Sen. Ted Kennedy is dead.

[Badger]

Wow I feel like an uber douchebag for having that signature. In fact as of this moment I will remove the motivator from the gallery for at least two weeks out of respect for Ted Kennedy. I may not have agreed with him on quite a few things, but damn it he was devoted to public duty. RIP Ted.

It truly does feel sad that Ted Kennedy is dead.

No matter how much our economic views may differ at times, Mechman, you're unquestionably a class act.

[Badger]

When I saw this post I expected the outpouring of accolades from both liberals, as well as the noble conservatives on the forum (a strong majority, IMHO) who may have often disagreed with Kennedy but could acknowledge what he achieved for this country.

Unfortunately, my first thought was: "How long before some right-wing asshat sh**ts on a dead man?" And inevitably it would be from Chappaquiddick 40 years ago...

Congratulations, John Ford! YOU are the winner in the "right-wing classless douchebag" race clocking in with a completely classy and justified breach of not speaking ill of the dead at: 4 hours, six minutes and 47 seconds. Let's give him a big hand, folks!

Nice try, RowanBrandon, but you still managed to come in second clocking in at 5 hours, 32 minutes and 11 seconds! Way to maintain the dignity of the office to which you were recently elected with votes from many of the genuine eulogizers here. Better luck for the next public death at being an even bigger ass and bringing home the gold! Still wasn't he a good contestant here, folks? <canned applause>

DWTL: You came SOOO close to being eliminated altogether with only a veiled reference to Kennedy's personal life to be further discussed later. Our judges wouldn't have accepted this as a classless breach of common etiquette, and you could have gone home without any pinhead awards at all. But yet, demonstrating the spotty-faced immaturity the Forum has come to know and hate or ignore, you were goaded by an unrelated post to call a man whose body is barely cold "a murderer". Way to overcome and pull it ("it"= something moronic and grossly inappropriate) out in the clutch to earn yourself the bronze in the extremist sphincter-mouth olympics! Truly an enduring and heartwarming story of overcoming obstacles of good taste and common sense to achieve ones goals no matter how low. <sniff>

Sadly, every contest has its disappointments, and this one is no exception. Among the contenders whose extremism, tunnel vision and lack of empathy would make them expected champions in this race to metaphorically piss on Kennedy's open casket, all eyes turned as one to Coburn. And yet, shocking one and all, this giant of Limbaughesqe imbecility, the champion of all angry crazed ultraconservative white men needing someone to actually say the evil meanspirited things they're thinking, finished a very weak fourth. Disappointed fans will undoubtedly demand an investigation into whether other competitors disabled Coburn's internet connection so they could be first to drop a steaming pantsload in the middle of the departed's memorial service, but for now we'll all have to trust that Coburn will soon return to form of being first at being the worst.

A good job to all our competitors, each of whom win a tiny little plot on the lowset circle of Dante's inferno along with this parting gift:

Each of you need to learn a basic fact: There is a fundamental difference between being conservative and being and a**hole.