. But he'd already won us all over before that when he circulated around the room, giving every person one of those two-fisted handshakes: his right hand grasping yours, his left hand grasping both right hands, refusing to let you go. Then he looked you in the eye, asked you who you were…and said something to you, pointedly using your name and acting like he'd remember it forever. I guess all politicians master this but he's still the "biggest name" I've ever met in his line of work, so it's the encounter I remember most vividly.

I remember agreeing to join his joke-writing squadron. In that room after that speech, it was physically impossible to decline. But I also recall a certain relief a few months later when he decided not to run. I just didn't want to invest that much time and emotion in a guy who seemed so likely to disappoint us on some level. Since then, of course, they all have.

Someone is bound to write to me and say that the body isn't even cold; that at this time, we should look only at the many great things he did…and they were many. I admired his career and achievements in the Senate and I really admired him that night at the party. I just find it impossible to write about Ted Kennedy and pretend that all that other stuff never happened. Wish I could.

Daniel Gross reminds us that the majority of folks who are out there now demonizing government-run health care are themselves receiving or otherwise benefiting from government-run health care..and don't seem to be eager to change that. You get the feeling that while some of these people may be campaigning against it because they have legitimate concerns (or maybe bribes from the private insurance industry or Big Pharma), a big objection is just that it would be a "win" for Obama.

In the meantime, the Republican National Committee has issued something they call the Seniors' Health Care Bill Of Rights. Among other points, it insists that Medicare must not be cut. You all remember Medicare. It's that plan that the Republican National Committee would get rid of if they could.

As you all know, I'm impressed with the on-target batting average of author Fred Kaplan, especially when writing about things like military budgets and foreign affairs. The guy's not infallible but he seems to have a better track record than anyone we ever elect to handle those things. Anyway, I just wanted to mention he'll be a guest this Thursday evening on the Tavis Smiley show on PBS. I'll be watching. Well, I won't be watching…I'll be TiVoing. But later, I'll be watching.

Sammy Petrillo's obit made The New York Times. Nice to see the notice.

I'm going to bed. I've been writing and writing, but I've reached the point where ideas are getting scarcer than Glenn Beck sponsors. See you in the morning.

I have occasionally directed you fine folks to the political writings of a gent named Kevin Drum, who strikes me as one of the most sensible and well-informed people on the Internet. He writes for the fine magazine called Mother Jones and his blog for them is a must-click for me each day. He is also the inventor of Friday Cat Blogging™. Kevin and I struck up an e-mail acquaintance some time ago and I am just back from what turned into a three hour meal/visit with the guy.

We discussed all sorts of stuff…but mostly I wanted to talk about politics and he wanted to talk about comics. So we did both. Occasionally, a conversation on one topic had eerie parallels to the other. Our big disagreements turned out to be that he likes the Legion of Super-Heroes (or at least, he used to) more than me, and I'm a bit more optimistic that Barack Obama will deliver a meaningful Health Care Reform package. Other than that, we got along swimmingly and had a good time. The cuisine was, of course, barbecue.

I mention all this just to marvel at how wonderful the Internet is at connecting people who would otherwise never have crossed paths. If not for blogs, I might well read Kevin in some magazine but we'd never have met, never gotten to have a one-on-one discussion. I meet a lot of people because of this here weblog. It's one of the reasons I do it. It goes right along with the huge blogging salary.

Anyway, when you get a chance each day, go read Kevin. It's not as good as having lunch with the man but at least you won't get barbecue sauce all over your shirt. Unless, of course, you websurf while eating ribs.

Just got this in from Don Roemer, who's with the Ambassadors of Harmony…

As a long time member of the Ambassadors of Harmony chorus, I thank you on the behalf of all the Ambassadors for including our performances on your blog.

One quick correction, above the La Mancha video you identify us as the Masters of Harmony rather than the Ambassadors of Harmony. There is, by the way, a very good chorus in California with that other name.

The "76 Trombones" was one of two songs we did at the 2009 Barbershop Convention at the Honda Center in Anaheim in early July. We won the contest with a record high score and beat a chorus from Texas which had not lost a competition in thirty years.

If you like, you can learn more about us at www.aoh.org. Thanks again!

Thanks, Don, and my apologies for the name confusion. As the kind of singer who couldn't join in the National Anthem at a baseball game without throwing the entire performance off-key, I have only admiration for the talents and obvious dedication of a group like yours. Someone else posted a link to mine and headlined it, "A four minute smile from Mark Evanier." That's a great way of putting it except, of course, that I deserve little credit for passing it on.

How does health care in the U.S. stack up against health care in other countries? It's hard to find out these days because so many folks are exaggerating, one way or the other, to make some biased point for or against Health Care Reform. I'm especially annoyed by the people who seem to figure that because we're America and America is better at everything than anyone else, naturally it follows that our health care must be the best.

This report from the Urban Institute attempts to provide a realistic assessment. Its conclusions are a mixed bag. We're good at some things, not as good as we want to be at others. Its compilers lean towards what might be called a Liberal viewpoint but they seem to back up their conclusions with solid sources.