Ted Kennedy, in the end the biggest Kennedy of them all
Ted Kennedy was a spoiled rich kid whose mischief ended up killing a girl one night, and only his family’s wealth and connections saved him from prison.
That’s one way to tell the story, and as far as it goes, it’s tragically accurate. That’s also the one-sentence version of a complex life that many of his bitter enemies preferred to tell and would still prefer today, at Kennedy’s passing at the age of 77.
But Kennedy, to his credit, refused to let that sentence or that night confine him, and the country is a better place as a result.
In a strange way, the accident on Chappaquiddick may even have magnified Kennedy’s place in the history books. If it prevented him from becoming president, the supposed pinnacle of political achievement, well, presidents come and go. Even while in office, their impact on the country’s course is often exaggerated, and once their term ends, their power ends and they wander off into a long anti-climax.
Chappaquiddick helped ensure that Kennedy’s life played out in the Senate instead, where over the decades he would accumulate power, build relationships and craft legislation that affected millions of his fellow Americans. Today, Barack Obama is vacationing as president on Martha’s Vineyard — the site of Chappaquiddick — in part because at a critical point in the ‘08 campaign, the Kennedy stamp of approval was placed upon him. Just a few days ago, John McCain mused publicly that the current health-care debate would be playing out very differently had Kennedy been around to guide the behind-the-scenes politics.
Kennedy did make one major grab for the presidency, and it was not his finest moment. His behavior in the 1980 presidential primaries, when he tried and failed to unseat Jimmy Carter as the Democratic nominee, was petty and vindictive. But it also reflected who he was: Beneath the glamor and the glitz, the Kennedys played to win, and politics ain’t for the faint-hearted. They may have played games of touch football on the lawn at Hyannisport, but when it came time for politics, they strapped on the helmets and pads and they would hit you hard. The aristocratic, New England veneer could not always disguise the striving of a hard-nosed immigrant clan.
My grandmother, an Irish Catholic herself, for years kept a shrine of sorts on the fireplace mantle for the sainted John Kennedy. And when I was a kid, my dad was stationed for several years at an Air Force base on Cape Cod, not far from the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport. Whenever a dark-windowed limousine was spotted traveling on Route 3, the only highway from Boston onto the Cape, someone would inevitably nod and say, “Must be a Kennedy.” Limousines were much more rare back then, and the only people anyone could conceive of traveling that way were the local aristocracy, the Kennedys.
Years later, early in my journalism travels when I was working at a small newspaper in western Massachusetts, I ended up meeting Kennedy. What I remember most was not the man but the impact he had on other people. It was my first up-close look at the power of charisma. People came from all over the plant and all over town — secretaries, drivers, ad salesmen, even the gruff, cynical printers — they lined the walls of the newsroom in hopes of seeing a Kennedy, and they became giddy in his presence. That taught me something you can’t find in a poli sci textbook.
The most convincing testament to Kennedy’s aura, however, comes from his fellow senators. They’re an egotistical bunch, 100 would-be presidents in waiting, and they’re not easily impressed with each other. But over the past couple of decades, even Kennedy’s most conservative colleagues would speak of him with respect, even reverence. Given enough time, he had grown into himself, and he left a legacy that far outweighs those of the brothers in whose shadow he struggled.
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453 comments Add your comment
Peadawg
August 26th, 2009
9:25 am
“I do respect the man for not wasting his life and for trying to atone for what happened.”
He never paid the price for what he did. He never did any jail time. How can you respect him for using his name and money to get out of doing ANYTHING to atone for what he did?
William
August 26th, 2009
9:25 am
disgusted
August 26th, 2009
9:24 am
Amen!
stands for decibels
August 26th, 2009
9:25 am
Fitting tribute, Jay.
And never mind the bollocks.
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
August 26th, 2009
9:25 am
middler and so tired of all the rhetoric :
August 26th, 2009
9:16 am
Teddy never took responsibility for his actions – never. Teddy never asked for forgiveness, or, I believe, at least, I would have remember the news conference in which he said, “I was responsible for her death and will accept all consequences. Please forgive me.” As such, he deserves no forgiveness, his inherent evil is separate from his good deeds and different only from the evil of Hitler or Manson by an order or magnitude.
One has to be amazed at the liberals who want Vick banned from the NFL because he, allegedly, electrocuted a pitbull or two, but praise the virtue of Kennedy.
getalife
August 26th, 2009
9:26 am
Stay classy cons.
Geez.
Normal
August 26th, 2009
9:26 am
William, I know of at least one…Me
Rev. Right
August 26th, 2009
9:26 am
rip Ted, I hope the dems use this as motivation to go forward with health care, and say screw the great unwashed minority that opposes it.
mm
August 26th, 2009
9:26 am
Ah yes, the wingnuts are showing their lack of education again. Ted did not commit murder. Maybe manslaughter. Murder is premeditated.
But hey, Bush caused over 4000 deaths. So STFU.
NRB
August 26th, 2009
9:26 am
One socialist scumbag down, millions to go.
Ted Kennedy did more harm to this nation than a thousand 9/11s could possibly do.
Good riddance.
Mrs. Godzilla
August 26th, 2009
9:27 am
William
and Bugs Bunny has a saying too
“What a maroon”
So ?
N-GA
August 26th, 2009
9:27 am
Paul,
This blog usually sinks to the lowest common denominator. But today it is hitting new lows…the vitriol is stunning in its hatred. Perhaps we’ll connect later on a new thread.
Peadawg
August 26th, 2009
9:28 am
So now I’m a “hater” for not respecting a guy that didn’t take responsibility for killing another human? LOL!
USinUK
August 26th, 2009
9:29 am
peadawg –
“He never paid the price for what he did. He never did any jail time. How can you respect him for using his name and money to get out of doing ANYTHING to atone for what he did?”
just out of curiosity … are you as angry about Laura Bush, as well?? car accident that resulted in the death of someone …
TnGelding
August 26th, 2009
9:30 am
He was just another flawed individual that failed the true tests of greatness. Being the youngest he probably was spoiled beyond redemption by a less than perfect family. But then, they were just human beings, not gods.
Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton might have a disagreement with you about the lives of ex-presidents, Jay.
Jackie Kennedy Onassis
August 26th, 2009
9:30 am
“…an awkward young man, kindve like a lumbering oaf that just never seemed to quite fit in although he would interject himself into the most intelligent of conversations only to walk away rejecting himself.
His disdain for anything moral was quite perplexing and as Jack once said of Teddy…of us all Teddy is the most likely to cause major embarrassment.
Yes I think its fair to say I just didnt have a high opinion of teddy. I just didnt like him.”
JKO
USinUK
August 26th, 2009
9:30 am
peadawg – oh, and no alcohol tests were performed on her, either.
nana
August 26th, 2009
9:31 am
It was said we’re all imperfect, true statement but not all of us are “like Teddy”.
Peadawg
August 26th, 2009
9:31 am
Did Laura Bush take responsibility for her actions and did she do any jail time? I’m guessing that happened before I was born or when I was young…I didn’t know she did that.
NRB
August 26th, 2009
9:32 am
Of course liberals defend a scumbag who murdered an innocent girl. Why not? They fawn over Clinton, who butchered 88+ women and children at Waco.
Plus Kennedy is responsible for flooding this country with immigrants, and ruining it.
Thanks ted.
Hope the hot coals of hell are burning your nuts right now, pig.
The Ghost of Mary Jo
August 26th, 2009
9:32 am
Stop it Teddy!! I am a respectable woman! Stop putting your hands there!!!
Midori
August 26th, 2009
9:32 am
RIP, Senator. You were loved, admired, and revered.
wonder if all of these idiots spitting and belching about someone being a murderer will turn up when Laura Bush goes?
AmVet
August 26th, 2009
9:32 am
What a glorious morning in Georgia!
And for the vile, hate-filled “Christians” and execrable little American Nazis of the far right wing – including the White Welcher, George Aryan, Butt Wiper, Fecal Fergie and their host of nameless and cowardly trolls – a wonderful thing has happened.
An American man they despise is now gone, so they rejoice.
Pathetic? I think so. Christian? You betcha! It’s God’s will that he died and that they party!
But it speaks volumes about THEM, their enraged impotence and their miserable psychopathic and misanthropic lives and very little about Kennedy. Or anyone else.
Granted this good news is NOT as wonderful as Jim Adkisson killing liberals in a Tennessee church, or the “heroic” Timothy McVeigh showing those enemies in the American government what he was made of, but it’s not bad for a Wednesday morning, is it cons?
Your vomitous and ever growing need to hate can now be proudly unleashed for a day or so as your convulsions are coalesced and misdirected at this one single individual.
But we more reasoned and reasonable see that he is merely an archetype for the innumerable people in this country that you MUST hate. Including everyone who does not believe as you and everything you cannot understand.
But your deep emotional malignancy and unabashed evil natures will not be healed by this.
There is no redemption for you and your self-destructive loathing will only grow.
Tomorrow you will be even more irrationally hateful and hopefully for you someday you will again quietly celebrate when the next right-wing scumbag kills Innocent people again…
But I do not pity you little emasculated thug. But I also am not foolish enough to deny it when I see evil.
As you mock your own god…
N-GA
August 26th, 2009
9:33 am
I just cannot leave without one more observation.
I suspect that Peadog respects (former) Lt. William Calley who was convicted at trial of personally killing 22 unarmed Vietnames civilians. His unit killed more than 200 civilians that day. He spent 3 years under house arrest until his sentance was reduced. Then President Ford gave him a Presidential pardon. BTW, he apologized for the first time just a few days ago.
just sayin…..
Rev. Right
August 26th, 2009
9:33 am
nrb@9:26….Thats is a truly pathetic statement.
No wonder the right wing southern conservative is going the way of the dinosaur, society has passed you mongrels by
NRB
August 26th, 2009
9:33 am
“just out of curiosity … are you as angry about Laura Bush, as well?? car accident that resulted in the death of someone …”
—————————–
Was Laura Bush drunk, like Teddy was? Did Laura Bush leave the scene for 24 hours and THEN report it? Typical dumb worthless liberal. A stain on humanity. You people stop at nothing to defend criminals and perverts. It must be a brain problem.
stands for decibels
August 26th, 2009
9:34 am
Downstairs, USinUK observed:
and i’m sure mike will be in here later, clutching his pearls and swooning onto his fainting couch over all the people who are so coarse in their discourse at TK’s passing.
Patience. He’s got to find the right outfit for such a landing.
Peadawg
August 26th, 2009
9:35 am
Everyone that is saying Ted was such a good guy and bashing me for the way I feel about a murderer…I’m 99% positive you would be acting different if the girl he killed was YOUR daughter.
NRB
August 26th, 2009
9:35 am
Granted this good news is NOT as wonderful as Jim Adkisson killing liberals in a Tennessee church, or the “heroic” Timothy McVeigh showing those enemies in the American government what he was made of, but it’s not bad for a Wednesday morning, is it cons?
————————————————————-
Yeah it would have been better if it happened 40 years ago, but better late than never. You crippled moron.
Curious Observer
August 26th, 2009
9:36 am
And William, here’s another liberal who served. BTW, how many years did you serve?
everyone else
August 26th, 2009
9:37 am
Amvet speaks for more of us than you know. The hate and venom being spewed by morons claiming to be christians is disgusting.
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
August 26th, 2009
9:37 am
Hey, it ain’t all about Chappaquidick, here are some other examples of the liberal prince’s character:
Thrown out of Harvard for cheating on Spanish exam;
Kicked out of Army Intelligence School – “moral turpitude”;
Used father’s political connections (cuts both ways, doesn’t it) to sit out Vietnam War in Paris;
Cheated on wife;
Drunken driving;
Cocaine use;
Large gambling debts;
Misuse of wealth to subvert Catholic doctrine on divorce
and, on and on.
I, for one, saw the sot projectile vomit in the men’s grill at Shinnecock.
Yet, he remains the Democrat vision of uber-man.
Paul
August 26th, 2009
9:37 am
N-GA 9:21
You nailed that one, didn’t you? Perhaps if he’d have been in better health to, as Jay wrote, exert some behind the scenes influence. But that’s something else we’ll never know.
Your 9:27: I thought this might happen. It has. I’m off to the gym.
Later –
Oh, your 9:33: I believe the proper response is , “But, but…. that’s different!”
NRB
August 26th, 2009
9:37 am
No wonder the right wing southern conservative is going the way of the dinosaur, society has passed you mongrels by
————————————————-
We’ll just see in 2010, won’t we bud.
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
9:38 am
AmVet – Pot calling the kettle black???
You? You lecturing everyone else on morality? HA!!!
Way to go sporto.
Not Scared
August 26th, 2009
9:39 am
Ted Kennedy, RIP. I can’t say that I am not glad to see you out of the Senate. Too bad you didn’t retire years ago.
NRB
August 26th, 2009
9:39 am
Amvet speaks for more of us than you know. The hate and venom being spewed by morons claiming to be christians is disgusting.
————————————————–
I’m not a christian, and I did cartwheels this morning when I read the good news….just like Obama did on 9/11
Not all conservatives are Jesus freaks, you know.
But of course, Ted was such a hero to the liberals: a drunk that murdered an innocent girl. How fitting. How typical.
USinUK
August 26th, 2009
9:41 am
nrb and peadawg –
as I stated further up – no alcohol tests were performed, so we’ll never know if she was drinking.
but, no she didn’t do any jail time.
I Report/ Vast White Wing Conspirator (-: You Whine )-:
August 26th, 2009
9:41 am
Amvet speaks for more of us than you know. The hate and venom being spewed by morons claiming to be christians is disgusting.
You wouldn’t know what Christianity was even if you fell over it, heathen.
Go worship your idols, steal your way through life and stfu.
Normal
August 26th, 2009
9:41 am
NRB, You are truly laughable.
Mrs. Godzilla
August 26th, 2009
9:42 am
William
liberals who served?
my dad, my 9 uncles,7 cousins, my 2 grand dads and 1 grandmom…..
Joe Kennedy, Jack Kennedy, John Kerry, Al Gore, Jim Webb, Jimmy Carter
NRB
August 26th, 2009
9:42 am
as I stated further up – no alcohol tests were performed, so we’ll never know if she was drinking.
—————————-
And only a lunatic would equate a genuine accident with someone who WAS drunk, let a girl drown, and didn’t report it for a full day. You have a mental disorder that needs to be addressed, that is if you don’t mind waiting 24 months for treatment over there in the land of rotted teeth. Idiot.
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
9:42 am
What does the hate have to do with Christianity?
stands for decibels
August 26th, 2009
9:43 am
I’m guessing that happened before I was born or when I was young…I didn’t know she did that.
And you don’t know that she did that, likely, because every single liberal in your presence didn’t feel it was a sacred duty to make a point of screaming and carrying about that long-ago incident any time her name was mentioned.
Yes, there are some lefties who did/still do, but the number of “Laura Bush Murdered her Boyfriend” refs you’ll find online are probably about 0.000001% that of what we’ve seen about Ted.
That’s the analogy to draw from, here.
Shawny
August 26th, 2009
9:44 am
Absolutely could not stand the man. Disagreed with his “principles” almost 100%. But I will not rip on him now that he has passed. He was passionate toward his ideals.
Interesting how the dems slipped in the provision to not allow Mitt Romney to appoint Kerry’s replacement had he won the presidential election. Now they wish that wasn’t the law as it will take months to replace TK. eh, what goes around, comes around. Hopefully, it will be enough to delay that govt option of healthcare beyond hope of passing. That option would be financial ruin for us.
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
9:44 am
NRB – 9:42 – nominated “Best Of”!
ty webb
August 26th, 2009
9:44 am
Did she let someone drown while leaving the scene all the while worrying about her political future? If so then I would her in the same contempt. That being said, I didn’t want to dive into this because I didn’t want to speak ill of the dead. But Laura Bush’s accident is not comparable to Chappaquiddick.
jack
August 26th, 2009
9:44 am
You seriously have to wonder if any of you right wing nut jobs understand the word: HYPOCRISY.
Ted Kennedy did not murder anyone. A woman died while he was driving drunk, and he should have been punished for it. But your heros George W. Bush drove drunk (and had his conviction illegally wiped from the books when he was Governor) and Dick Cheney drove drunk on many occasions (3 DUIs) and Cheney was almost certainly drunk when he shot his friend in the face but hid out for 24 hours til he could clear his blood alcohol.
Its interesting how you right wing nut jobs never forget mistakes made by liberals but have amnesia about conservatives. How convenient that you forget how Bush and Cheney dodged the draft (Bush using his connections to get into the guard despite having the bottom 25% on his test scores) and Cheney taking 7 deferments and then saying he didn’t defend his country “because he had better things to do at the time.”.
Your rantings say much more about you than about Ted Kennedy. But most likely, your double-digit IQs (that means lower than 100) might explain it all.
Normal
August 26th, 2009
9:45 am
You wouldn’t know what Christianity was even if you fell over it, heathen.
Go worship your idols, steal your way through life and stfu.
Truly, a Christian attitude…you are even more laughable than NRB, and that’s saying something…You’d better read your Bible again, and repeat until it sinks in…just sayin’
Paul
August 26th, 2009
9:46 am
Shawny
[[Absolutely could not stand the man. Disagreed with his “principles” almost 100%. But I will not rip on him now that he has passed.]]
That is called ‘good manners.’ Congratulations.
Out -
everyone else
August 26th, 2009
9:46 am
Whiner, while I am a Christian, I don’t turn the other cheek quite like I should. You are stupid worthless human who spends his entire day, every day, spewing hate and nonsense. And I’d love to meet you behind the woodshed to do what your daddy should have done years ago. I’m thinking you’re a coward, as well as a loser.
Peadawg
August 26th, 2009
9:47 am
Hey Jack…did W kill someone while driving drunk? Did Cheney kill anyone while driving drunk? I don’t recall that ever happening.
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
9:47 am
Comparing Laura Bush to Ted Kennedy is like comparing Shirley Temples to Kamikazes.
RW-(the original)
August 26th, 2009
9:47 am
Yes, there are some lefties who did/still do, but the number of “Laura Bush Murdered her Boyfriend” refs you’ll find online are probably about 0.000001% that of what we’ve seen about Ted.
A google search of “Laura Bush murdered her boyfriend” returns 127,000 results while a similar search using Kennedy returns 9.
Joey
August 26th, 2009
9:48 am
Normal (8:56):
You compare a 49 year year old female from Alaska, who’s parents were teachers to a 77 year old man from a wealthy New England family who’s brother was President and who himself was a Senator for 47 years; and you determine that the woman comes up short.
You are the one who comes up short in that comparision.
Mrs. Godzilla
August 26th, 2009
9:48 am
Who would Jesus tell to STFU?
truth b known
August 26th, 2009
9:48 am
So long, Teddy. You were a bully that never had a real job.
I Report/ Vast White Wing Conspirator (-: You Whine )-:
August 26th, 2009
9:49 am
Ephesians 5:11 – Do not have fellowship with sin, but reprove it.
Blow it out your……uh, well, whatever (-:
USinUK
August 26th, 2009
9:49 am
“You wouldn’t know what Christianity was even if you fell over it, heathen”
hrm. how did that quote from Jesus go again??? “fudge not lest ye be made of fudge” … no, that doesn’t sound right … “drudge not lest ye be forced to read crappy internet news” … no, that can’t be it … grudge not … budge not …
gimme a minute, I’m sure it’ll come to me …
Peadawg
August 26th, 2009
9:49 am
“And I’d love to meet you behind the woodshed to do what your daddy should have done years ago. I’m thinking you’re a coward, as well as a loser.”
And you said you’re a Christian? Wow.
Durrrr
August 26th, 2009
9:49 am
Burn in hell you dirt basterd.
Ticketmaster
August 26th, 2009
9:49 am
Why did you take down the comment someone made a little while ago that said something about Bush killing 4000 soldiers during his administration and that “Obama is killing them now”? It’s true, isn’t it? Did it hurt your widdle feewings?
Bosch
August 26th, 2009
9:50 am
Good Lord, such hate this morning – let it flow wingnuts – get it all out.
My brother-in-law was killed in a car wreck by one of his friends. Last I heard his friend was still in a mental institution because of it. Believe me haters, Ted Kennedy paid for his sins.
I Report/ Vast White Wing Conspirator (-: You Whine )-:
August 26th, 2009
9:50 am
2 Timothy 2:24-26 – The Lord’s servant must correct those who have been taken captive by the Devil.
Duhzilla, if that is really you at 9:48, consider yourself corrected.
Bosch
August 26th, 2009
9:51 am
Peadawg,
Seriously – you have absolutely no right to judge anyone this morning.
Midori
August 26th, 2009
9:51 am
normal,
there isn’t anything laughable about that pus laden gasbag.
pathetic is more apt.
thank god for blogs, I suppose — otherwise he/it would be pulling the wings off flies right now.
ty webb
August 26th, 2009
9:52 am
Someone anonymously posting on a blog, calling someone else a coward. Now that’s rich.
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
9:52 am
The guys at the crematory had better be careful. With all of the alchohol in his body – it’s a bomb ready to go off.
cajdawg
August 26th, 2009
9:52 am
Edward Kennedy. B.I.H.M.F.
Taxpayer
August 26th, 2009
9:53 am
The Reagan administration made sure that Saddam was well supplied with all the poison and delivery systems he needed to gas anyone in his way. Bush, Cheney, et al, were asleep at the wheel and let over 3000 US citizens die without so much as trying to prevent it. Bush, egged on by the likes of Rumsfeld and others with their “In God’s name” crap, sent our troops into Iraq in search of a mythical Gog and got more of our people killed along with tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis. So, what else is new. Oh. Kennedy died. Justice has been served. Now the compassionate conservatives can rejoice. Whoopeeeee! By the way, for all you compassionate conservative family valued non-believers out there, remarks like “B I H” don’t mean much, if you know what I mean.
TnGelding
August 26th, 2009
9:53 am
Peadawg
August 26th, 2009
9:35 am
It was an accident for goodness sakes! Who’s to say he didn’t valiantly try to save her?
“As told later by Kennedy these events ensued:”
Kennedy made a wrong turn to go to the Ferry, a sharp right, proceeding on paved main road.
The car went several hundred feet down Dike Road, toward the beach. Kennedy lost control at a narrow bridge, the car jumped the timber curb, plunged into the Poucha Pond, rotated and turned upside down, and angled into shallow waters with its lights on.
Kennedy testified he escaped and dove multiple times to retrieve Ms. Kopechne to no avail.
He stated he returned to the cottage and summoned his cousin, lawyer Joe Gargin and a friend to assist to get Kopechne out of the car, They dove for over 45 minutes and were unsuccessful.
Gargin told Kennedy they must report the accident. Kennedy said he would do it at Edgartown when he returned to the hotel. Overcome by panic, fear, confusion he swam across the tidal channel, returning to his hotel room at the Shiretown Inn at 2 AM.
In the morning, he ferried back to Chappaquiddick, and only then did he report the accident.
Read more:
http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/senator_edward_ted_kennedy_and_chappaquiddick#ixzz0PISkAiMA
As for Laura Bush, a lot of people are in jail for vehicular homicide.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/laura.asp
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
August 26th, 2009
9:53 am
Laura Bush’s incident was adjudicated openly and honestly without the undue political influence that, pardon the pun, muddied the waters so Teddy did not stand trial. Laura Bush has publicly accepted responsibility for her actions, Teddy never did.
To equate Laura Bush’s incident with Chappaquiddick is just more evidence of the moral rot that is destroy America. Why, I ask, must ever moral or other shortfall by a Democrat be covered by a “A Bush did something like it” moral relativism rather than judged in its own right? Jay perhaps you could right an editorial about the harmfulness of that sort of faalcy.
Peadawg
August 26th, 2009
9:56 am
“sent our troops into Iraq in search of a mythical Gog and got more of our people killed along with tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis.”
Just like Obama is continuing to do in Iraq and Afghanistan, right?
Normal
August 26th, 2009
9:56 am
Joey, Didn’t ask to compare what her parents had done, asked what she had done.
You really reached there, didn’t you?
Taxpayer
August 26th, 2009
9:57 am
A google search of “Laura Bush murdered her boyfriend” returns 127,000 results while a similar search using Kennedy returns 9.
Well, maybe that’s because Kennedy did not murder Laura Bush’s boyfriend. DUH!
Midori
August 26th, 2009
9:57 am
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
August 26th, 2009
9:53 am
Laura Bush’s incident was adjudicated openly and honestly without the undue political influence
************************************
yeah, right. Just like her husband’s AWOL from the TANG.
Marc
August 26th, 2009
9:59 am
Bookman you have gone off the deep end Ted should have been in jail. He should never have been in office. You do even have the guts to type out her name. It’s Mary Jo Kopechne. This is outrageous for you to act as if the incidence with was a minor blip. Your bias and the bias of the AJC is glaring on this one. Ted was a coward and got his butt covered because he was a KENNEDY. You know one of those – THE RICH AND PRIVILEGED. Bookman you are so two faced. The AJC wonders why they are losing readers it this kind of garbage.
Midori
August 26th, 2009
9:59 am
Deaths by Kennedy at Chappaquiddick – 1
Deaths in Iraq/Afghan from Bush’s War – THOUSANDS
Taxpayer
August 26th, 2009
10:00 am
Just like Obama is continuing to do in Iraq and Afghanistan, right?
Provide the reference material and then we can talk about the “right”.
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
10:00 am
Midori – What kind of comments would you have about George W. if he had just passed?
Do tell!
aps
August 26th, 2009
10:01 am
OMG. Kerry is the senior senator now.
Ticketmaster
August 26th, 2009
10:01 am
Continued deaths in Iraq/Afghan from Obama’s War: hundreds and hundreds and going up everyday………
Finn McCool
August 26th, 2009
10:02 am
A man and a family of ultra wealth who looked out for the average joes and those with less. That doesn’t come around all that often:
The Family Leave Act – Teddy
Americans with Disabilities Act – Teddy
Civil Rights – Bobby played a big role in this
We could go on and on but Teddy left a good imprint in our history.
USinUK
August 26th, 2009
10:02 am
taxpayer – dangit, you beat me to it!
however, if you type in Kennedy Mary Jo, you get 407,000
ted kennedy mary jo, 202,000
ted kennedy mary joe, 264,000
ted kennedy and any number of permutations of chappaquiddick/incident, etc, you’ll get well over 150,000 all together.
nice try, RW … next time, try doing a better search.
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
August 26th, 2009
10:03 am
Midori
August 26th, 2009
9:57 am
Laura Bush was not a Bush in 1963, she was a normal Midland teenage from a normal midland family. The locals saw this as the tragedy it was – a teen driver ran a stop sign, nothins more or nothing less – and handled it in accordance with the mores of the day and place.
It takes supreme mental illness and a truly addled brain to view this as anything other than the local authorities reacting normally to an all too common tragedy. It boggle the sensible mind that one, no matter how addled, might try to rationalize a 17 year-old running a stop sign on a country road to a grown man leaving a women to drown in a car and not reporting the accident for a day.
Durrrr
August 26th, 2009
10:03 am
Bosch the guy who killed your brother-in-law had a soul. All of the Kennedy’s should burn. The sons have to pay for the sins of the father.
stands for decibels
August 26th, 2009
10:03 am
Yes, RW @ 9.47, the stupid “Laura Bush murdered her boyfriend” meme is certainly out there. Not denying that.
But you know full well that yours wasn’t an apples:apples comparison. Come on. Nine hits?
I’m going to rig a search result, I’ll just note that googling “ted kennedy mary jo kopechne murder” got me, per google, “about 83,500,000″
Gale
August 26th, 2009
10:04 am
Jay, just change the thread. There will be no real discussion about Ted Kennedy’s career. Maybe after 20 years or so, but not now.
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
10:04 am
Hey Libs, what would your “christianly” words be if it was announced that Dick Cheney had just died?
Mrs. Godzilla
August 26th, 2009
10:04 am
Andy
i get the following for 2 Timothy 2:24-26
“”And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, And that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. 2 Timothy 2:24-26″
Independent Thinker
August 26th, 2009
10:05 am
Let’s see, will I suffer from his passing? NO. I cannot think of one thing he did that has benefited me in the least. I guess the Kopechne family, if any are still around, may feel some sense of vindication. Hail him as a hero? Absolutely not! My dad was a hero…served his country in WWII, was faithful to my mother for 66 years, and provided the best he could for someone who barely finished high school in the depression era. That’s a HERO!
Cutty
August 26th, 2009
10:07 am
If only Democrats could read this blog. I would truly give them the motivation to ram health care down the throats of these ignorant republicans! In honor of Ted Kennedy!!
El Jefe
August 26th, 2009
10:08 am
Well, there goes their 60 vote margin in the Senate – Yea!!!
All kidding aside, the death of anyone is sad, that family has had their share and then some of tragedy. All the sons of the bootlegging father have made their impression on America.
What a country.
Now, back to the right wing rant -
Who will the liberals worship now that they only have Obama and the big money behind him?
Peadawg
August 26th, 2009
10:08 am
“In honor of Ted Kennedy!!”
You left a word out. Shouldn’t it be “In honor of murderer, Ted Kennedy!!” That sounds more like something libs should say.
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
10:09 am
Praise the Lord Mrs. Godzilla!
Halleluia!! How Holy Are THEE!
RW-(the original)
August 26th, 2009
10:09 am
USinUK,
Unlike you guys I tried to use an apples to apples comparison. “Laura Bush murdered her boyfriend” returned 127,000 and Ted Kennedy murdered his girlfriend” returned 9.
Frankly it doesn’t get much lower than even trying to compare the two incidents, but I knew eventually one of you would go there. Neither person murdered anyone and both could conceivably have faced negligent homicide charges, but only one took responsibility. Teddy took off for 24 hours and sealed that woman’s fate. Show me the evidence of Laura taking off for 24 hours and leaving that boy to die when getting help may have saved his life.
ty webb
August 26th, 2009
10:09 am
Okay, let me see if I follow this. Mary Jo Kopechne’s death shouldn’t matter because decades later many people would die in two wars in which George Bush was CIC. Okay that makes a lot of sense. Maybe the Kopechne family can take solace in that. How absurd?
joe matarotz
August 26th, 2009
10:09 am
After Teddy’s meeting with the Creator, he should change his name to Toasty. He was nothing but a bum with money.
RW-(the original)
August 26th, 2009
10:10 am
And for the nitpickers out there let me revise my 10:09 to say 12 hours.
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
10:10 am
Cutty – are you saying the Democraps can’t read? I would have to agree.
I Report/ Vast White Wing Conspirator (-: You Whine )-:
August 26th, 2009
10:11 am
Duhzilla- I tried the gentle approach right before a liberal through his feces at me.