Radio Responds To Kennedy's Passing
August 26, 2009: Radio hosts are responding to the death Tuesday night of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) of brain cancer at age 77.
Salem Radio Networks Morning in America host Bill Bennett, a former Secretary of Education and longtime Washington, DC, figure, said about Kennedy on this morning's show, "Whatever one thought of him, there is no one in the Senate of his force, sheer power, and impact. If you think there is his equal in this, tell me who it is." In the commentary, also posted at National Review Online, Bennett said, "To the American left, he was their lion. To the American conservative movement, he was our bane. But today, we put the politics aside and wish him and his family God's peace."
On Air America's Ron Reagan Show, the host's mother, former First Lady Nancy Reagan, is set to appear tonight to discuss her long friendship with the late Senator.
Premiere's Rush Limbaugh cited Kennedy's death as a reason to reject the federal health-care overhaul, the Los Angeles Times reports. Limbaugh said, referring to the extended treatment Kennedy received, "Why support the rationing of health care when Ted Kennedy, the lion of the Senate, did not?"
Satcaster Sirius XM, meanwhile, scheduled a slate of tributes to Kennedy across several channels, with all-day coverage on the P.O.T.U.S. channel and programs set to be devoted to Kennedy on Sirius Left and XM's America Left, the XM Public Radio Channel, and other channels.
