I rarely watch over-hyped television events, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from Teddy Kennedy's wonderful Irish wake last night.

Since I grew up and still live in a largely Irish Catholic cohort, I don't know much about how other cultures usually deal with death. But I can tell you about the Irish side of my heritage: We do like to spit in the eye of death - with prayer, with jokes, with song. (And a side of sarcasm, please.)

And much like my own father's funeral, I got a much bigger picture of Ted Kennedy as reflected in the eyes of those who loved him.

But it wouldn't be a real Irish wake without this, one of my favorite Irish poems:

May those who love us, love us.
And those who don’t love us,
may God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn’t turn their hearts,
may He turn their ankles
so we’ll know them by their limping.

In Teddy's honor, we won't ever stop pointing to those limpers.

The Daily Beast:

Friday night's event commemorated both past and future, again beginning with the site. It was held at the John F. Kennedy Library, in an auditorium where Senator Kennedy used to hold dinners—shadow state dinners, really—to honor foreign leaders such as Czech President Vaclav Havel, Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and a variety of Irish politicians including Mary Robinson and John Hume. But the library is next door to a plot of land where the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the Senate will rise. Boston's mayor Thomas Menino said it would provide "another lasting legacy of the Kennedys in Boston." Contributions to the project, budgeted at $100 million, have picked up since the senator's death, said its CEO, Peter Meade, and the public has been invited to contribute instead of sending flowers.

The night's speeches — a total of three-and-a-half hours that left the audience scrambling for cars in a downpour that is a foretaste of Tropical Storm Danny's promises for today -- alternated between solemn assessments of Kennedy's merits and accounts of his misadventures. The most entertaining of the latter came from John Culver, a former senator from Iowa and a college chum of Kennedy's. He told of being assured by Kennedy that "there's nothing to it" when he enlisted for a sailing race, and then being seasick, rain-soaked, and chilled for 24 hours while Kennedy shouted orders. "We were being bounced all over," said Culver, "and it's all my fault?" And Dodd told of a phone call from Kennedy earlier this month, when he was in a recovery room after prostate surgery. He said Kennedy told him, "Between undergoing prostate surgery and holding town meetings, you made the right choice."

Dodd turned serious then, listing some of the laws Kennedy sponsored in education, health and other areas, and compared him with his brothers: "John Fitzgerald Kennedy inspired America. Robert F. Kennedy challenged America. Our Teddy changed America."

Vice President Joe Biden told of how Kennedy "took on the role of being my elder brother" when he was in despair after his wife and daughter were killed and his sons gravely injured in a car crash just after he was first elected to the Senate. Kennedy urged him, again and again, to give the Senate a chance. He got him committee assignments, encouraged him to get involved, and then, when Biden suffered from brain aneurisms in 1988, took over his committee for him for months until arriving unexpectedly in Delaware to tell Biden he was needed and it was time to return.

Then Biden turned to the dozens of young Kennedys in the hall and said pundits were making a mistake when they said the era of Kennedy was over. "Because of you," he said, "the dream still lives."

The evening's final speaker made the same point. His niece, Caroline Kennedy, said, "We are the ones who have to do all the things he would have done, for ourselves and for our country."

Then the audience stood and all sang a favorite song of Kennedy's: "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling."

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (120)

PLAYS: (61)

From FiredUpMissouri:

At a town hall meeting yesterday, Todd Akin mentioned that some of his Democratic colleagues in Congress "almost got lynched" when talking to constituents. The idea seems to have been a big hit with the friendly audience.

I realize this is a little old-news-cycle, but it did amaze me this past month that Sarah Palin went massively ballistic in defense of her daughters re: David Letterman's jokes, but a localized threat like Levi Johnston, who actually had sex with her underage daughter? Not so much. The Obama daughters are more 'off-limits' than you know, Governor. Ask their grandmother.

Open thread below.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (2530)

PLAYS: (7315)

While talking about the dustup between David Letterman and Sarah Palin, Republican strategist John Feehery instantly tried to say that no one made jokes about Chelsea Clinton. Contessa Brewer wouldn’t let that go and stopped him right in his tracks, which led Feehery to try and claim that Chelsea wasn’t 14 when the jokes were being made. Brewer then corrected that and reminded him, complete with finger wag and all, that Chelsea was only 12.

Considering how offended Sarah Palin is by Letterman’s jokes, I am sitting here wondering if she will boycott Rush Limbaugh now. Ok you caught me – I’m not wondering. We all know the answer to that, just like we saw how she never seemed to worry about the “jokes” her former running-mate made about Chelsea. 

(Please donate to C&L's 2009 fundraiser if you can. We need your support.)

Snail Mail:

Crooksandliars.com

POBOX 66310

Los Angeles, CA 90066

This comes out just two days after my birthday. Guess how I'm going to celebrate?

Michael Moore wants his money back. Actually, he wants your money back, if you lost any in the financial meltdown.

And though he knows that probably won't happen, the filmmaker at least wants to stick it to the people who took it.

The still untitled film, which opens Oct. 2, will zero in on the corporations and politicians he says caused the global financial crash.

Wall Street robber barons are Moore's new on-screen enemy.

"The movie is not going to be an economics lesson; it's going to be more like a vampire movie," the filmmaker jokes. "Instead of the main characters feasting on the blood of their victims, they feast on the money. And they never seem to get enough of it."

When the collapse walloped the country last September, Moore says he knew not only that it would matter to regular people, but also that the inherent decadence was ripe for his style of satire.

"If you go to see my movies, even if you don't agree with everything in the movies, you're going to have a good laugh," Moore says. "I want them to walk out at the end saying 'Wow, that was something!' And in this case, maybe they also walk out asking the ushers, 'Um, excuse me. Where are the pitchforks and torches?' "