Kennedy Funeral Saturday; Burial in Arlington

(NEWSER) - On the weekend of his inauguration, John F. Kennedy gave his youngest brother a cigarette case engraved with the words, “And the last shall be first.” Fifty years later, that prophesy has come true, writes Richard Lacayo of Time. The "long shadow of Chappaquiddick" may have kept Ted Kennedy out of the White House, but "as the Romans understood, there can be Emperors of no consequence—and Senators whose legacies are carved in stone." More»

(NEWSER) - Ted Kennedy will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery today, but for many soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan the wait for an Arlington burial is a lot longer, writes Mark Benjamin at Salon. Kennedy himself once intervened for a Massachusetts family who was told they’d have to wait at least six weeks to bury their son, more if they wanted a service. Those waits have grown even longer, in some cases stretching months. More»

(AP) - Ted Kennedy's body is en route to Boston, where he will lie in repose at his slain brother's presidential library for 2 days of public visitation. The motorcade carrying the senator's body and members of his family departed the family compound on Cape Cod for the 70-mile trip to the state capital. Hundreds of people are lining the route of the motorcade, which will end at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. More»

Yes, he's a Kennedy, but Ted is loved for effectiveness, not flash

(NEWSER) - Ted Kennedy's malignant brain tumor adds yet another chapter to the tragic epic of the Kennedy clan, Robert Kaiser writes in the Washington Post. The youngest of Joe Kennedy's sons got a huge boost from his older brothers when he entered politics, Kaiser notes, but he built his legacy of different stuff than theirs—not so much brilliance and charisma, but effectiveness, admired on both sides of the aisle, at making government work. More»

The 'astonishing arc' of Robert Byrd's life

(NEWSER) - Robert Byrd, who died today at age 92, rose from a hardscrabble childhood in the coalfields of West Virginia to become the longest-serving member of Congress in history. Those who knew the conservative Democrat remember him as a self-taught man of iron will (he remains the only congressman to have put himself through law school while in office), a fiery orator who spent his almost six decades in Congress delivering as much federal money as possible to his impoverished home state while also defending the legislative branch in the face of expanding presidential power, reports the Washington Post . More»