Joan Vennochi of the Boston Globe begins her commentary thus:

IN DEATH, Ted Kennedy will be idealized, his accomplishments lionized, his weaknesses glossed over.
If it can happen to Michael Jackson, a mere king of pop, it will surely happen to the last son of Camelot. But the truth about Kennedy is where it is with most of us: somewhere in the middle. Somewhere between the great liberal icon and the not-so-great senator who walked away at Chappaquiddick was a human being, trying his best, but sometimes falling short.

So far so good. Next paragraph:

Like all figures in history – and like those in the Bible, for that matter – Kennedy came with flaws. Moses had a temper. Peter betrayed Jesus. Kennedy had Chappaquiddick, a moment of tremendous moral collapse.

Maybe it’s just me, but that’s pretty good company. Moses did have a temper, but it’s not exactly . . . oh never mind. You get it.

Update: A lot of e-mail already coming in about Peter’s “betrayal.” For instance:

The next time my priest says that Judas was the Apostle who betrayed Jesus, I’m going to tell him that’s old news. The Boston Globe has reported that Peter was the one.

And:

BTW, Peter denied Jesus. It was Judas that betrayed him. Ms. Vennocchi does not appear to be very strong on comparative severity of sins.

That did strike me as fishy but, as you can tell, I just gave up trying to parse the whole thing.