Quite simply, these two were the lynchpin of the old JLI. It wasn't the same without them, and the DC Universe is just a little bit colder and more bleak without Ted Kord in it.
For a pair of apparent screw-ups, they did seem to have a lot of influence. And I don't mean just the old "Bwhahahahaha!" Although that WAS certainly a lot of fun. Ted's death has been quite a few years ago by now, and it is still creating stories. So, in that respect, it has to be considered a "good" death, similar to the way that Barry Allen's death continued to provide story fodder long after he was gone. But still...I would so much rather have Ted back amongst the living. He doesn't HAVE to be the Blue Beetle...Jaime has proven himself a most worthy successor...he could simply hang out designing software for Oracle, or cool stuff for the JSA or the JLA, or simply hanging with Booster and Rip. You can't tell me that Ted wouldn't get a kick out of Time Diving.
With all of the shenanigans, it is easy to underestimate both Ted and Booster, but heck, they were in the Justice League for a LONG time, and they fought some pretty big heavyweights when it came to bad guys. Despero, that guy who killed Superman, and scores of others. That's one of the reasons that I liked Booster's recent rant to Cyborg, back in JLI-GL a couple of weeks back. Would Batman and Martian Manhunter have hung around if the rest of them were complete losers? Of course not. And let us not forget that both Superman and Wonder Woman were ALSO a part of the Justice League at the same time as Beetle, Booster, Guy, Fire and Ice. So there.
And while we're at it, there were a whole lot of other people on the old JLI that could classify as beloved Bridesmaids. Ralph and Sue Dibny, Scott Free and Big Barda. Wally West and Power Girl and Captain Atom. Hell, even Max Lord and L-Ron.
*sigh*
