Judging Ted Kennedy
Kennedy’s fingerprints are all over the modern welfare state, and beyond that, he has made his mark on the quiet, sometimes desperate lives of the working poor who are better off today because of his advocacy. But there are many more motivations at play in Kennedy’s achievements besides pure altruism — something that would be truly commendable — and only Kennedy and his God can answer to what they were. Because of that, while it can be said that Kennedy’s legislative record is startling in its breadth and depth, you cannot separate a man’s good works from what drove him to work toward those worthy goals in the first place. The petty and the sublime walk hand in hand with the motivations of politicians, always a mix of the crass and the refined.
One might argue that it was simple human decency that drove Ted Kennedy to fight so hard for the poor, but we have ample examples from the rest of Kennedy’s life that would give the lie to that proposition. Decent human beings do not act the way Kennedy acted on the night of July 18, 1969, when Mary Jo Kopechne’s life was cut short by the senator’s cowardly actions and his subsequent lies making a mockery of justice. Decent human beings do not treat with such lewd contempt the numerous women who complained of Kennedy’s harassment over the years. Decent human beings do not literally drive their wives to drink and despair with their philandering ways.
There’s much more, of course, that belongs on the negative side of the Kennedy ledger that even some of his more honest supporters admit. But they point to his 40-year record of accomplishment in the Senate, the lives he made better, the dignity he gave many, the hope he engendered in the breasts of the downtrodden. All of this should wash away his personal failings as a moral man as well as his reprehensible and probably criminally negligent actions that awful night on Chappaquiddick Island.
But isn’t Kennedy then also responsible for the dark underbelly of the welfare state? The unintended consequences of his “compassion” led to a riot of disasters including the creation of a permanent underclass, the breakup of the black family, the disgrace that is public housing — this too, and more, is Ted Kennedy’s legacy of caring.
That’s why, in the end, it is futile to use Kennedy’s public accomplishments to judge him as a man. We might judge his impact as a world-historical figure using his public actions, but it must be in the private sphere of a man’s life — his impact on those closest to him — that ultimately he is seen as a success and failure.
In Kennedy’s case, the bag is mixed. He has never admitted to being an alcoholic, so blaming his contemptible behavior on disease is, by his own admission, not possible. We must assume his drinking, carousing, harassment, cruelty, and other transgressions against decency and probity were the result of deliberate and conscious malfeasance.
But on the other hand, it is apparent from watching him and his family since the diagnosis of brain cancer that there is a close bond with his children, his nieces and nephews, and his wife Vickie. Despite all of his shortcomings — many of which he acknowledged publicly — it can also be said that Kennedy’s impact on those close to him has not been all bad and that he left this life as someone who was loved and cherished by his wife, children, and many Kennedy relations.
For the rest, perhaps it would be best to leave the real judging to God and posterity.
I cannot understand an effort to “balance” a man’s faults against his “accomplishments”.
Ted Kennedy is rightly marked in history as a coward on such a contemptible scale that there is nothing that he could have done in his dynastic sinecure as a Senator that could temper it. He was not a kid – he was in his mid-thirties. He was in good physical condition – good enough to swim ashore and run for a mile or more, past homes where he could have called for help. He was mentally able to discuss with his friends, over many hours,how they might contrive to protect the family from disgrace. Yet he never reported to an public authority until after he learned the car had been discovered. He corrupted police, court officials, reporters and paid off Mary Jo’s parents to prevent suit. And in later years was able to “joke” about Chapaquidic.
But in his later years he gave up drunkeness and debaughery, and was nice to his family.
This is the man who is widely admired in leftist circles, for brining down a fine jurist, denying him of a seat on the Supreme Court for which he was eminently qualified, by branding him as a bigot who who restore segregation.
Such strength of character and steely determination.
His performance in the Senate was no-brainer knee-jerk patronizing, the archtypical limousine socialist,patting on the head of the lower classes, grandly dispensing taxpayers’ money, trading always on his brothers record and the myth of Camelot.
He may be a lion to liberals, but he was pretty poor specimen of a man.
Could Mr. Moran be any later to the debate?
It seems the bloggers with a little more moral clarity and courage are days ahead of him and the debate largely over.
Is Rick Moran pulling our leg? I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Medical care on the Indian reservations is usually a joke. “Don’t get sick after June” is a shared warning among those who must use the health services provided by the federal government after the budget runs out after the halfway mark of the year has been reached. Take a look at this video from the Glen Beck Show hosted by Judge Andrew Napolitano. It will blow your mind: http://tinyurl.com/nowl34
American Indians are often quintessential examples of the moral and psychic damage resulting from being a lifelong dependent of the welfare state. Moran has also inadvertently written a piece that should remind any sane person why they should reject Obama’s healthcare proposals. However, I concede that Ted Kenney probably meant well—but so what? At the end of the day, he hurt the people he wanted to help. Good intentions are simply not enough. One must also have their head on straight.
“But there are many more motivations at play in Kennedy’s achievements besides pure altruism ”
WTF! How is it pure altrusim when it’s other people’s money extra-constitutionally spent! Do you have a copy editor? Are you a troll?
If a bear craps an acorn, can he take credit for the tree that results?
“After all, Kennedy’s beneficence toward the poor was not achieved using his own or his family’s money. His victories came courtesy of the American taxpayer and their exhaustive generosity toward those less fortunate. Kennedy and his ilk wouldn’t have been able to get elected dog catcher unless the American people saw merit in spending to fund programs Kennedy fought for and gave people like the Massachusetts senator their vote.”
This is the essence of the republican system of government. The people elect a person, and that person does what the majority which elected him want. If the representative does not do as the majority of people wish, the representative is not reelected.
I understand the theory, but how closely does it conform to reality. I often see myself confronted with two choices, one bad and the other worse. I vote for the lesser evil. My “exhaustive generosity” is lacking, but my representative’s exhaustive generosity with my money is not. The elected “form to themselves an interest separate from the electors.” Even electing a new representative may not overcome this. We have two parties with powerful influence, which put up two candidates for election. Both candidates may serve interests superior to the interests of those who elect them. We the people then find ourselves ruled by a system which we cannot control.
I have no trouble judging Ted Kennedy, weighing the pluses and minuses to come up with a big fat minus. What I have more trouble with is figuring out why so many people gave him a pass on his actions.
“Kennedy’s fingerprints are all over the modern welfare state”?
In that case, blame him for the 70% broken families in the cities, for the 40% joblessness, the 40% dropout rate, the drugs, the crime, the wasted lives and permanent danger to society. How dare you or anyone give this creep a crack of praise.
His ‘legislative achievements’ were nothing but pro-forma staff assignments he didn’t even know about when he got to the floor from a night of debauchery. Like John Kerry, he would just blah-blah-blah from the playbook.
He was a druken, philandering, MURDERing bully. Remember all of his ‘dear friends’ and eulogists every November. Start with that super moral morman Orrin Hatch who sang his dear Teddy songs and loved him so.
Love DT’s phrase “moral and psychic damage resulting from being a lifelong dependent of the welfare state”. More examination should be given to the results rather than the promises. Add the EPA to that examination.
Excellent critique. Anyone can stand on his hind legs and spout about saving the world and helping the poor but it is in the private treatment of a woman that a man’s true moral fibre is revealed.
Well stated, stuart williamson.
All I know is the ‘cheeks of my butt’ are sore from dancing in the street all night. Good riddance to another Kennedy.
Kennedy escaped to a life of hedonism, debauchery, selfish destructive policy. He loved to demonize and ruin good peoples lives. He did this by projecting his rabid guilt on this country! There is little good to say about this fat man.
This reminds me of the fool that trys ot find good in evil.
It’s a sad commentary on America that a pile of trash like the whole Kennedy family is venerated.
It is easy to be compassionate with other people’s money.
The thing about limosine liberals like Kennedy and his ilk is that all they know is other people’s money, having never made any of their own.
Teddy Kennedy was thoroughly evil man who did thoroughly evil things including, but not limited to: manslaughter, sexual harassment, adultery, drunkenness, lying on the Senate floor and working to trample the Constitutional rights of of ordinary citizens.
We know Bobby was banging Jackie-O so I have to assume Teddy was getting a chunk of her, too.
Logs and specks, oh ye of missing faith. So tell me, who is the Lion of the Right?
@ 3. David Thomson
That video was scary and depressing as hell.
10. Donlast:
” . . . it is in the private treatment of a woman that a man’s true moral fibre is revealed.”
meet
17. NCBob:
“We know Bobby was banging Jackie-O so I have to assume Teddy was getting a chunk of her, too.”
I seem to recall that John C. Calhoun was also referred to as the “Lion of the Senate” in his day. If so the parallels are apt. Calhoun had his house slaves and field hands and Ted Kennedy had his tame intellectuals and media flacks. The chief difference would be that Senator Calhoun’s underlings were probably not as servile as the Kennedy retainers.
The Kennedy mystique was shattered long ago before Ted Kennedy died; however, the MSM continues to try to push the Camelot garbage in our faces.
King Arthur was a leader who came from nothing thanks to the mystical sword in the stone, Excalibur with Merlin’s guidance; his ascendancy to King of England brought light in the darkness of the Dark Ages; however, the Knights of the Round Table was shattered & the spirit fled over Arthur after his wife had a sordid affair with Sir Lancelot. In the meantime, the evil Morgan Le Faye imprisoned Merlin with one of his own spells & had a son from Arthur in the disguise of his wife. Morgan is also Arthur’s half-sister; therefore, incest plays a role in Arthur & England’s fall from grace.
Ted Kennedy tried to be a leader after 3 of his brothers died: One in World War II, the favorite who was supposed to run for President. And 2 others were murdered by each a gunman’s bullet. Teddy, in the meantime, had no mystical sword or was knight of the Round Table. Teddy was spoiled slush of a drunk who thought only of himself. He cheated in Harvard & was expelled, yet Joe Kennedy–with his wealth & influence–had the spoiled Kennedy forced into the school when anyone else would not have been allowed back. In a drunken stupor, he murdered Mary Jo Kapachne in Chappaquiddick, yet again was not held accountable for his actions. Anyone else would have gone to jail for either murder or manslaughter. Teddy kept his senate seat warm all these years as he became more of a liberal ideologue bent on Big Government as 1 senator out of 100 instead of being President of the United States when he ran in 1980. Senator Ted Kennedy cheated on his wife, had ravaged young women with Senator Chris Dodd to make a “waitress sandwich” while in a drunken haze, & lived a hypocritical life such as when he pandered to the Environmentalists, yet did not want the wind farms on Martha’s Vinyard. If Senator Edward Kennedy was the lion of the senate, he was the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz who was scared of his own shadow. In other words, Senator Ted Kennedy was all bark & no bite (unless you were a hapless waitress or a woman he found he wanted for the night). There is no Camelot with the Kennedy’s; it was all about political power & domination of the average American the Kennedy’s claimed to represent.
We may never know (unless Teddy wrote an honest memoir before he died), but I’ve aaalways wondered about Teddy’s role in cleaning up Kerry’s military record.
Kerry couldn’t get into Harvard Law School. I believe one or more of the Clan recommended Kerry and his rejection might actually have been a Kennedy rejection.
But, when Kerry got home and betrayed all Americans, the Navy must have moved against him in some way. Kennedy must have walked Kerry’s paperwork through the Carter process and got that Navy action reversed and Kerry’s records sealed.
With Teddy silent and gone, we may never know what really happened.
the answer to the original question is… NO
It’s wrong to “assume” anything, about Jackie, Teddy, anyone else. We know enough about Ted publically to not need “speculation” .
It is also easy to other people’s money in your name…very easy. If he had used his own family’s money I could understand all the adulation.
The people of Mass sent this man back year after year after….so, he gained seniority. It is the fault of the stupid..yes I said stupid..people of Mass….People that are so cowed by money, name, fame…disgusting pukes.
I don’t know that all the people of America saw merit in his programs. some of the programs were good but the biggie..” Welfare” is run amuck, we have a dependent underclass due to welfare and a dependence on the democratic party. The Dems keep them that way to get a vote from them with “look what we’re going to do for you…free!!” although the “free” is on the back of every other working American.
Teddy did not do them a favor. It is merely another form of slavery..
What goes around comes around in life! It all balances out in the end.
[Godwin alert]
…And Hitler loved animals…
In his private life, Ted Kennedy spent an inordinate part of his adult life as an abusive, debauched pig.
In his public life, he pioneered the politics of personal destruction with his unforgivable attack on Judge Bork, an infinitely more honorable and decent man than Ted Kennedy ever was. Kennedy single-handedly degraded the level of civility that had previously existed in the Senate with that seminal 1987 screed.
I hope he made his peace with his Maker, and I wish his loved ones solace, but an honest appraisal of the man cannot be flattering.
But isn’t Kennedy then also responsible for the dark underbelly of the welfare state? The unintended consequences of his “compassion” led to a riot of disasters including the creation of a permanent underclass, the breakup of the black family, the disgrace that is public housing — this too, and more, is Ted Kennedy’s legacy of caring.
I’m no fan of Ted Kennedy but no Mr. Moron he isn’t responsible for the creation of a permanent underclass, the breakup of the black family, the disgrace that is public housing
These things existed long before Ted Kennedy and will likely last long after he is forgotten. Although it may safely be said that nothing Kennedy did helped to mitigate these disturbing phenomena (disasters as you call them) he is hardly responsible for them. They have many fathers and mothers.
I don’t doubt that when it came to his public duties Ted Kennedy had good intentions, but as my old Latin teacher used to say: “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”.
But isn’t Kennedy then also responsible for the dark underbelly of the welfare state? The unintended consequences of his “compassion” led to a riot of disasters including the creation of a permanent underclass, the breakup of the black family, the disgrace that is public housing — this too, and more, is Ted Kennedy’s legacy of caring.
Surely as overblown and inaccurate as all the adulation.
Ted Kennedy should have gone to jail over Kopecne’s death and spared the rest of us his 40+ year liberal guilt trip.
What “accomplishments”? from the murder of Mary Jo Kopechne to the treasonous attempt to undermine Reagan and prop up the communist thug Andropov, to the cheap attacks on Robert Bork to the near rape of a waitress in a DC restuarant, all the way back to his cheating on a law exam that caused him to be kicked out of Harvard(even for a leftist), Ted Kennedy promoted a lifestyle that was anti-american, hateful of capitalism(except for himself), Hedenious(drove his wife to drink,literally), all the way to the rest of his family(thedrug abuser Patrick, the rapist William Kennedy Smith,the murderer Martin Skakel), nothing about this scumbag had accomplishment written over it. Rather, this puke was an example of where politics,media and academia went wrong.
“But perhaps it is the influence of Christianity, and the knowledge of believers that one who dies will face the eternal judge, which compels us to engage in this exercise.”
Actually Christianity compels us to to just the opposite.
“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven” Luke 6:37
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” Matthew 6:14
“1“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:1-5
Romans 2:1 “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.”
Colossians 3:13 “Be tolerant of one another and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, you also should forgive.”
I’m not a fan of Senator Kennedy, but Christianity teaches that we should pray for his soul, and not engage in the sort of discussions I see here.
You want to spend your Saturday bad mouthing the dead, that’s certiany your right; but don’t go saying Christianty “compels” you to do so, when the truth is exactly the opposite.
well, if one believes in the Christian bible, I suppose your quotes would be nice… And Uncle Teddy would love them…however,
I do not in anyway believe we can pray for the soul of anyone. You and you alone are responsible for your actions…no one, and no amount of praying will change this. I do not see the truth to be exactly the opposite. What you did here, I cannot change.
Google “Ted Kennedy”, “Chris Dodd” and “waitress sandwich”
——————–
Lessee here:
1) Personal life
2) Legislative legacy.
If I remeber correctly, adding two negatives produces a negative.
32. Brendan Kelly:
We often see those quotes pulled out of the Bible by those wishing to condone and whitewash evil.
There is also a time for every purpose under heaven.
Who are the hypocrites in this scenario?
In my estimation, the hypocrites are those trying cannonize an unrepentant sinner as a saint. That is what people are reacting to. Such evil needs to be called out for what it is.
Had they not tried to raise Kennedy to hero status, the criticisms and judgments surely would have been much more muted.
31. uncommon sense: well said.
Now the Dems want to enslave us, the living, to memorialize the dead.
32. Brendan Kelly:”You want to spend your Saturday bad mouthing the dead..”
He should not have spent his Saturday bad mouthing the dead. It’s such a waste of time. But stating the truth about the dead is not bad mouthing the dead.
Among all the Kennedy brothers, he should have been the first one to go.
#32 Brendan Kelly – You misread the article. He’s saying we give him a pass, because we know he’ll be going before the Throne, soon enough. He’s saying the same thing you are, but you got the understanding backwards.
I, myself, cannot find anything good to say about the man, so I have been staying out of it. He’s dead, and so, he cannot defend himself. This is the main reason for not speaking ill of the dead.
Of course, it bothers me that he is lionized, but of course, he is a hero to the morally bankrupt Left. They’ll forgive any tresspass as long as one is doctrinally pure in the Party. Dang. I said I would stay out of it, but I just can’t let the lionizing go by without comment. Morally conflicted here. Grrr.
I hope Ted found what he did not find much of here on earth. Peace. In the end, only God can know the heart of a man. We should all leave it for Him to decide the worth of this man, and may that same grace be ours someday.
When I was a young and stupid, I was a great admirer of the Kennedy klan. In my 50+ years of living I have watched this family go from center-right, to center, to center left, to hard-left. Jack or Bobby would probably take a back seat in todays Democrat party. Their stance as being anti-communist/mafia would not fly in todays Democrat party, and would not set well with the union bosses.
Somewhere in the late 60′s and early 70′s this family took a hard-left turn, and never looked back. And Teddy was always the ring leader.
The man was terrible. He should have spent time in jail but used his influence to stay out. He advocated policy that would only benefit a small number of people such as his union friends. Nothing good can be said about this jerk.
Marc,
Thanks for pointing that out, but I’m not talking about the article as much as the comments I’m seeing here. Personally I would not have written anything on the subject at all. I’ve got enough sins on my own conscience that I don’t feel safe judging anybody, even if I do catalog the guys sins and then wind up the article with “For the rest, perhaps it would be best to leave the real judging to God and posterity”.
The correct answer to “How then to accurately judge the worth of the man?” is “You don’t. It’s not your job to do that.”
My point, as Chris said very well is “We should all leave it for Him to decide the worth of this man, and may that same grace be ours someday.”
Brendan,
A text without a context is a pretext.
I see even Fox News thinks that, no matter what it does to their ratings, they have to participate in this now week long orgy of pompous piousness about a useless philanderer who sat in the Senate of the United States for more than 40 years. I expect this nonsense to go on for, at minimum, another week. We have to make sure that the worship of the philandering politician exceeds the worship of the pediphile musician, you know. What a baseless culture we live in.
Moran has lost his mind. There is nothing positive any rational person can say about Edward Kennedy. He was scum and a coward. RFK and JFK, as sorry as they were, were not cowards. Good riddance. Good riddance to all socialists (whether they are communists or fascists).
Wish I was surprised at the hatred seen here( not by the author of the article) but am not. Can’t wait for all of us perfect folks to meet our maker, and explain how good we all are, except for one little problem of hate, hate, hate.
We’re all Mary Jo Kopechne now.
Yes, you and I are Mary Jo Kopechne now. You read it right. Teddy has passed the keys to Obama, after a few beers with Gates, and he’s smiling at us and then sliding behind the wheel. Maybe Obama, like Teddy, slipped a little something in our drink–just to make us a little more willing. One can only think what he has in mind as he invites us into the front seat of that big Oldsmobile. “Just a little drive” he quips, as your instincts tell you this might not be a good idea, but he’s handsome, well connected and charming. In the back of your mind, you think obama is just another womanizer, just out to use you for what you’ve got. Maybe you’re right–he is married you know.
As he heads down the bridge, the car careens over the edge, flips upside down and he leaves you trapped there, gasping for air as the car fills with water. You die a slow agonizing death as Obama escapes, his political career intact–set up right for victories to come–adulation and reverence. The rules he sets don’t apply to him–he wins and you lose.
Yes, Obama is trying to use us just like Teddy used Mary Jo. He wants to get what he wants and needs out of us only to leave us discarded underwater like an old boot. He’ll ride our backs just so long as to break it, then hop on someone else’s.
Yes, my friends. Today, we are all Mary Jo Kopechne and it is truly fitting and symbolic that the coward of Chappaquiddick is passing the proverbial keys to the Oldsmobubble to Obama upon the delivery of the eulogy.
The question is, will we get in and take the fatal ride, knowing today what Mary Jo didn’t know that fateful night in 1969? Will we be left at the bottom of the lake, gasping for air, as Obama escapes to greener pastures…and more victims? Time shall tell–for today, the Oldsmobile Key is passed
No – I judge him by Chappaquiddick – There are plenty of creeps who are ‘good’ to their families…
What is amazing in all this weeks orgy of love and adulation for the Kennedy’s is the media acting like a great statesman has just passed way. How much of our tax payers dollars went into this parade of fools? Did the Kennedy’s pay for anything? No, just the little guys who Ted was always looking out for. Did you know his estate will be adjudicated in Europe to avoid paying taxes? We should be morning the passing away of a once free and democratic society. Instead we get 24/7 of the beautiful people morning one of their own. Gimme a break or at least some aspirin to stomach this charade.
They created this “Lion of the Senate” out of pure fiction. They have disgrace themselves as journalists and show themselves to be nothing more than sycophants and suck ups to the powerful elite. Can there be a more pathetic creature than Geraldo (Jerry) Rivera? He is Fox’s answer to Chris (I have a tingling in my leg) Matthews. And he hasn’t had an honest job since he use to get drinks for Tip O’Neil. What a country, if you are rich!
“Do 40 years of legislative achievement outweigh a dissolute life of hedonistic excess?”
NO.
To Brendan Kelly:
“I’ve got enough sins on my own conscience…”
I haven’t cheated on my wife, I haven’t destroyed the career of a political enemy by egregiously lying about him, I haven’t acted against the clear teachings of my church and said it was okay, I haven’t engaged in boozin’ and fornicatin’, and last but not least, I haven’t driven off a bridge and left a young woman to die.
I don’t need to judge Mr. Kennedy’s eternal destiny. All I need to do his judge his life. God can take care of the rest.
It’s fascinating to watch the left lionize Kennedy with full knowledge that he let Mary Jo Kopechne drown while they howl about Khalid Sheik Mohammed being waterboarded.
Maybe one of the left-wing trolls that frequent this board can explain why Kopechne’s treatment can be overlooked while KSM’s can’t.
A cowardly lion at best!
What I don’t understand is if Mary Jo Kopechne did not drown, but slowly asphyxiated in an air pocket trapped in the car when, after some extended period of time while Ted K was trying to sober up, how did Ted get out of the Car? There could only have been an air pocket if all the windows and doors were closed. You cannot get out of a sinking car unless you open or break a window, or you open a door, which would eliminate all air pockets. So what did Kennedy do? Lock her in there? He did not roll up the window after he climbed out. Or did he push the car off the bridge. Something never made any sense about the story, and of course there was no trial. I am just asking.
BobbyBB, you’re missing the point completely. Senator Ted Kennedy was NEVER held accountable for his misbegotten, sordid, selfish actions regarding the unnecessary death of Mary Jo Kopechne, his numerous “waitress sandwiches” with hapless waitresses with the still living, corrupt Senator Chris Dodd while both were completely drunk on booze & power, his re-entry into Harvard after cheating on an exam & been expelled, etc al. Worse, Senator Ted Kennedy joked about Chappaquiddick for years noting its “ridiculousness.” Excuse me? A woman died from Senator Ted Kennedy’s hand, yet all he can do is joke about it??? Senator Ted Kennedy was a coward, a drunk, & a power hungry liberal shill. Nothing good ever came from the man except perhaps he’s finally dead where God can judge him for his despicable, selfish life. My point is Senator Ted Kennedy was never really held accountable for his actions in life; at worst, he lost to President Jimmy Carter in the primary in 1980 for nomination for President of the United States. I do not count that as being held accountable for his actions since Kennedy needed to be in jail–not the Senate. I think this is where the disdain comes from.
Mary Jo Kopechne could not be reached for comment.
Might me a good idea Rick. After all, they did that movie about Bush called “W” however, that was about more than one incident. Your suggestion, about a movie just about a traffic accident that happened forty years ago, which is old news, hence, might not be as popular, unless you add more, but then you might have to mention some good things if you do that, and as we know, the good things dont sell.
Edmund Burke. Kennedy was not in the car when it went off the bridge. In 4 feet of water the weight of water on the doors would have been well over 200 pounds. He could have never opened them.
Someday, somewhere, a Kennedy will do something admirable. It hasn’t happened yet.
Do 40 years of legislative achievement outweigh a dissolute life of hedonistic excess?
That bombastic, dissolute a$$, Teddy ?
(marrying Victoria, 25 years his junior, when he was 60, she made him swear to stop his bawdy ways…)
Anyway, your question, for me is a no brainer.
Look below for the 2 stupidest sentences ever made in human history (hint: one was made by Adam Clymer, the other by Melissa Lafsky)
Airbrushing out Mary Jo Kopechne
Attempted Deference to Ted Kennedy
After being rebuked by my daughter and then by my bride over my less than respectful postings on Teddy Kennedy, I resolved to be nicer, in fact, to avoid any further commentary which did not speak well of the man.
I couldn’t find anything nice to say so, in lieu of that option, I resolved to say nothing further, nada, diddly about the life or passing of Uncle Teddy.
That resolution also failed. I had to break it after reading about Ted’s love of Chappaquiddick jokes.
Ed Klein, former Newsweek foreign editor, revealed that Jocular Ted “loved to hear and tell Chappaquiddick jokes, and was always eager to know if anyone had heard any new ones.”
Of course, Klein immediately defended Kennedy’s warped sense of humor after seeing the shock it caused. Klein then interjected that he didn’t mean to suggest Ted lacked remorse: http://bit.ly/xpjqR.
Uncle Ted’s kids and grandkids would probably think that so cool, even awesome, that good ol’ dad and their so very funny gramps could chuckle about a murder he committed and, thanks to his name, got away with.
It just seems to me a very odd expression of remorse.
Seriously now, are none of America’s un-crowned royalty, the Kennedys, capable of distinguishing hype from reality? Are none of them capable of experiencing empathy for Mary Jo Kopechne? Do any of them, despite their expressions of deep grief at Ted’s funeral, have souls?
Or are all well-trained in the proper demeanor and well-versed in the proper language when in public venues while they get off in private over sick Chappaquiddick jokes?
In a related development, excerpts from both the letter Uncle Teddy wrote in July to Pope Benedict XVI and the Pope’s response have now been made public: http://bit.ly/jaj1g.
At Kennedy’s Arlington burial, Theodore Cardinal McCarrick read extended excerpts from both letters. No mention was made of either Chappaquiddick or of Ted’s rollicking sense of humor.
As suspected, in his letter, the late senator confessed to a “deep humility to ask that you pray for me as my own health declines.” He went on to bemoan his condition, praise President Obama, defend his record, and brag about his dedication.
Kennedy concluded his missive by writing, . . .
(Read the rest at http://genelalor.com)
http://www.bloggybayou.com/2009/08/on-darkness-of-one-mans-soul.html
The above sums up my view…
Why were the court proceedings of the Chappaquiddick affair held in private and the records sealed?
The news media can patronaze Ted kennedy all day long; but he was nothing but a murderer; assisted in two rapes; got caught by the coast guard drunk with under age girls; waved the American Flag around 45 million abortions and had the balls to call himself “the champion of womens rights”
They should throw him in the sewer instead of Arlington. Using the word “Honorable” in front of his name is pissing in God,s face.
Oh! So many haters and “judgers” here. Your lives have not been laid out for people like yourselves to “judge” in the public eye. Senator Kennedy used his power and influence for good. Yes, it was tax payers money that was used to do these good works. It was also MY tax dollars that bush/cheney used to attack Iraq, a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, WMD or anything else against this nation. To the tune of a trillion dollars thus far. All based on lies. So while you “saintamounus” republiCONS judge Senator Kennedy or anyone else for that matter, just remember this. My tax dollars were wasted by the failed policies of the bush administration who is and will forever be the worst president in this nations history. Now run along back to your churches and take that bible you have have thumped over Sen. Kennedy’s head and shove up your own sorry asses! If you are a “christian” then the woods are full of them. You hypocrits make me sick to my stomach. You claim to love America but you hate Americans. You claim to love God but hate his children. Some Christian you are.
Anonymous: Pull up your pants and turn around so we know who we are talking to. Your comparison of George Bush to the Kennedy clan is a non sequitur. History will judge George Bush, but the pile of garbage that is the Kennedy family, including Jackie, has already displayed its history, and it isn’t pretty.
The question should be is how different is he from some of our founding fathers and later Presidents and other public servants from back in the day to the present who raped their slaves (sexual abused random women), impregnated them, went to brothels, drank/doped themselves to excess, cheated on their wives, neglected their children and God knows what else?
Apparently men of God are tempted by all sorts of things, hence religion because Lord knows the Church forgives any number of nasty habits pedophelia to murder as long as the donations keep coming.
Dear Reader,
I am a conservative. So conservative that I don’t even think the so called conservatives should be looking out for their fat cat buddies.
Enough! Ted Kennedy was not in the car at Chappaquiddick. He spent every summer there, he knew the place like the back of his hand.
He argued with the lady, she left him flat footed on the road and drove off in his car. He walked to the ferry, which wasn’t running and swam home to the mainland and went to sleep.
His cohorts were heard to say to him in the hall the next day, “They found the car”. Every Kennedy hater in the world assumed it had been hidden. It is obvious to me that he had asked someone to find his car.
When Mary Jo was found dead in the car it became a whole new ball game. Three days later I believe it was he comes up with this silly story which makes no sense at all. Because he did not want to talk about the arguement.
Why any coroner would accept his statement is beyond me, except that he was a Kennedy. She sufficated. The trunk of the car was sticking out of the water at low tide. What? Did he step out and slam the door behind him?
The only thing he was guilty of (in the death)was lying about the facts. For those that think she was murdered I say, “GET A LIFE”.
Pete Chimenti
Tucson
The whole family lived life to the full plus more and finally paid the price for this in tragic endings.
There’s an old saying. What goes around, comes around.
With famous people are always bound to create controversy. There are not too many public figures that manage to keep a 100% clean record, especially as they will always be the target of campaigns, both positive and negative.