A Sea Of Red

With his name in the news right now, our old LU friend Cal Thomas reminded us of hsi visit to campus back in the day in today's column ...

CAL THOMAS: God bless Ted Kennedy

Cal Thomas | Tribune Media Services
May 21, 2008

These days, people on "one side" of the political spectrum are not supposed to cooperate, much less have a personal relationship with anyone on the "other side." Siding with "the enemy" can get you branded a compromiser, a sellout or fool. While it is true that on too many occasions, conservatives have had their ideological pockets picked by liberals whose favor they curried, that is no excuse for hating people because of their political beliefs.

In the case of my 25-year relationship with Sen. Edward Kennedy, our ideological pockets have remained secure, but our friendship has been something I have treasured. It began in 1983 when I received a call from a Washington Post reporter. I was working for the Moral Majority at the time, and a computer had spit out a membership card for Sen. Kennedy and then inadvertently sent it to him. The reporter asked if I wanted the card back. "No," I said. "We don't believe anyone is beyond redemption. In fact, I hope Senator Kennedy comes and speaks at Liberty Baptist College (now Liberty University)," the school founded by the late Jerry Falwell.

A few days later, I received a call from Kennedy's chief of staff: "The senator accepts your invitation." I was stunned and so was Falwell, but Kennedy came and was well received. He spoke on faith, truth and tolerance and his remarks are as relevant today as they were when he uttered them. (See and read them at http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeche ... erance.htm).

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I heard him speak at the time...(LBC)...good speaker, threw alot of bible at us....totally full of crap! The questions from the students were soft. He got way too much love from the school IMHO. Hope he sees his need for Jesus before it's too late.

Thanks for posting, Sly. Good article.

No kidding...I need to familiarize myself with this...I dont know much about Cal Thomas...anyone want to help a young'n

You don't know Cal?? Your parents have done you wrong. He was Dr. J's right hand man. Or at least viewed that way. He's always on a panel on some Fox News weekend show now. I think he looks like kinda like Sadam Huessein

80's?

He ran the Moral Majority and was our political operative/journalist from the Late '70s until the Late '80s. Ask your dad about him.

He left the school to become a nationally syndicated columnist. He has been a regular contributor on CNN and Fox News Channel forever. He used to have his own show on both channels at one time or the other if my memory serves me correct. He's not been in the spotlight much the past few years.

Suffice it to say he's a very smart guy who played a major role in the rise of the Religious Right.

As for Ted, the speech came shortly before I arrived on campus. But I remember it had a big impact on the student body. The fact we allowed him to speak on campus and treated him so well despite our obvious differences attracted the school a great deal of attention and actually helped our credibility by defying the stereotype that was were insulated and unwilling to listen to differing opinions. The Jesse Jackson speech did likewise.

"dooorraaaahhh thee exploraaahhhhh"

I fear if we were able to snag those types of speakers today, they would get cheers and hooting every once in a while. LU has had an increasing amount of sheep who will basically cheer for whatever definative comment is made. Much like an Oprah audience.

RubberMallet wrote:"dooorraaaahhh thee exploraaahhhhh"

Brian Regan. Nice.

i wasnt a huge fan of the special...his older stuff was much funnier....his goofy walk and faces got old i guess?

RubberMallet wrote:his goofy walk and faces got old i guess?

I tend to agree...I think he is funnier to listen to as opposed to watching him...even if he is doing the same material. And he is DEFINITELY funny!

Ted brought a really pretty young lady with him, I think a niece, who sat in the front row. Typical Jerry got up to the podium before Ted spoke and asked for volunteers to take the lady out on a date. Ted was originally asked to debate Jack Kemp at LU but he would only agree to give a speech. He told a story about campaigning in Iowa for JFK when he was asked a lot of questions about corn prices which he handled terribly being from Massachusetts. He decided then to never do a debate again.

Perhaps it was only due to being a guest but Ted really went out of his way to say nice things about Dr Falwell that night.