Flawed people

If you've not already read it, go and read Nick Baines on Ted Kennedy:

Wherever we look, world-changers are flawed human beings. We should just get used to it. Perfection just is not out there. Kennedy’s legacy will now be picked over and his weaknesses shredded for public entertainment. His politics will be regarded by his enemies as forgettable or useless simply on the grounds of his personal flaws. And that will be convenient, if ridiculously stupid.

Perhaps the death of Kennedy might compel us to drop our sanctimonious guff and consider afresh the amazing mixture of raw humanity that, without excusing bad behaviour, at least understands that it doesn’t automatically cancel out the good stuff that emerges from the same source.

I shall try to keep my sanctimonious guff in check when a certain ex-priminister pops her clogs.
Whoops, that should be prime mininster - I'm saying nothing - forefox 3.5 has stopped indicating (possible) spelling errors, if it still did that I would, of course, have instantly spotted it!
(no, don't try correcting spelling errors - as the preceding sentence shows you always make it worse)