How to react to the death of a prominent yet polarizing political figure? Well, in Bambi, Disney's animated treatise on child-rearing and a cornerstone of 20th-century American morality, we all learned— some better than others— how Thumper's mother taught him an important rule: If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. Now, how is a commenter, whose very role is to say something, supposed to abide by that, especially in these politically-charged times? And when the figure in question was Teddy Kennedy, a figure more polarizing than most? Clearly Thumper's Rule was penned before the advent of the internet. But as it turned out, smalleyxb122 discovered a corollary that allowed him to handle the situation rather adroitly:
Ted and I were seldom on the same page, politically, but I have to give credit where credit is due. He was, by politician standards, unwavering in his convictions, and acted upon them whether they were popular or not. While I don't agree with many of his actions, I admire that he acted.
Again, well said. Now on to discussions of Kennedy's Olds 88! This is a car site, after all.