All the media seem to describe his statement as "emotional" ... and when you think how truly emotional a good Irishman like Joe B. can get, that may put you off a bit.  It shouldn't.

But I finally watched it and I think a much better description is "meaningful"  It may be as genuine, heartfelt, and informative as anything we're likely hear in the next several days. 

This person - this human being that Joe is describing with such love and respect -- is someone who would be worth honoring and missing even if his name had just been Moore and he'd never accomplished many of the grand things that Teddy achieved.   I was touched, and impressed, by the quality that Biden selected as Kennedy's greatest potential legacy.

Tapes are here (and elsewhere, I'm sure):

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/08/an-emotional-joe-biden-remembers-ted-kennedy.php?ref=fpblg

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/26/bidens-emotional-kennedy_n_269331.html

Some other random thoughts I had this morning.
 
It is good that, at long last, one of the Kennedy sons died in his own bed, of natural causes, surrounded by his family and having had time to say goodbye. He's the only one.
 
Now, in death, is the first moment since June 5, 1968 (RFK assassination) that Ted hasn't had it "all" -- the family, the dreams and goals, the legacy -- on his shoulders.   He was certainly fallible but, all told, he acquitted himself very well.  Still, it must have been a weight, a "presence," that most of us can't really imagine.  

And - I just realized -- there has been a Kennedy in the Senate, at least one and for a while two, since 1953:   56 years, more than half a century, most of my life, all of the years in which I've been aware of government and such things..   How very strange it is today and to think about tomorrow.