A reader writes:

I’m not sure what your fascination with the late Senator Kennedy is, but I do hope you’ll leave him to the mainstream media and keep to topics worthy of our consideration. This man hurt many, many people and led a whole lot into grave error and sin. He abused women in the presence of living witnesses and left at least one to die. Why is it that Democrat abusers of women get a pass?? As a woman, it has really, really hurt over the years. When Clinton was silent after the account of his rape of that woman was published in the Wall Street Journal, I was horrified – he had to have done it, and no one seemed to care. I am frankly shocked and disappointed at your attention to a man who used his wealth and position to abuse others. It’s bad enough that he’s being rehabilitated by the daily liars, but to see him get time in your normally excellent blog, well, it upsets me. I don’t know the state of his soul – I have prayed for him and many other pro-death politicians many times in the last few months. Certainly I’m glad my sins aren’t public like so many of his! May God have mercy on all of us. It’s not personal – it’s a matter of facts and the public record.

Please remember that our children are paying close attention to how we treat public, unrepentant sinners – what we do, what we attend to, to whom we show respect (as opposed to charity and recognition of every person’s human dignity) really matters.

I don’t know why these public figures who have done so much to destroy our culture and make a laughingstock of being Catholic in America find such succor among normally astute people.

FWIW: Kennedy was America’s most prominent and controversial Catholic politician, from the most prominent and controversial Catholic family. He merits attention.

I find what commentators are writing about his faith, in all its complexity (particularly at the end of his life), especially interesting. Inspiring, even.