Thinking about Teddy Kennedy from Europe
Having spent about two years of my life living in Europe, I am not a complete stranger to observing events back home from afar. As a very young guy I watched the Chicago Convention on the BBC from a tiny London flat and felt jealous and out of it. Now I am amused. I was informed of RFK’s death by a security guard at the Brussels City Hall who had just heard the news and wanted to make sure the American nosing about knew about the latest tragedy in his country. I remember being shaken.
That was a different day and a different Kennedy. Nobody can be surprised about the death of Teddy, who has been sick for some time. I met the man once, back in the eighties, when on a movie assignment in Washington, and he was quite friendly and affable – almost oddly so. Of course, even then I was aware of (and disturbed by) his dark past, more than most because I was at six degrees of separation form the event. A literary agent of mine – a well known woman at the time – had been one of the women at the party with Teddy and Mary Jo Kopechne (1940-1969). I would try to probe her about what happened, whether Kennedy had been drinking, etc., but she would never speak about it, as if sworn to some kind of secrecy.
I put in Kopechne’s birth and death dates because, from the perspective of these many years, they surprise me. She was within days of her twenty-ninth birthday, older than I expected. Teddy himself was thirty-seven. These were not teenagers out on some drunken spree, who can be (somewhat) excused for their actions, but adults. Kennedy left the scene of a fatal accident for which he was at least partly responsible. Then he used his extraordinary power to get off, spending the rest of his career in pseudo-remorse, playing the most liberal of Senators. It was always an act to me, even when I agreed with him politically. This was not a life well lived.
Somebody dies and the first thing you write is the sad part of a life.
How will we remember you?
By printing all the sadistic articles you wrote?
Charming.
For me the tragedy of Ted Kennedy’s death lies in the fact Massachusetts has now been reduced to two senators.
(If you remember that joke, you go back a ways.)
Ted Kennedy was a COWARD he RAN AWAY and left a woman to die in his car . His cowardice was Politically motivated and the Kennedy mafia the Dems and the MSM rushed to protected him. The same mafia, Dems and MSM who colluded to HIDE all of JFK’s philanderings and who gave a free pass to the LIAR Messiah. Just goes to show leopards never change their spots and ‘libtards’ and their idiotic followers like ‘vivo’ have always been the same. One law for them another for everyone else.
He’s dead Jim.
As a lifelong resident of Massachusetts, I say good riddance to traitorous murderous sack of excrement. Perhaps now Mary Jo Kopechne can rest in peace. Meanwhile, I suspect Hades will run out of booze within a week.
@ vivo
Dial it down a notch. There was nothing “sadistic” said here. There is no rejoicing over the man’s death, no name calling or insults, nothing that could remotely be construed as nasty in any way.
He simply stated the truth. But of course in your eyes, anything short of worship is not acceptable, right?
You are right, vivo. We should concentrate on the good times. A loving husband: dumping his wife after twenty years and getting the marriage ‘annulled’ so he still could get into heaven. Fun loving: drunkenly chasing after women with his pants down at his ankles. A champion of the environment: who lobbied against a windmill farm off the coast of Marthas Vinyard that might disturb his view. Loyal: always around to assist other up anbd coming Kennedy pols who had difficulties with the law. And, of oourse. an excellent swimmer.
Vivo – next thing you will say is that Simon is a racist, no?
Edward Kennedy did an enormous amount of damage during his life. It would have been better that he had never lived. Senator Kennedy often inadvertently hurt those he wanted to help. But I am not God. We mere humans cannot judge his soul. Kennedy inarguably had good intentions.
We must now make sure that Barack Obama does not use Kennedy’s death to push his health care proposals through Congress. They remain senseless and destructive. It would be foolish to turn them into the laws of the land out of some warped sense of “honoring the passing of Senator Kennedy.” The country is still suffering from the welfare legislation resulting from paying homage to the memories of John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Martin Luther King, Jr. Let’s not make things worse.
How different his life would have been if he had just gone back with help to try and save Mary Jo. Even if it had not been in time, people would have understood, in time. And her cries for the help that never came, to not be forgotten were heard. We have never forgotten.
Mary Jo Kopeckne finally gets her day.
It is sad not to follow your hearts desires but be driven by something that destroys you. that is the Kennedy legacy.
And may God have mercy on his soul.
Sen. Ed Kennedy may have been a coward, and he may have been a murderer. He paid for his cowardice by being denied the White House and ultimately defeating his father’s hopes for a Kennedy dynasty. A curse on the family seems to have seen to it that no other Kennedy rose high again, again insuring that the Kennedy name would not be a dynastic one in the States. But in the final analysis, whatever his weaknesses, Ed Kennedy was a better man than his father, Jittery Joe Kennedy, the Jew-hater who cheated share-holders at Pathé Studios 80 years ago.
Speaking of healthcare, Ted Kennedy left Massachusetts for Duke University in Durham, NC in order to have brain surgery. I guess the health care system in Massachusetts was not good enough and he decided to shop around. Under a nationalized health care system, how many of us would have had the same opportunity (he asked rhetorically)?
10. Ruvy
Ed Kennedy was a better man than his father, Jittery Joe Kennedy, the Jew-hater who cheated share-holders at Pathé Studios 80 years ago.
As he stands before God, I suspect such relativism counts for squat.
My condolences to the Kennedy family. That said, just imagine the crisis that this presents to Rahm E.
Ted Kennedy ran from responsibility more times than he ran for office.
Welcome to hell, Teddy.
The world improves a little, at each Kennedy passing.
vivo – (2)
“Charming”
How about honest instead? He was an immoral drunk who lived on the status his family got for him and didn’t mind shoving expensive and even immoral projects and laws down the throats of everyone in the country. The best thing you can say about him is that he is now being discussed in the past tense.
I think they should name the Boston “Big Dig” after they guy. He should forever be associated with a fat, hollow, underwater, shadow, of the great projects in our history when people think of him or his pet theft project. The other Senator from MA has always been so jealous of the attention Ted got that he’ll probably kick off in the next few days to keep from missing the parties Teddy will be hosting in hell. Then the MA governor can replace a teen and a queen at the same time.
Every bit of the above is a LOT nicer than the vast majority of what you and yours have spent eight years saying about Bush, and way nicer than you and yours had to say when Reagan died. Go ahead with your act now, but you’re chiding is only fooling yourself if that.
Have a nice day
There goes the 60 vote supermajority in the senate that the Dems had rejoiced over. With Robert Byrd also ailing and Joe Liebermann a closet Republican, I think the health care boondoggle may be in serious trouble. Ted Kennedy finally did something good in his life!!!
regards
LeighB: Not much question about the time. She died from asphyxiation in an air-pocket in the car – she didn’t drown. Even if he had just called the fire department, it is very likely she would have been saved.
Sen. Ed Kennedy may have been a coward, and he may have been a murderer. He paid for his cowardice by being denied the White House
Thta is about one thousandth the price
and ultimately defeating his father’s hopes for a Kennedy dynasty.
Let’s remember that at one point during WWII the British started wondering on which side Joe Kennedy was and that they were happy to see his back. Thinking about it, defeating the dreams of such man could have been the best thing Edward Kennedy ever did.
He was an immoral drunk who lived on the status his family got for him and didn’t mind shoving expensive and even immoral projects and laws down the throats of everyone in the country
Not to mention that despite being vocal on Global Warming(tm) he killed a project of a wind farm because it was too close to one of his properties. A Law for me and one for thee,
Gone at last.
I think that deserves a little drinkie!
Just one, mustn’t overdo, LOL.
I heard on the news that “no one else(but Kennedy) had dominated the Senate for the past half century. He was able to push through more legislation and ‘got things done better than any other members’”.
Its refreshing to realize that maybe the Senate will bog down so much that no bills get passed the rest of the year. (Fat chance.)
It would be ironic if Kennedy’s true legacy is that, in death, his contribution kept the United States from going bankrupt sooner… than later. Especially after working his entire career to spend all the taxpayers’ money for people who didn’t pay taxes.
One hopes this closes the sad tale of Camelot once and for all. I’m not sure America could stand another generation of this self-indulgent family’s demand that the country pay attention to them.
The man was a murderer and the on;ly reason he spend the rest of his life in the Senate instead of in prison was because he was fortunate enough to have been born with the last name Kennedy.
I just hope that one day we get a better health care system and that Mr. Kennedy gets the credit for the work that he did, for so many years. Kennedy used his senate seat to remember those that most of us forget about and dont care about. I know he will not be treated well in this place but he will be remembered for how he helped others less fortunate, with the tools at his disposal rather than simply serving himself, and the social class he came from. The author should remember, he made bad choices and was human, oh sorry, forgot that the author might be a human too, so I am sure that the senator will forgive him.
The people-haters spoke.
Charming
Ted Kennedy led a life of wealth and privlege. He had a mediocre intellect. His presidential aspirations based upon a brand name was ludicrous. When he was ethically challenged , he failed abysmally, and on multiple occasions. He was a womanizer and drunk and unfaithful to his wife whom he ingloriously dumped after twenty years of marriage and had the nerve to get an annulment. He was a hypocrite, happy to raise taxes on the ordinary folk while carefully sheltering his own wealth. Happy to tout environmentalism, but not in his own back yard. Not a very pretty resume. The truth is he was a failure, kept afloat by the Kennedy name and money.
I’m glad that Teddy is no longer in a position to tax and spend other people’s money.
“Teddy” was a phony right up to the day he died. When laws didn’t help his cause he changed them. Just last week wanting to make sure a democrat took his seat in the Senate he wanted to change the law as to how the next senator was selected. This would be a revision to the selection process which he previously had changed in his favor. If that’s not the epitome of phoniness and arrogance what is?
#17
There was no ‘curse’ on the family. Nearly every event that placed a family member in the way of death or possible criminal charges, were the result of either their own drunkeness, carelessness, foolishness, or sense of ‘entitlement’ as a Kennedy. Teddy ensured that his extended family would never have to face the consequences of their actions, despite doing things that would either put someone away in prison, or would ruin them politically.
This talk of a ‘curse’ is a myth, foisted on the public over and over again, whenever a Kennedy does something stupid or criminal.
I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the debt that all conservatives owe to Senator Edward Kennedy.
Had it not been for his vigorous presidential campaign in the 1980 primaries that so damaged an already enfeebled Jimmy Carter it is highly debatable if Ronald Reagan would have been elected President, and Reagan was the man we needed when we needed him.
So, thanks Ted Kennedy, for being, in your own way, one of the catalysts that made America’s victory in the Cold War against Soviet Communism possible.
Mary Jo Kopechne could not be reached for comment….
I will not bemoan the passing of Ted Kennedy. He was the prime example of whey we as a nation so desperately need term limits for politicians and for the urgent need for repeal of seniority rules within the Senate.
We need to work on repeal of the 17th admendment, as Senators see themselves as Princes of the Federal Government, not as servants of the States as they are supposed to be.
Good riddance. I can think of no one who has done as much damage to America as he. Let the maggots to their feast as Satan has long possed his soul.
Having once read Timothy Leary’s autobiography, Flashbacks, I was interested in his totally negative opinion of Ted Kennedy. To paraphrase LBJ, when you’ve lost Tim Leary you’ve lost middle earth. Besides, didn’t America fight a revolution to end dynastic leadership? So. Who’ll be the next in line?
I will not bemoan the passing of Ted Kennedy. He was the prime example of whey we as a nation so desperately need term limits for politicians and the urgent need for abolition of seniority rules within the Senate.
Repeal of the 17th admendment should be a priority as Senators see themselves as Princes of the Federal Government, not as servants of the States as they are supposed to be.
Some lion. He was an elitist, a drunk and a coward. The only curse from the Camelot clan was the one they put on the country.
I wonder how much estate tax his family will pay on his offshore accounts and the Fiji oil company? The Treasury sure could use some revenue but I doubt they’ll get a dime.
Yep – A Law for me and one for thee.
Ted Kennedy, a legend in his own mind. R.I.P. How about appointing Caroline? She’s available.
Roger, thank your for an honest and sober assessment.
Along with Mary Jo, let’s not forget Justice Thomas, Judge Bork and a thousand other victims of his thuggish inquisition. Let’s hope he’s the last we’ll see of Honey Fitz’ mafia progeny.
To all lefties,
Dick Cheney just died. Write an obituary, and be nice.
Nope, didn’t think you could do it.
The difference between Kennedy and Reagan is that Reagan outlived his own legacy.
Like all Irishmen, Kennedy laughed too often and too loudly. And like all conservatives, Reagan laughed too soon.
Three words:
Mary Jo Kopechne
Says it all.
“pooor Citizen” wrote:
I know he will not be treated well in this place but he will be remembered for how he helped others less fortunate, with the tools at his disposal…
The “tools at his disposal”? The man spent a lifetime practicing charity with money stolen from the taxpayers. He was a life-long looter, a completely worthless human being who never did an honest day’s work in his entire life and not only failed to pull his own weight, but helped millions of others get away with failing to pull their own weight as well. It’s a wonderful start to my day to learn that the looters have lost one of the most reliable pro-looting votes in Congress.
46. Class Clown:
“Dick Cheney just died. Write an obituary, and be nice.”
Remember this thread when Cheney DOES die, because that’s when you’re gonna demand grace in time of death, something this thread proves conservatives don’t have.
Quoting me, RE writes: Ed Kennedy was a better man than his father, Jittery Joe Kennedy, the Jew-hater who cheated share-holders at Pathé Studios 80 years ago.
Then he states:
As he stands before God, I suspect such relativism counts for squat.
Perhaps with respect to G-d, Who sees time quite differently from us mere mortals, you are right, RE. I do not know. I’m not privy to such celestial secrets. But consider the following.
Moses, in explaining how G-d views His enemies, says: And He repays His enemies in his lifetime to make him perish – He shall not delay for His enemy – in His lifetime He shall repay him.[D'varím/Deuteronomy 7:10]
John and Robert Kennedy caused the death of Marilyn Monroe, the woman whose body John Kennedy enjoyed. An inconvenient woman who could have bitterly complained and made John Kennedy’s run in 1964 a misery if not appropriately placated. Both John and Robert Kennedy died, cut down in the summer of their years by assassins. I suspect that Mary Jo Kopechne was not murdered – that she died in a drunken accident – and that Ed Kennedy did not have the guts to admit to anything until he figured out a way to cover up his behavior.
Ed Kennedy, like his father, lingered for many years, succumbing in the end to cancer. Kennedy was a coward and a drunk. But he was not a murderer. The Almighty did not delay for John and Robert. But He was willing to delay for Ed. Forty years is nothing to G-d. But for a man, it is half a lifetime. In my eyes, half a lifetime is not squat.
NARY JO…..enough said about this man.
She wasn’t just a “mistake”…
‘cuse me….
MARY JO KOPECHNE, July 26, 1940 – July 18, 1969
Well there goes the filibuster proof Senate.
40. Thomas_L…… asked:
So. Who’ll be the next in line?
Peter writes: I’m expecting Carolyn to announce her move to Massachusetts before the end of the week.
Father Mac: Because this is supposed to be a democracy, not a monarchy.
51. Ruvy:
” I’m not privy to such celestial secrets. But consider the following. Moses, in explaining how G-d views His enemies, says: And He repays His enemies in his lifetime to make him perish – He shall not delay for His enemy – in His lifetime He shall repay him.[D'varím/Deuteronomy 7:10] . . . John and Robert Kennedy caused the death of Marilyn Monroe, the woman whose body John Kennedy enjoyed. . . . Both John and Robert Kennedy died, cut down in the summer of their years by assassins.”
Wow! I guess Abraham Lincoln should have kept his weenus in his pants, eh?
56 Tina . . . No, it’s not a democracy. It’s a republic. At least it was until the Republicans got ahold of it.
51. Ruvy:.. “But He was willing to delay for Ed.”
===========================
I think the good die young and the others are given a lot of time to repent and change their ways. I don’t think Teddy repented.
But TINA, we will be lost without a Kennedy in the Senate. Caroline would be perfect. She is very well qualified (she all alone edited a book of poetry). And she has very good taste. And dresses nicely. The country NEEDS a Kennedy.
Dead Ted. Doesn’t get any better than that.
As the morons tossing around the “murderer” epithet should now, murder requires premeditation. Thus the worst he could have been charged with was vehicular manslaughter.
I’m curious what other problems people have with him? His stance on immigration and on Israel certainly shouldn’t have given the neocons anything to be upset about.
“…spending the rest of his career in pseudo-remorse….”
Roger, how impressive that you can see into the very heart of a man and tell if his remorse is pseudo. And, btw, lose the hat. You look like Walter Winchell’s grandfather.
After 40 years Ted finally returns to check up on Mary Jo.
60 Markus.
61. bibio44:
Well done!
This has been a very bad summer. First Michael. Now Ted. very, very depressing.I think that Caroline would be a good idea. We all ned a laugh.
Bibio. But how would he hide the fact that he’s an ugly bald guy. Adding to that how incredibly stupid and vulgar he is…well, he’d seem pretty useless.
Every MSM story is going to tie his death with the “urgent need” for ObamaCare.
Markus is correct that manslaughter is not murder, but Ted’s selfish cowardice shouldn’t be glossed over — he should have spent time in prison for what he did.
Ruvy: Moses, in explaining how G-d views His enemies, says: And He repays His enemies in his lifetime to make him perish – He shall not delay for His enemy – in His lifetime He shall repay him.[D'varím/Deuteronomy 7:10]
Boy those European Jews must have been some kind of a-holes.
Now and Then: Remember this thread when Cheney DOES die, because that’s when you’re gonna demand grace in time of death, something this thread proves conservatives don’t have.
Right. As opposed to all the grace displayed by the grief-stricken Left at their havens on KOS and DU and elsewhere when Tony Snow died. That you can dare claim the moral high ground in such circumstances is beyond ridiculous.
MoHo: I see that you still have your finger up your nose. Is that a nervous tic, or what? Still getting your philosophy from comic books?
Edward Kennedy was a US Senator who did not believe in America. He did not believe in the Constitution and he did not believe in the Bill of Rights.
Ted Kennedy believed in Ted kennedy. He believed in power, privelege and prosperity for Ted Kennedy! He said whatever was necessary, supported whatever was necessary and believed whatever was necessary to further his own ends AT THE EXPENSE OF HIS OWN COUNTRY!
Ted Kennedy: Craven Coward, Wanton Philanderer, Unrepentant Opportunist, Casual Traitor.
THAT is his legacy!
71. Bonzo:
” That you can dare claim the moral high ground in such circumstances is beyond ridiculous.”
Typical. I’m not claiming the high ground. You are, even amidst this proof otherwise.
Ted “The Liar of the Senate” is dead !!! …. Damn, but it felt good writing that.
Well spoken, bubblehead @ 73.
The reaction of the government of Massachusetts to his request to change the law back to governmental appointment of successors says a great deal about how people in the Commonwealth feel about him today.
Comrades Now&Then and Moho(mmad),
At last! My collection is complete! A near mint JFK; a mint RFK; and now the Big Kahuna himself! What shall I do with my time? Ah, yes, Pelosis and Reids! Where to begin…where to begin?
Sincerely,
Can You Guess My Name?
WHOOOO!WHOOO! AHHHH YEAHH!
Carla, if you’re defending a Jewish guy who thinks that God punishes bad people with death, then you’re in a class of stupidity even lower than his.
Comrades Now&Then and Moho(mmad),
At long last, my collection is complete! A near mint JFK; A flawless RFK; and now the Big KAhuna himself! What shall I do now? Ah, yes, Pelosi and Reid! Where to begin…where to begin?
Sincerely,
Can You Guess My Name
WHOOO!WHOOO! AHH YEAH!
77. donttreadonme:
Has anybody here seen my old friend Dubya? Can you tell me where he’s gone?
Markus, your question assumes that they need a rationale for anything they do. You’re sadly mistaken.
We owe Mary Jo Kopechne a debt of gratitude, her death kept this degenerate out of the White House.
In any other jurisdiction, Teddy Kennedy would have served time; but the Progressive Socialists of Massachusetts love a despot.
Teddy has a huge debt to pay today and his Kennedy fortune isn’t going to help this time.
Teddy prepares for Hell
Today they laid Teddy in his coffin
He sat up and said, “You forgot sumthin”
“I don’t need pomp and circumstance
and get rid of the damned pants”
“I’ll just need a bottle of Irish Whiskey
In case I start feeling a little frisky”
“There will be a party in Hell, if I have my way
With all the Kennedy’s, the name must have some sway”
“Commies, Progressives, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot
We’ll have an orgy that wont soon be forgot”
Like it or not, when a public figure dies it seems our gut reaction probably could be compared to a Rorschach Test. Even when we feel moved by compassion, our initial reaction to a “celebrity” death sparks an immediate response. Then we spend the rest of the allotted media mourning coverage mud slinging or exalting the life. It’s all relevant. That’s life and death. More so if your famous.
Yeah, he’ll probably go out on the town with Reagan and Falwell.
Roger, time to enforce what’s left of the Moderators’ Rules. Where are they? Better still, require the use of Log-in and real names.
Sad that you extract one part of this gentleman’s life to support what you think of his 77 years of life. Others will cherish the man Ted Kennedy and what good he has brought to this great country.
“I’m curious what other problems people have with him?”
You mean, his forty-plus years as the Senate’s leading socialist? Do you really need a catalogue of his history of lies, crimes, and treasons?
86. John Becker:
“Roger, time to enforce what’s left of the Moderators’ Rules.”
Why now? What seems out of line to you?
Now and Then: Well, its all these people making ad hominem attacks on people making ad hominem attacks on a guy who’s body isn’t even cold yet. Waughhhh!.
Rotwang:
“The difference between Kennedy and Reagan is that Reagan outlived his own legacy.
Like all Irishmen, Kennedy laughed too often and too loudly. And like all conservatives, Reagan laughed too soon.”
Still whistling past the graveyard, eh? Keep it up- maybe you’ll keep yourself from hearing the sound of millions of Americans laughing at the epic incompetence of Barry O’Blarney.
Enjoy: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/52602
That’s right- 50 red states. It only took 6 months of Obama to remind Americans why they alwways hated leftists in the first place.
Bohemond:
Is it because he didn’t start a new war in his first six months of office?
Personally, I could care less about this bit of news. People die every day. Rather than speak ill of the dead, why not simply celebrate the empty seat in congress? The two needn’t be intertwined.
Meh.
Nearly any death is sad and it is only right to offer sympathies to Senator Kennedy’s family on the loss of a loved one. We will never know the extent of the senator’s remorse over the death of Mary Jo Kopechne. My guess would be that he felt it deeply and realized that he selfishly chose his political interests over doing the right thing. Even his most vociferous defenders will have to concede that he was only spared prosecution by his status as a Kennedy. Having said all that it is his legacy as a legislator that must ultimately concern us and that was almost completely bad. His hysterical and libelous campaign against Robert Bork did incalculable damage to the Supreme Court nomination process and opened up poisoned wells of partisan venom that apparantly will be with us always. He was a doctrinaire liberal Democrat who, like W.S. Gilbert’s Ruler of the Queen’s Navy, “Never thought of thinking for himself at all.” For the last twenty years he has been a caricature of the entrenched, bloated legislator who remained electable only because of a famous family name and the support of myriad special interests. Nevertheless, as for all men, may he rest in peace.
MOHO: When you type, is one finger still up your nose, or do you type with both hands? I figure, one hand. Since you seem to think with half a brain. It is indeed impressive, however, how you’ve worked out god, the universe,and all of that with one finger up you nose, and half a brain. God job, MoHo, good job. And please remember to flush.
I know he helped a hell of a lot more people than you have, you mean spirited twit.
Carla. I thought no one could be dummer than someone defending a Jew who thinks that God punishes the wicked with death. However, you’ve opened my mind. Every time I feel like I’ve touched bottom in this place, I discover an entirely new set of tunnels into the nether regions of stupidity where people like you, Carla, spend most of your time.
To the trolls:
I make this one exception to my no comment policy on the passing of Ted Kennedy.
Ted Kennedy may not be the villain that many, my self included, believe him to be but he was certainly no hero nor was he a person who cared about helping anybody other then himself. He was no different then the majority of the men and women who pass through Washington.
That is the biggest tragedy of the late Edward M. Kennedy.
#30 Poor Citizen
just what exactly did he do for you?
I’ll wait……
I am very reluctant to label you a liar, but I just don’t believe you can type so fast with one finger up your nose. Do you use voice recognition software? Again, please remember to flush. Can you reach the little lever?
Carla, I don’t think it’s his finger. It’s that other appendage. Just about the right size for a nostril.
I also recall his readiness to smear GOP nominees to the Supreme Court (not Bork, that’s too obvious), when Rehnquist was nominated for Chief Justice, Teddy tried to turn him into a bigot and anti-Semite by bringing up the Justice’s purchase of a house with a contract clause that said he couldn’t sell the house to Jews or blacks. Rehnquist stated that he knew that the clause was unenforceable so he went ahead and bought the house anyway. That wasn’t good enough for Kennedy, who still tried to paint the Justice with the ‘bigot’ brush. That backfired when it was brought up that the Kennedy’s had properties that had the same ‘no-black, no Jew’ clauses.
MOHO the JEW HATER is here spewing his vile BS as usual is it any wonder people such as him yjr scum of the earth love the COWARD TED Kennedy who RAN AWAY and left a woman to die of asphixiation to protect HIS Political future and is it any wonder the SAME DEMS and Kennedy family and MSM protected this scum then and protect the LIAR Messiah now. You truly belong with them JEW HATER
Not to worry, Pragmatist. Moho has lost his mojo on this blog. He has been blocked. (As it happens I am just back for a visit to the Venice ghetto, from which the name was derived. I doubt Moho, whoever he/she is, has visited.) Of course, if Moho would like to authentically identify him/herself, I would reconsider.
he deserves from us mortals a celebration of his life ….. while he descends on the immortal elevator to the bottom floor ne’er to return.
bye bye.
As it happens I am just back for a visit to the Venice ghetto, from which the name was derived.
Interesting. I’m recently back from Rome where I visited the 2000 year old Ghetto which, or so the guidebook informed, is where the name orginated. LOL. Well, we can be sure the name orginated somewhere in Italy, yes?
I see my last comment didn’t make it in either because of some glitch or because Roger didn’t want me to spill a “secret.” I’ll assume the latter and not repeat myself.
Sukie, according to Michelin, the word ghetto derives from the Venetian geto (mortar foundry). If incorrect, blame them.
Your other post was not blocked. For that, blame the Internet. Cheers.
Teddy Kennedy:
Drunken sot, serial adulterer, killer, limousine liberal.
He won’t be well remembered.
…#2…has Roger killed some young woman that we don’t know about????
just wondering….
All men die.
Not all men really live.
Even fewer really live it up after committing felony murder.
Perhaps they’ll rename Cape Wind in memory of Kennedy and Cronkite. Every blowhard needs a proper memorial.
Ted Kennedy received the best medical treatment money can buy. I hope he rests in peace. But I also hope that every American receives the same health care coverage that our elected employees in Congress and the White House receive. They work for us, not vice-versa. I realize that Nancy Pelosi can run up a pretty large medical tab. What does it cost to keep a mummy alive? But I’m willing to pay the tab as long I get the same health care insurance she does.
Now that he is in her neighborhood, perhaps the Senator could drop by May Jo’s and apologize.
Ted Kennedy drunk drove in to the River then the COWARD ran away to protect HIS Political life. Mary Jo Kopechne survived the crash and got in to an air pocket . But the disgusting COWARD Kennedy did not report the accident for HOURS and HOURS. So Mary Jo died not from the accident not from drowning but in AGONY and terror from asphyxiation because the COWARD Kennedy was HIDING to protect HIMSELF. The Kennedy clan the MSM and the Democratic Party all supported HIM the scum. These are the same people who are supporting and protecting the LIAR Messiah and Mohammedan BOGUS POTUS Barrack HUSSEIN Obama. Nothing changes with left wing ‘libtards’ does it. Anyone who thinks Kennedy deserves respect is a moron.
To claim that Ted Kennedy was a good, great, exemplary human would a lie. I don’t lie. Sorry for all the pain the Kennedy family had to live through because of his poor behavior and timely death.
Wait!! Perhaps from this ‘tragedy’ we can make the proverbial ‘lemonade.’ Perhaps a concerted effort can be made to transfer our “National Day of Service and Rememberance’ from the hallowed September 11th to August 26 — oh wait, then people would still remember what really happened on September 11th…..never mind! (Sarcasm intentional for all you libtard trolls).
…don’t know if anyone above linked to the following yet…
http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=5641
american liberals may forgive kennedy, but do the british parents of soldiers killed by american dollars raised by gerry adams who was given entry to the US to fundraise
american liberals may forgive kennedy for leaving a woman to drown in a car in shallow water off chappaquidick. and in fact americans have happily forgotten that jkennedy should have done time for negligent homicide because they like his glamour
americans get the country they deserve
To the one who said Kennedy never did an honest day’s work, didn’t he serve in the military in Korea?
@118. myth buster: – didn’t he serve in the military in Korea?
No.
Kennedy earned C grades at the private Milton Academy, but was admitted to Harvard as a “legacy” — his father and older brothers had attended there, so the younger and dimmer Kennedy’s admission was virtually assured. While attending, he was expelled twice, once for cheating on a test, and once for paying a classmate to cheat for him. While expelled, Kennedy enlisted in the Army, but mistakenly signed up for four years instead of two. His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to England, pulled the necessary strings to have his enlistment shortened to two years, and to ensure that he served in Europe, not Korea, where a war was raging. Kennedy was assigned to Paris, never advanced beyond the rank of Private, and returned to Harvard upon being discharged.
“Mary Jo Kopeckne finally gets her day.”
Maybe the Kopeckne family is now free of the contract they signed and can now speak their mind about what happened.
Never speak ill of the dead. You’re gonna be that way soon enough yourself.
GLENN: So?
“Dick Cheney just died”
it’s funny Wikipedia tells he WAS from french origin :
“Selon les affirmations de Lynne Cheney à la télévision le 17 octobre 2007, Barack Obama aurait un ancêtre commun avec Dick Cheney et l’ancien président Harry Truman : Marin Duval, un protestant Français, né à Laval ou Nantes au XVIIe siècle”
ah then I’m not surprised of his charism !
OK, il est pas mort, mais ça va “jaser” quand il le sera !
I guess there’s no reason to feel bad about making fun of Ronald Reagan’s rotting carcass being stuck in my home town.
Ronnie. What a douche.
Never speak ill of the dead. You’re gonna be that way soon enough yourself.
Did you know that Hitler, Stalin, Guevara and Jack the Ripper are dead? Did you know that just telling the truth is not speaking ill?
This traitor advised the Soviet Union during the 1980s on how best to fight President Reagan’s initiatives in Europe, hoping to continue the enslavement of millions behind the Iron Curtain, and prevent America’s victory in the the Cold War. That he should be buried in Arlington Cemetary among heroes is a travesty.
OKI quelqu’um n’aime pas mon humour
Senator Edward Kennedy, R.I.P.
Just curious, doesn’t this:
“This was not a life well lived”
violate your own rule against ad hominem attacks? Or is OK right after they die? This is profoundly sad.
And Oldsmobile buried as sea would be much more fitting.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1110231.html
he wasn’t regarded as an enemy
I don’t think Ted Kennedy was in the care. From a reason and logic standpoint, I don’t think he was even aware it happened at first.
From what I’ve read, it seems more logical – though no less revolting – that Kennedy tried something extremely inappropriate (I won’t use the word out of respect for the dead), Mary Jo beat the drunk off, dumped him on the side of the road, then drove off a missing bridge she knew nothing about, too upset to notice the signs.
With no ride or ferry back to the hotel, being drunk (I’ve come up with worse ideas when I was drunk), decided to swim across the bay.
That explains why he acted as if he knew nothing the next morning. Because he didn’t.
Here’s where my theory gets really ugly. The police find the car, know its Kennedy’s, keep it under wraps, contact him, to see if he’s alive. Kennedy, caught completely off guard, calls his lawyers and advisers. They conclude it’s politically spinnable if Kennedy says he was in the car, and tried to save her, rather than what got him thrown out of the car.
They go public with the lie, and have been dealing with the fall out from it ever since, mostly with money and sympathy from the Kennedy name.
Yo, Marie-Claude. Would that be a masculine or feminine name? Or still undecided? Not to worry. You’re still a ditz.
EdSki:
Whatever. It’s as plausible as most of the stuff that passes for informed comment around here.
#131: “That he should be buried in Arlington Cemetery among heroes is a travesty.”
It is not only a travesty, but ironic. In death, as in life, Ted Kennedy will be surrounded by his betters. Planting yourself in their midst does not make you one of them. True heroes EARNED a place of rest at Arlington.
EdSki –
Interesting theory, and one I don’t recall ever hearing before. If there were someone who had seen Mary Jo driving by herself but who had been kept quiet since the story was already released, it would sure explain her family staying quiet like they have. I always wondered why they would.
If it unfolded the way you theorize, they could have gone to the family(maybe with something we don’t know) that showed it was an accident, put her in a good light for fighting him off, and put Teddy in the role of a helpless drunk rather than as an irresponsible nitwit. The family is then looking at forgiving him for making a pass not for leaving her, lots of cash, and his fate is in their hands after they know it was an accident and that his drinking is out of control. There’s a lot of psychological territory to cover in thinking that one through, but as I said I never understood the mindset that would keep them silent under the prevailing theory of what happened.
Regards
119. myth buster wrote:
To the one who said Kennedy never did an honest day’s work, didn’t he serve in the military in Korea?
Peter writes: Nope. Daddy got him cushy honor guard duty in Paris. He was discharged a PFC 2 years later. Never served a day in combat.
gmallet
#118
Its so nice to be visited by those without the gift of education. Ted Kennedy believed in education and the fact that those without hope or a gifted colour of religion or race might have a chance. Unlike the Brits, Americans like Ted Kennedy understood this and promoted it. Something not liked by Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler, the Lunatic Fringe and yourself. OBviously.
133. EdSki wrote:
From what I’ve read, it seems more logical – though no less revolting – that Kennedy tried something extremely inappropriate (I won’t use the word out of respect for the dead), Mary Jo beat the drunk off, dumped him on the side of the road, then drove off a missing bridge she knew nothing about, too upset to notice the signs.
With no ride or ferry back to the hotel, being drunk (I’ve come up with worse ideas when I was drunk), decided to swim across the bay.
That explains why he acted as if he knew nothing the next morning. Because he didn’t.
Peter writes: You need to fact check before you make suppositions.
It is known, and pictures prove this, that the bridge was there, whole, and usable. Pictures show where the car went over the side almost halfway across.
And Kennedy certainly knew what he did, because instead of informing anyone (like perhaps calling the police/fire from the house less than 600 feet away) he ran back to where the party he had just left was taking place and told two people, one of them his lawyer, what had just occurred. All three returned to the bridge where one of the friends tried to see if he could somehow help Mary Jo, but was unable to find the car underwater in the dark.
I would direct you to a web site that told the whole story with all the facts as they have been ascertained, but I notice it has mysteriously been taken down now. It used to link here;
http://www.peoplesfreepress.com/HTM%20folder/ted_kennedy_accident_chappaquidd.htm
My sympathies to the Kennedy family.
Bubblehead – (140)
the link you posted seems to be just a way to generate a bundle of hits. I got real estate, restaruants, and so forth in the chapaquiddick area, but not a thing about Kennedy. I was hoping for a picture of the bridge from the road, but the link for photos went to the same set of crap as all the others did.
have a nice day
142. Rashputin wrote:
the link you posted seems to be just a way to generate a bundle of hits.
Peter writes: As I said, the site it linked to with all the facts has mysteriously disappeared.
What a coincidence!
In addition to all of the comments about Kopechne, Bork, the selling out of the US military, one must consider Kennedy’s status as a rabid anti-gun legislator. Arguably, no one person did more damage to gun rights in the US over the last half-century, and cemented Kennedy’s status as the most-depised American elected official (until the ascendency of Obama).
Kennedy’s disgust with the Constitution was plain.
He had much to do with my, and millions of others’, coversion from ’60s liberal-progressive-lefty into modern conservatives.
That would be the finest aspect of Kennedy’s legacy.
Arlington Acres Family Plot: Eternal Flame for Jack, Perpetual Waterfall for Bobby, Wind Tunnel for the Blowhard.
Roger,
To change the subject, but not quite a non sequitor, if we haven’t lost you or you aren’t lost in transit, do you have any reflections on the passing of Dom Dunne?
108. Roger L Simon: Sukie, according to Michelin, the word ghetto derives from the Venetian geto (mortar foundry). If incorrect, blame them.
Wiki, for what it’s worth, agrees with Michelin. Maybe my guide thought he was in Venice.
Your other post was not blocked. For that, blame the Internet. Cheers.
Odd, it’s been cybernapped a couple of times now. Wonder if it’s because I used a three letter word that goes with magna and laude but without the magna and laude. Anyhow, if I’m not mistaken, literary agent/blogosphere doyenne Lucianne Goldberg was a boiler room girl and at that party and she’s kept quiet all these years (not even one little dish in all that time). Maybe now that Ted’s dead…
Dominick Dunne–an interesting man who lead an interesting life and seemed to know everything about everybody (I remember reading that Nancy Reagan went down to LA once a week during the OJ trial to have lunch with Dominick and her good friend Betsy Bloomingdale and catch up on all the inside scoop). He was one of my favorite true crime writers and I would have loved to have had lunch with him, too. I’ll never forget the look on his face as they were reading the OJ verdict. And now he’s reunited with his daughter. RIP.
Your a real d-bag for writing this trash.
Like every other RICO-racketeering component part of the vast institutionalized criminal cult that prefers we call it by its other name, the “Democratic” potty, the effectively treasonous rapist-murderer and actually un-and-anti-American, recidivist, lying, looting, thieving, abjectly corrupt war-profiteer, Edward Moore “Teddy” Kennedy, was a coward.
And has likely gone straight to Hell.
Too bad there are not more (“Democrats”) like him.
Brian Richard Allen
Lost Angels – Califokennedycated 90028
And the Far Abroad
TW, #149
Your facility at communication is amazing in its depth.
Lynn, in comment 130, wrote:
Just curious, doesn’t this:
“This was not a life well lived”
violate your own rule against ad hominem attacks? Or is OK right after they die? This is profoundly sad.
Ad hominem is the logically fallacy of attempting to refute a person’s argument by impugning their moral character. It is of the form, “Person X is immoral, therefore his argument is false.”
Roger didn’t do that — and neither has anyone in these comments. Stating that, “Person X is immoral, and I condemn him for it”, is not ad hominem.
What is truly sad is to see this lifetime looter and practicer-of-charity-with-extorted-funds revered as if he had actually produced something of value during his life. He didn’t.
Good news, gang. It is Thursday, and he is still dead. I understand that the Wiz will be delivering the eulogy. He’ll use it to push Obama-care. Can they fit a teleprompter into the church??
I am surprised by some of the comments, i thought you americans loved the Kennedys.
153. carla asked:
Can they fit a teleprompter into the church??
Peter replies: It’s not a question of CAN they, but HOW MANY?
Maybe Sarah Palin should deliver the eulogy. She doesn’t use a teleprompter. Oh wait, yes she does. Never mind.
Now and Then: Yeah, but the Wiz won’t be able to take a piss without the teleprompter.
What most heartens me at this sad time is the thought that when he died, the last thing he was able to see was the pristine view of an undefiled coastline he so bravely protected from the blight of wind turbines. He was a man of principle. And, of course, he expected everyone but himself to follow those principles.
I wonder how Teleprompter Barbie will spin this Eulogy. If anything it will be version of ‘do it for the sipper [I mean gipper]‘.
Give the devil his due, Ted Kennedy did accomplish something good in the Senate.
@160. LarryD: – Ted Kennedy did accomplish something good in the Senate.
True. And the cynicism engendered by the rest of his record inclines one to expect that he was well-compensated in both cases by whomever stood to benefit from those legislative aberrations.
160, yes, I do remember that, and yes, I remember how odd that seemed.
Every once in a while an issue does come along that oddly pits the entire populace from left to right against the political class. The most recent example was Kelo, which had everybody from Reason magazine to Kos criticizing it, and everyone from the beltway pundits to the mayors saying how great it was.
I don’t remember what the deal was with trucking deregulation. Didn’t the Teamsters piss him off?
“markus” wrote:
“As the morons tossing around the “murderer” epithet should now, murder requires premeditation. Thus the worst he could have been charged with was vehicular manslaughter.”
Wow, what a ringing defense of Teddy.
“I’m curious what other problems people have with him? His stance on immigration and on Israel certainly shouldn’t have given the neocons anything to be upset about.”
The classic symptom of the antisemitic personality syndrome is bringing up da Jooos when it is totally off-topic. Ooh, he didn’t mention “Jooos”, just Israel and “neocons”, sorry. I am so damned proud that a gutless, amoral ignoramus and degenerate like “markus” hates Jews.
Again, it’s the media that shares much of the blame. George Allen says “macaca” and his political career is over. Kennedy leaves someone to die in his car and still runs for president. Bush is ridiculed for being stupid and having his dad pull strings to get him into Yale (but he goes on to get accepted at Harvard Business School), while Teddy is expelled (twice!) from Harvard for cheating but still graduates. Teddy served in Paris during the Korean War and we find out that Bush volunteered to go to Vietnam. But Bush is declared the coward. Anonymous sources say that there is an appearance of impropriety between McCain and a lobbyist and it is front page NY Times news. Edwards has a child out of wedlock and even after it is reported, it is completely ignored. The double standard should be shocking.
DOTTY you must be dotty.
Wow, some nastiness going around about good old Teddy. Really, we don’t need to be spouting off about this guy when the facts can speak louder than anything. He did lots of stuff in his life, some of it was stuff that he shouldn’t have been proud of. He also did some stuff he could be proud of (I guess). He’s dead and that is that. History will pass its own judgement on him. It will probably not be that good, but then again he had two tough acts to follow and he never really wanted too. Let’s not make him into a hero or villian, let’s just let him fade and let history judge.
All that aside, I never did understand that whole “Camelot” ideal. Must be a boomer thing. But if JFK was Arthur, and RFK was Lancelot, that would mean that Ted was Sir Robin, right?
I think I feel lyrics to a country song working in my head. Something about ” a lonely bar stool in DC tonight”
Funny, I was thinking of
Bridge Over Troubled Waters.
Bridge Over Troubled Waters
You people are crazy the man did so much good in his life, most people cannot compare.
He had some bad things in his private life we all no about, but he had many many good accomplishments also.
Just a few off the top of my head is Ted Kennedy working on raising minimum wage, work on health care reform, his work on soldiers in Iraq having adequate armour.
Also work on overhauling the nation’s immigration laws with McCain and the No Child Left Behind legislation.
The people of Massachusetts elected him nine times, not just because he was a Kennedy but
Because the good he did for them and the nation, this part is from wikipedia.org
More than 300 bills that Kennedy and his staff wrote were enacted into law. He was known for working with Republicans and finding compromises among senators with disparate views. Kennedy played a major role in passing many laws, including laws addressing immigration, cancer research, health insurance, apartheid, disability discrimination, AIDS care, civil rights, mental health benefits, children’s health insurance, education and volunteering. In the 2000s, he led several unsuccessful immigration reform efforts. Over the course of decades, Kennedy’s “cause of my life” was enactment of universal health care, which he continued to work toward during the Obama administration.
There were many more.
I would personally like to remember the good and the sacrifice him and his family made for this country.
Remember they are rich and do not need to work and be in the public eye, this is done because they must truly believe in helping this country and love it.
As a poor person I’m glad to have someone thinking of my problems and doing what they could in public office to help people in my position.
The reason for Ted’s “cause of his life” was that his son had cancer and the Kennedy dynasty could afford to treat him.
He wanted everyone in the U.S. to have the same care he could afford, paid for with someone else’s money; the same way he wanted energy independence without wind farms to block his view and spoil his sailing trips off his coastline.
A “let them eat cake” kind of guy.
Poor Mike (@170)wants up to honor Sen. Kennedy for a variety of “good” deeds. Unfortunately, most of the deeds Mike finds “good” are actually liberal fallacies.
The minimum wage actually hurts people at the lower end of the wage scale since it reduces their employment opportunities as employers react totally rationally. The benefit accrues to highly paid union workers who have contracts pegged to increases in the minimum wage.
Kennedy’s efforts to bring socialized medicine to the U.S. are bad for dozens of reasons that those who study the economics of the full chain of health care from R&D to home hospice care understand quite well.
Kennedy’s blind following on the embryonic stem cell research bandwagon was a disgrace. In less than 3 years after it was a big political issue, researchers have found that they can do plenty of amazing things with adult stem cells. No need to carve up embryos. I am heartened that the Pope is choosing to remain silent on Kennedy’s passing. The letter Kennedy gave Obama to deliver to the Pope was the height of gall with the possible exception of Kennedy trying to reverse the election law he just pushed through 5 years ago.
As a Mass. native I can tell you that the poor voters of Massachusetts were left in the dark over the bulk of Kennedy’s career about real issues. The Bay State press is the poster child for being in the tank for “their” politicians. Most Mass. voters couldn’t evaluate the conservative positions on issues because they never heard or read them. Only as the Net allowed people to investigate more policies have people (slowly) awakened to what a poor senator he really was.
I choose to ignore all of his personal weaknesses–as a politician he was a disaster for this country.
I saw how he treated people, including his family. Let the dead bury the dead and end this thread.
Hey Roger…you should change the comments scroll to display the most recent comments first, not last.
And what’s up with protecting Esther Newberg’s identity? In the age of Google (and Imus, where she is/was a frequent guest), that is kind of pointless and fruitless don’t you think???
Thank you #174 for pointing out that it was not L. Goldberg but E. Newberg. — I still have the transcript of “The Inquest” which sold for a buck 40 years ago…