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
Anthony
August 26th, 2009
11:15 am
Teddie Kennedy, the poster child for why we need term limits in Congress. A President can do no harm beyond 8 years, Teddie got to inflict good and evil for almost 50 years from his Senate seat. The people of the US got it right to not let him become POTUS. The libs and mafia in MA kept the faucet open for the $$$$ that he was able to deliver. Unlike his brothers, he decided he preferred to stay alive and do the biddings of the Irish/Italian underworld and not fight them or mess with their women. Time for the Kennedy clan to get out of the Political world.
William
August 26th, 2009
11:16 am
AmVet
August 26th, 2009
10:31 am
Are you writing an essay in college? English 101 maybe! Spewed on by the liberal philosphy found in the so called higher education forums.
To acknowledge something to be true but not following the doctrine to the letter does not make you a less believer of the doctrine.
Maybe Ted Kennedy had a death bed prayer and will be received in heaven.
I do not remember him as champion for my rights and beliefs.
RW-(the original)
August 26th, 2009
11:16 am
I think you mean quotation marks, not parenthesis, unless your google is different from mine.
sfb,
I stand corrected and you win the nitpicker of the day award. Congrats!
William
August 26th, 2009
11:17 am
I think this blog could go for 40 days and nights!
Jake
August 26th, 2009
11:18 am
El Jefe – I can’t get beyond something always was or something came from nothing, they are equally incomprehensible to me. Howver, belief in a moral, omnipotent superior being requires more faith and less logic than I am capable of.
Taxpayer
August 26th, 2009
11:19 am
“Amazing how Americas Royalty is always a liberal rich guy.”
Kamchak helped clear up that issue yesterday. It was all part of the GOP/Luntz play on words ploy. They’re devious that way, those Republicans, dontcha know.
Government Control or No Bill
August 26th, 2009
11:20 am
American Royalty?
The classic definition of Royalty is a direct line between specific humans and God.
By that definition, Obama must be king.
All hail the king, long live the king.
eagle scout
August 26th, 2009
11:20 am
El Jefe … Ignorance is bliss!!!!!
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
11:21 am
AmVet – If you think you know so much – then by all means SPIT IT OUT.
Robyn
August 26th, 2009
11:21 am
With all due respect to the deceased, Teddy was a leftist wingnut who, if he did any good at all, did it with other peoples money instead of his own ill-gotten booty. I don’t think Mary Jo’s family are out buying flowers and handkerchiefs.
Taxpayer
August 26th, 2009
11:21 am
RW-(the original)
August 26th, 2009
11:16 am
I think you mean quotation marks, not parenthesis, unless your google is different from mine.
sfb,
I stand corrected and you win the nitpicker of the day award. Congrats!
Well! And, to think that I was going to get nitpicky with the use of the singular, “parenthesis”. I am so glad that I changed my mind.
Dusty
August 26th, 2009
11:23 am
Dear AmVet,
In reference to your considerate comment and pledge to civility, I shall try to do the same. (That’s going to be tough for both of us, isn’t it?) : roll :
Dusty
August 26th, 2009
11:23 am
I never get those smiley faces right!!
Cheesy
August 26th, 2009
11:25 am
Taco Bell is giving out “Tacos For Yugos” – so far they just had to make one……………..
Joey
August 26th, 2009
11:25 am
Normal;
Rather than manufacture a content as you chose to do, my post was about the actual content of your post.
USinUK
August 26th, 2009
11:26 am
dusty – delete the spaces on your smileys
Bosch
August 26th, 2009
11:26 am
Dusty,
Don’t put spaces between the colon and the word. Wow, that sounds really weird when you say it out loud.
Carter is a Fool
August 26th, 2009
11:26 am
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. Bookman wrote the truth and should have stopped with this one sentence.
Mary Jo is in a better place, but I am not sure the country is in a better place when the rich get off with murder because of their last name.
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.
Is that not what the media is doing and has done when they peed all over themselves when PresBO was or is around. This is why the media cannot be trusted to be the impartial reporters of the news and instead spin the headlines so that it fits the left wing agenda. It is really revealing that Bookman actually admits this kind of adulation early in his career when meeting a drunk murderer with charm. No all that different from the philandering Clinton except that Kennedy was a murderer and Clinton only a lying adulterer. And PresBO, just a liar for now.
Bosch
August 26th, 2009
11:27 am
USinUK,
Jinx!!!
Taxpayer
August 26th, 2009
11:27 am
The classic definition of Royalty is a direct line between specific humans and God.
That was actually George Bush. He was on a mission from God. He may still be for all I know.
Kamchak
August 26th, 2009
11:28 am
Dusty
Spaces before and after the colons—no spaces inside the colons.
USinUK
August 26th, 2009
11:28 am
someone beloved the world over:
There have been many great moments in the life and career of Ricky Hatton, but few will match the day when The Greatest came to visit.
Muhammad Ali visited Hatton’s new gym in Hyde, Greater Manchester today and Ali brought the town to a virtual standstill.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/boxing/article6810860.ece
The Other Jack
August 26th, 2009
11:29 am
USinUK
Hey liberal. Just checking in from my new digs and saw you on here.
No. Really. You don’t need to apologize for voting for Obama. We all do some really stupid things in our life. I could say: I told you so, but I’m not that kind of guy.
I’m an ex-pat myself now. I’m waaaaay far south from Atlanta now. Seems I got out just in time.
Working on a project that keeps my lens fogged up. No, not porn. Just shooting in the hottest place I have ever seen. I have the day off and am setting in front of an air conditioner that is just about to die.
Have a good one, girl. Take care of that meat stew eatin’ hubby.
Jack
Duey Desi Mal
August 26th, 2009
11:29 am
Will his biography be filed in the “friction” or “non-friction” section of the library?
Bosch
August 26th, 2009
11:30 am
USinUK,
Ya’ know? I’ve never understood what all the hullabaloo was about Ali.
USinUK
August 26th, 2009
11:33 am
TOJ –
“I’m an ex-pat myself now. I’m waaaaay far south from Atlanta now. Seems I got out just in time.”
(all together now) HOW FAR SOUTH ARE YOU??? below the gnat line? are you where the word “fork” has 2 syllables??
“You don’t need to apologize for voting for Obama. We all do some really stupid things in our life”
I guess you haven’t seen the stock markets lately … you may want to check that out …
Dusty
August 26th, 2009
11:34 am
Well, thanks to all of you I am now in smiley face REHAB. I stand before you and declare : No more spaces between colons. Not nary a one. Not even one. Not a rinky dinky space . And now: THE TEST
Eureka?
FrankLeeDarling
August 26th, 2009
11:34 am
Am Vet ,you are bringing it today,keep it turned up.
Dusty
August 26th, 2009
11:35 am
Grrreat!! I have now been promoted to first grade.
Hot dog!
Turd Ferguson
August 26th, 2009
11:35 am
Kennedy’s seat may remain empty for months
“A long-term vacancy could have effects far beyond Kennedy’s home state of Massachusetts, since his death deprives Democrats of the 60-vote “supermajority” with which they can theoretically force laws through the Senate despite Republican objections.
Under Massachusetts law, a special election must be held 145 to 160 days after a Senate seat becomes vacant. The winner of that election serves the remainder of a senator’s unexpired term.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/26/kennedy.replacement/index.html
AHH HAHAHAA!
Bosch
August 26th, 2009
11:36 am
Dusty!
Eureka!
AmVet
August 26th, 2009
11:36 am
Dusty, thanks. And yes, perhaps tough, but aren’t most of the good thing in life?
“Are you writing an essay in college? English 101 maybe!”
No, I think I mastered that long ago.
“Spewed on by the liberal philosphy (sic) found in the so called higher education forums
William, do I gather that you lament you never got a Conservative Arts degree? Loathing liberals and academia is your choice. Remain uneducated, or worse, unenlightened. Its your call.
“To acknowledge something to be true but not following the doctrine to the letter does not make you a less believer of the doctrine.”
Now THAT sounds very much like a liberal philosophy to me!
And to that I say, amen, brother.
USinUK
August 26th, 2009
11:36 am
Bosch –
“Ya’ know? I’ve never understood what all the hullabaloo was about Ali”
I don’t know – there’s the Olympic medal, of course, but I think that it’s the class he brought to the sport, the elan – something that took it beyond the thuggishness of 2 men beating each other – the flair that wasn’t about “bling” (or it’s 1970s equivalent)
USinUK
August 26th, 2009
11:37 am
well done, dusty!
Government Control or No Bill
August 26th, 2009
11:38 am
Bush was king? No.
Bush was a classy guy that did the best he could considering what the media did to him on a daily basis. His big crime was getting us into a war that protected our energy source (which has escalated back into a real war, now that our enemies know that there is not a backbone anywhere in Washington), and wanting to wiretap our enemies. Now we have a fascist that wants Americans to tell on each other for disagreeing with him, will not prosecute Black Panthers for openly intimidating voters and has appointed the most marxist and radical group of tzars that would rival anyone who ever walked the halls of the Kremlin.
Maybe you just have your terms mixed up. Bush was not a God. Just a saint.
USinUK
August 26th, 2009
11:38 am
“Maybe you just have your terms mixed up. Bush was not a God. Just a saint.”
I just vomited in my mouth.
USinUK
August 26th, 2009
11:39 am
Bosch –
(just to finish the thought) – I also think that many people admire the grace with which he has handled his life dealing with Parkinsons
Doggone/GA
August 26th, 2009
11:40 am
“Bush was not a God. Just a saint.”
snort!
thomas
August 26th, 2009
11:40 am
Are we to assume then that many here are advocating the Ends justify the Means.
As I see it many are saying all should be forgot, or looked over as along as at some point some good is done.
How do we know that the girl Sen. Kennedy killed would not have went onto do great things for herself, her family, and for her nation.
There can be debate about how much greatness Ted Kennedy did in these respects.
But there cannot be a debate about his victims life as it was snuffed out by a spoiled rich kid.
From reading on here I was convinced that if one let their parents power and influence, say get them some grades or military records, like Bush then they were scum.
But I assume if ones parents do the same to cover up murder…. then to bring that up would be just mean and hateful.
El Jefe
August 26th, 2009
11:43 am
Taxpayer,
How about some charted territory
http://www.palmettoscoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/maze.jpg
Normal
August 26th, 2009
11:44 am
Dusty, You are better thatn me with those darned smilies. I can’t even find them. DRAT!!!
Bosch
August 26th, 2009
11:45 am
thomas,
No not really – I don’t believe anyone has said that here. We’re just letting the wingnuts show their complete lack of decorum and class by celebrating the death of a man they disliked.
Carry on haters.
Bosch
August 26th, 2009
11:45 am
Normal and Dusty,
Here’s a smily website:
http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Smilies
El Jefe
August 26th, 2009
11:47 am
Taxpayer,
“That was actually George Bush. He was on a mission from God” you are delusional.
Bush was not that conservative – imagine saying we can keep our country safe with iopen borders – geez.
BTW, I think only the liberals are that blissful these days.
I Report/ Vast White Wing Conspirator :-) You Whine :-(
August 26th, 2009
11:47 am
While many states allow a governor to fill a vacant Senate state, Massachusetts Democrats changed their state’s law in 2004 to prevent then Gov. Mitt Romney – a Republican – from naming a replacement for Sen. John Kerry if he had defeated George W. Bush in the presidential race.
And to think, it was the great US health care system that allowed Kennedy to whine about one of his corrupt laws in the last days of his life.
Luckily for him, his health care abomination was passed or the government would have euthanized him months ago.
Mrs. Godzilla
August 26th, 2009
11:47 am
Exactly one year ago today, Kennedy delivered one last national address, making a surprise appearance at the Democratic National Convention. Despite his ailments, Kennedy’s voice still boomed: “There is a new wave of change all around us, and if we set our compass true, we will reach our destination — not merely victory for our party, but renewal for our nation. And this November, the torch will be passed again to a new generation of Americans. So with Barack Obama, and for you and for me, our country will be committed to his cause. The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on.”
Taxpayer
August 26th, 2009
11:49 am
Maybe you just have your terms mixed up. Bush was not a God. Just a saint.
That’s not the way I and a lot of other people heard it told.
Bosch
August 26th, 2009
11:49 am
thomas,
Oh, something else – you seem like a more rational conservative that the wingnutty ones here – but if you’re gonna call Ms. Kopechne’s death “murder” – I might have to reconsider my thoughts of you (not that you care of course or it even matters).
Paul
August 26th, 2009
11:50 am
Kamchak
Last night you wondered whether Democrats picked certain words and avoided others to curry favorable responses. Taxpayer brought up the other side this morning – Luntz’s work with Democrats.
I did a limited search and this came up. Before you reject it outright because of the presenter, I’d ask you to consider the guest is the object of your scorn and he does cite independent and, I believe, Democratic sources in his analysis.
http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/26037234/war-of-words.htm
Bosch
August 26th, 2009
11:51 am
Paul,
Are you all buff yet?
Dusty
August 26th, 2009
11:52 am
Normal, shhh….don’t tell. I only know how.to do one smiley face. He rolls his eyes over everything. Would you like to join me in more rehab or should we remain sober?
The Other Jack
August 26th, 2009
11:53 am
USinUK
Stock market is doing fine since the Congress stopped passing bills. Not up to Republican standards, but for Democrats, not bad. Now if we could just keep the Congress out of Washington long enough, it might really recover.
I am not in the US. I still have my place inside the perimeter, but just because I can’t sell it. I’m traveling between Panama and Costa Rica. The humidity has already ruined the HD camera I bought last year. I literally need to shoot with a water bag, It’s really incredible here, but I do miss the good old US of A. I’m shooting for a stock company so I can take a whole day setting up shots. This contract expires next March when I will probably head back home, back up in the hills. I just can’t see myself moving back to Atlanta.
I have lost 20 lbs and feel like a million bucks. The accommodations aren’t that nice, but all I do is sleep here and on days like this: sweat here in front of this old air conditioner.
Oh yea, I’m playing music at this little dump, near here on Saturday night with some of the locals. We do mostly old 60-70 pop and rock. Lots of fun.
El Jefe
August 26th, 2009
11:54 am
Question Boldly – except anything doing with the Kennedy’s
Seek the Truth – except anything doing with the Kennedy’s
Speak Fearlessly – unless you are conservative.
USinUK
August 26th, 2009
11:54 am
“Are we to assume then that many here are advocating the Ends justify the Means”
actually, I don’t think that anyone here has said that TK should have gone scot free … frankly, I think the minimum he should have gotten was a conviction for leaving the scene of an accident (and I don’t understand why he didn’t).
however, what I am saying is that you shouldn’t define the man by that one act and that he could have very easily skulked off and been a wastrel the rest of his life, but didn’t.
as for the comparison to the Bush TANG situation, it wasn’t so much dodging Viet Nam, it was 1) pretending that he didn’t dodge serving in the war, while 2) casting aspersions on someone who served with honor
Dusty
August 26th, 2009
11:56 am
boschie,
I will study your smiley face repertoire and do better. Honest! Cross my heart..(and NO space between the colons.).
Government Control or No Bill
August 26th, 2009
11:57 am
Laugh, snort and vomit if you want, but lets reconvene in 3 years and compare Bush to Obama. Let’s look at the numbers and see who protected their country better.
USinUK
August 26th, 2009
11:58 am
TOJ –
holy crap! talk about a major life change – (and, yes, I think where you are qualifies as “below the gnat line”) … sorry to hear about your camera, though – I remember the pain you went through to get it!
good luck to you – and stay safe!!!
Paul
August 26th, 2009
12:00 pm
Bosch
Just tired and sore, thank you very much!
But I do feel better in the afternoons. Go figure.
I trust you and the rest of the readers know that link at 11:50 wasn’t solely for Kamchak and Taxpayer. It’s a fascinating examination of the power of words and the strategies Republicans and Democrats are using when it comes to health care.
Bruno
August 26th, 2009
12:02 pm
“El Jefe – I can’t get beyond something always was or something came from nothing, they are equally incomprehensible to me. However, belief in a moral, omnipotent superior being requires more faith and less logic than I am capable of.”
Jake–The greatest physicist of the past 50 years, Richard Feynman, once said that he was far more comfortable living with the idea that something was unknown rather than accepting some fantastical theory to fill the void, however well-constructed that theory was. In a nutshell, that’s exactly how I feel about religion. We have so many unanswered questions about life, and even more about a possible “afterlife”. And while so many people apparently find comfort in (obviously) mythological explanations, I prefer to stick to the truth: we don’t know and can only hope for the best.
In more practical terms, my biggest wish as a hard-core conservative would be to see the Bible-thumpers influence within the Republican Party diminished. The importance and value of conservative principles is too great to allow them to be associated with fascist kooks.
Question
August 26th, 2009
12:03 pm
Real at 8:39 am
I see that Cynthia Tucker/McKinney took your below suggestion to her blog — Wasn’t that a surprise!!
On the postive (or negative) side — one can see PresBO, Pelosi and company will now push for Obamacare under the guise of “let’s do it for Ted” (shoot – let’s even now name it “TedCare”)!!
Normal
August 26th, 2009
12:04 pm
JOEY: I Said,
“Unlike most of the rich, Teddy did want to give back some of what he had and if that is what labeled him a “Liberal”. So be it. I do wonder though that if it was Sarah instead of Ted, what the Right’s comments. Atfer all Sarah’s legacy and the great works she has done for this country is there for all to see.
A reformed, good man in the end, has died. Respect that. Celebrate that.”
Nowhere did I mention her parents, and as far as I can find, they were good educators, but why you would throw them into the mix is beyond me.
I chose to substitute Sarah for Ted, because she has done nothing for this country. Mainly because she hasn’t had 40+ years in the Senate. If or when she does, then YEA!.
Yet, because she is Sarah, if she had died, you would have acted like Mary, mother of Haysus had died, and you know it.
With apologies to Dusty and the more reasoned bloggers here, that is the way it is.
Yes, Ted Kennedy was flawed, and yes, he got away with at least second degree murder, bur he had to live with that too. The bulk of his work in the Senate was impassioned. He, a rich person, cared for the common folk. How truly wonderful is that?
To paraphrase Marc Antony,
“Friends, contrymen, bloggers, lend me your ears:
I have come to bury Teddy, not to praise him;
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So be it with Teddy…
Turd Ferguson
August 26th, 2009
12:05 pm
Will Teddys liver be donated to science?
Normal
August 26th, 2009
12:05 pm
Dusty, it rehab wouldn’t work for me…everytime you rolled your eyes, I’d fall off the wangon…
I Report/ Vast White Wing Conspirator :-) You Whine :-(
August 26th, 2009
12:07 pm
This is just what you would expect from a democrat-
One of two people suspected of shattering 11 windows Tuesday morning at the state Democratic Party headquarters has an arrest record and a history of helping a Democratic political candidate, public records show.
Police said that about 2:20 a.m., 24-year-old Maurice Schwenkler, now in custody, and an at-large accomplice took a hammer to the picture windows displaying posters touting President Barack Obama and his health care reform efforts.
They were going to blame this on Conservative “hate groups” but instead they got busted.
How many more incidents like this have they gotten away with?
The Other Jack
August 26th, 2009
12:11 pm
USinUK
Thanks. I replaced the camera and hopefully the insurance will cover the other one. So far . . . well you know about those eviiil insurance companies.
It was a major life change. I debated taking this job, but I was so sick of Atlanta. It’s not what it used to be. Crime was going nuts, even after I left East Atlanta. Those poor people are still fighting for their lives and now that no one is selling homes, they can’t leave.
Be good and tell all my fans from W2W that I said hello especially Gail.
Vio del taco en la casa nostra (These crazy people speak a different kind of Spanish than I speak. Imagine that.)
Normal
August 26th, 2009
12:12 pm
BOSCH: Just saw your help page…THANK YOU! I go has a cheezeburger (I love that site) and read…Thanks again…
The Other Jack
August 26th, 2009
12:12 pm
Bruno!!!!
How’s it going pal? I was just leaving.
Have a good one.
Swami Dave
August 26th, 2009
12:14 pm
MsGodzilla:
Sorry, but you and your fellow liberals will not be reaching “your destination” because the American people are awaking to the reality that yet again they voted for a politician espousing focus-grouped moderate-sounding language to get elected only to attempt governance with a extreme left-ward collectivist bent.
The real “renewal” that America needs would be a once-and-for-all condemnation of the liberal political theology to the ash heap of history with its theft-based siblings communism, socialism, and facism.
Today simply marked the date when a politician who did with legislation what simple muggers and thieves do with guns passed away. If there is any justice to the event, it will be that his passing may prevent approval of legislation that either a) enslaves medical professions to provide service for which they will not be paid and / or b) further enslave the taxpayers of America to pay for said services on behalf of others unwilling to provide them for themselves.
Were he someone worthy of remembrance, he would have used his own property and earnings to fund his pet liberal projects instead of passing legislation that allowed him to “show compasssion” (aka acquire power) using other people’s money.
I wish him well in the next world, but this one will be better off with him gone!
-SD
Turd Ferguson
August 26th, 2009
12:14 pm
Teddy “The drunken fool” Kennedy is dead. Parents, you now may release your daughters.
Midori
August 26th, 2009
12:15 pm
will Turd’s brain be donated to science?
Crenshaw8
August 26th, 2009
12:19 pm
Did he get the ground above Norma Jean? He was the only Kennedy brother that wasn’t banging her. He had to go for the lesser known Mary Jo.
If justice were mine to hand out, he’d be burning in hell right now.
Government Control or No Bill
August 26th, 2009
12:19 pm
Midori
**will Turd’s brain be donated to science?**
Brain cancer. There probably wasn’t much left.
El Jefe
August 26th, 2009
12:20 pm
Normal,
Ted wanted to give back, but not with his money, it is all sheltered to preserve it.
http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1998/02/01/1998-02-01_glimpse_inside_the_kennedy_f.html
Mark S.
August 26th, 2009
12:20 pm
Good gosh, what an embarrassment you and your bleeding heart are. Excuse me while I go throw up now.
Bruno
August 26th, 2009
12:22 pm
“How’s it going pal? I was just leaving.”
Glad to know you’re doing well, TOJ. I’m hanging in there, trying to pay off my debts. Fortunately, the stock market continues to do well. Best of luck to you!
“Be good and tell all my fans from W2W that I said hello especially Gail.
Normal
August 26th, 2009
12:25 pm
Midori
August 26th, 2009
12:15 pm
will Turd’s brain be donated to science?
If he had one…
AmVet
August 26th, 2009
12:26 pm
I have said for years I believed Sen. Kennedy was a BIG (don’t go there!) part of the problem in Washington. Clearly entrenched and corrupted. His over all record was inarguably VERY mixed. Some good, some bad, most in between. Imagine that, a human being. Sometimes misguided and sometimes a good man trying to do great things. And yes sometimes failing.
It is illustrative that one of the main assertions by the animated and animus-filled right wingers is that the “libs” would react equally to Cheney’s (for example) passing. Certainly plausible, though I am not necessarily convinced, but let’s just for argument’s sake, say that is so.
Does that make you in the lunatic fringe feel better about your own irrational hatred? Does it make your loutish behavior more excusable? Does it bring you redemption to know you can always lower the lowest common denominator? And count on like-minded, though politically opposed, cretins to do the same and thereby justify your mindless and animalistic vitriol?
Though this very, very popular model to vilify and damn those with whom you do not fundamentally (get it?) agree is simply juvenile and emotionally diseased. And frankly, to wish to see him, or anyone burning in your imaginary Hades is patently pathetic. And I am confident most intelligent people would agree.
So, about the ONLY silver lining I see for these abhorrent Christian frauds and their heathen “cousins” is that their torment regarding this matter is not likely to rival their month long prostration and self-flagellation at President Reagan’s passing…
Bosch
August 26th, 2009
12:30 pm
Bruno,
Yeah, that’s how I feel about religion too – I like to call myself a Christian Agnostic – or an Episcopalian, whichever.
Normal
August 26th, 2009
12:31 pm
BOSCH: Episcopalian= Catholic Lite. All the pomp, but none of the guilt…
GOP is Gone
August 26th, 2009
12:32 pm
I remember when JFK was elected President and how proud this made our family, being Irish Catholic.
The Kennedys, while having their faults, were taught to give back to the community. I believe everyone of them tried to live a life of service, when they did not have to do this. However Joe Kennedy made his fortune, he paid the ultimate price in losing 3 of his sons in service for this country. That is more than most can claim.
Think of all the good the Kennedy children have done for the USA and the world. They have made a sizable mark, Ted arguably the biggest mark with his long and distinguished career. I can forgive him for being weak at moments, although I would venture he never fully forgave himself.
I hope that the next generation of young Kennedys will continue their legacy of service to this nation.
Bosch
August 26th, 2009
12:33 pm
AmVet,
That third paragraph at 12:26 deserves some kind of award.
David
August 26th, 2009
12:40 pm
This from Wikipedia “Chappaquiddick Incident”. I think it highlights the problem some have with the character of a man who was willing to leave the scene of an accident especially under these circumstances. We’ve all made mistakes, but, really, to swim 500 yards back to your hotel and then go to sleep-knowing someone’s in your car-underwater? Most of us can’t even imagine that and it’s bothersome to know that an elected leader was capable of such a thing.
Having said that, may he rest in peace. Sincerely.
[edit] Events of the night of July 18, 1969
According to his own testimony at the inquest into Kopechne’s death, Kennedy left the party at “approximately 11:15 p.m.” When he announced that he was about to leave, Kopechne indicated “that she was desirous of leaving, if I would be kind enough to drop her back at her hotel”. Kennedy then requested the keys to his car from his chauffeur, Crimmins. Asked why he did not have his chauffeur drive them both, Kennedy explained that Crimmins along with some other partygoers “were concluding their meal, enjoying the fellowship and it didn’t appear to me necessary to require him to bring me back to Edgartown”.[3] Kopechne told no one that she was leaving with Kennedy, and left her purse and hotel key at the party.[4]
Christopher “Huck” Look was a deputy sheriff working as a special police officer at the Edgartown regatta dance that night. At 12:30 am he left the dance, crossed over to Chappaquiddick in the yacht club’s launch, got into his parked car and drove home. He testified that between 12:30 and 12:45 am he had seen a dark car containing a man driving and a woman in the front seat approaching the intersection with Dike Road. The car had gone first onto the private Cemetery Road and stopped there. Thinking that the occupants of the car might be lost, Look had gotten out of his car and walked towards it. When he was 25 to 30 feet away, the car started backing up towards him. When Look called out to offer his help, the car took off down Dike Road in a cloud of dust.[5] Look recalled that the car’s license plate began with a “L” and contained the number “7″ twice, both details true of Kennedy’s 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88.
The Dike Bridge, pictured here in 2008 with guardrail.According to his inquest testimony, Kennedy made a wrong turn onto Dike Road, an unlit dirt road that led to Dike Bridge (also spelled Dyke Bridge). Dike Road was unpaved, but Kennedy, driving at “approximately twenty miles an hour”, took “no particular notice” of this fact, and did not realize that he was no longer headed towards the ferry landing.[6] Dike Bridge was a wooden bridge angled obliquely to the road with no guardrail. A fraction of a second before he reached the bridge, Kennedy applied his brakes; he then drove over the side of the bridge. The car plunged into tide-swept Poucha Pond (at that location a channel) and came to rest upside-down underwater. Kennedy later recalled that he was able to swim free of the vehicle, but Kopechne was not. Kennedy claimed at the inquest that he called Kopechne’s name several times from the shore, then tried to swim down to reach her seven or eight times, then rested on the bank for around fifteen minutes before returning on foot to Lawrence Cottage, where the party attended by Kopechne and other “Boiler Room Girls” had occurred. Kennedy denied seeing any house with a light on during his journey back to Lawrence Cottage.[7]
“Dike House” along Dike Road.In addition to the working telephone at the Lawrence Cottage, according to one commentator, his route back to the cottage would have taken him past four houses from which he could have telephoned and summoned help; however, he did not do so.[8] The first of those houses, referred to as “Dike House”, was only 150 yards away from the bridge, and was occupied by Sylvia Malm and her family at the time of the incident. Malm later stated that she had left a light on at the residence when she retired for that evening.[9]
According to Kennedy’s testimony, Gargan and party co-host Paul Markham then returned to the pond with Kennedy to try to rescue Kopechne. Both of the other men also tried to dive into the water and rescue Kopechne multiple times.[1] When their efforts to rescue Kopechne failed, Kennedy testified, Gargan and Markham drove with Kennedy to the ferry landing, both insisting multiple times that the accident had to be reported to the authorities.[10] According to Markham’s testimony Kennedy was sobbing and on the verge of breaking down.[11] Kennedy went on to testify that “[I] had full intention of reporting it. And I mentioned to Gargan and Markham something like, ‘You take care of the other girls; I will take care of the accident!’ – that is what I said and I dove into the water”.[10] Kennedy had already told Gargan and Markham not to tell the other women anything about the incident “[b]ecause I felt strongly that if these girls were notified that an accident had taken place and Mary Jo had, in fact, drowned, that it would only be a matter of seconds before all of those girls, who were long and dear friends of Mary Jo’s, would go to the scene of the accident and enter the water with, I felt, a good chance that some serious mishap might have occurred to any one of them”.[12] Gargan and Markam would testify that they assumed that Kennedy was going to inform the authorities once he got back to Edgartown, and thus did not do so themselves.[2]
According to his own testimony, Kennedy swam across the 500-foot channel, back to Edgartown and returned to his hotel room, where he removed his clothes and collapsed on his bed.[12] Hearing noises, he later put on dry clothes and asked someone what the time was: it was something like 2:30 a.m., the senator recalled. He testified that, as the night went on, “I almost tossed and turned and walked around that room … I had not given up hope all night long that, by some miracle, Mary Jo would have escaped from the car.”[13]
Back at his hotel, Kennedy complained at 2:55 am to the hotel owner that he had been awoken by a noisy party.[2] By 7:30 am the next morning he was talking “casually” to the winner of the previous day’s sailing race, with no indication that anything was amiss.[2] At 8 a.m., Gargan and Markham joined Kennedy at his hotel where they had a “heated conversation.” According to Kennedy’s testimony, the two men asked why he hadn’t reported the accident. Kennedy responded by telling them “about my own thoughts and feelings as I swam across that channel … that somehow when they arrived in the morning that they were going to say that Mary Jo was still alive”.[13] The three men subsequently crossed back to Chappaquiddick Island on the ferry, where Kennedy made a series of phone calls from a payphone by the crossing to his friends for advice; he again did not report the accident to authorities.[2]
[edit] Discovery of the body
Earlier that morning, two amateur fishermen had seen the overturned car in the water and notified the inhabitants of the nearest cottage to the pond, who called the authorities at around 8:20 am.[14] A diver was sent down and discovered Kopechne’s body at around 8:45 am.[15] The diver, John Farrar, later testified at the inquest that Kopechne’s body was pressed up in the car in the spot where an air bubble would have formed. He interpreted this to mean that Kopechne had survived for a while after the initial accident in the air bubble, and concluded that
“ Had I received a call within five to ten minutes of the accident occurring, and was able, as I was the following morning, to be at the victim’s side within twenty-five minutes of receiving the call, in such event there is a strong possibility that she would have been alive on removal from the submerged car.[8] ”
Jack
August 26th, 2009
12:40 pm
Most small business owners will remember Kennedy saying that “…small businesses are bottom feeders”. He never was in touch with reality and much worse, he was a phoney.
TnGelding
August 26th, 2009
12:40 pm
Government Control or No Bill
August 26th, 2009
11:57 am
Well, so far Obama has kept us safe. Sorry I can’t say the same about the Afghans and our armed forces he has been entrusted with.
Kamchak
August 26th, 2009
12:42 pm
Paul
I don’t doubt that Dems use focus groups to vet language–but Hannity citing The Wall Street Journal op-eds? Where is the proof of the kind that I cited using Luntz’s own words? The incidents that I cite made no mention of Luntz vetting his language, he simply provided Republicans with his prepared talking points. Did he vet his language with focus groups? I dunno.
Also from Talking Right
Luntz has an undeniable gift for concocting phrases and a genius for self-promotion, and he has managed to persuade a lot of people that he has reduced the art of sloganeering to a science, often suggesting that his choice of words is governed by arcane linguistic rules. In 2000, the New Yorker ran a flattering profile of Luntz by Nicholas Lemann that was called “The Word Lab” and subtitled “The Mad Science Behind What the Candidates Say.” Lemann quoted Luntz as saying that “words starting with an ‘r’ or ending with an ‘ity’ are good—-hence ‘reform’ and ‘accountability’ work and ‘responsibility’ really works. (You think of Walter Matthau playing vaudeville playing the comedian Willie Clark in Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys: “You want to know what’s funny? Words that begin with ‘k’ are funny.”) It sounds impressive, until you realize that according to that principle, a successful slogan for the Republicans would be “Rapacity, Rascality and Rigidity.”
Again, I don’t doubt that all parties use focus groups to vet language. I’m dissing Luntz because he seem to think he has some sort of go-it-alone magic touch.
Bosch
August 26th, 2009
12:42 pm
Gee David,
Don’t guess you could’ve posted a link to it – huh? And Wikipedia? Uh, yeah, okay, so did you write that yourself?
El Jefe
August 26th, 2009
12:43 pm
GOP is Gone,
Joe and John served their country in the military proudly. Most liberals would not go near the service today.
So what are the other accomplishments
Bruno
August 26th, 2009
12:48 pm
“Yeah, that’s how I feel about religion too – I like to call myself a Christian Agnostic – or an Episcopalian, whichever.”
Bosch–I appreciate you “reaching across the aisle” on your shout. It’s a shame that so many bloggers here are happy to simply sling insults around without bringing any new insights or info to the mix. As much as I think USinUK is crazy for being as liberal as she is, I respect that she makes an effort to support her case.
“Episcopalian= Catholic Lite. All the pomp, but none of the guilt…”
Good one, Normal.
David
August 26th, 2009
12:50 pm
Bosch,
The article is obviously skewed, yes.
For you:
He was the driver of a car in an accident where the passenger was killed. He reported it the next day.
That’s not cool no matter your politics.
Uh-okay?
Bud Wiser
August 26th, 2009
12:52 pm
Looks like the low life’s now have another 8 x 10 glossy to hang on the wall next to JFK, MLK, RFK, and KFC (that would be the speed dial call for the new sandwich).
Joey
August 26th, 2009
12:52 pm
Normal;
I have not made a single negative comment about Senator Kennedy today.
If it had been Palin instead of Kennedy my comments here would be similar to my first, early post.
That was something like:
No one gaines by criticizing or glorifying the dead. Have your moment of silence and move on.
Hef
August 26th, 2009
12:55 pm
Thomas@11:40am-very well said.
Mirror, Mirror On The Wall
August 26th, 2009
12:58 pm
“Though this very, very popular model to vilify and damn those with whom you do not fundamentally (get it?) agree is simply juvenile and emotionally diseased.”
Hef
August 26th, 2009
12:59 pm
Bosch@11:45am – I can’t speak for all,but for me I have a hard time understanding how a man with such a checkered past is so revered by the left on one hand, then on the other talk about torture tactic’s by the CIA being so reprehensible. Not judging just sayin
Marc
August 26th, 2009
1:02 pm
Midori what’s the death count under Obama
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
1:04 pm
AmVet – No it doesn’t make us feel better – that liberals would act the same way. The point being made is that none of us is better than the other. Get it? You have people letting it be known what they think of Kennedy, the day of his death and for some reason you can’t believe that the same things would be said of Cheney or Bush or Rumsfeld etc. The street goes both ways. You’re no better than I and vice versa. Get off your high horse you old windbag.
Joey
August 26th, 2009
1:05 pm
Regarding the 3rd paragraph of AmVet’s 12:26:
The paragraph is an accurate description of exactly the behavior of Progressives and Democrats for the previous 8 years and longer. And sadly I agree, many of the Conservative fringe, having observed this behavior, are now actively spewing it back at the Progressives. Fortunately most Conservatives have to much class to duplicate this Democrat mis-behavior.
Turd Ferguson
August 26th, 2009
1:10 pm
Bobby had Jack killed and it worked then backfired and we were stuck with this oh so sorry excuse for a human being, Teddy Drunkard Kennedy.
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
1:12 pm
Bourbon nose Kennedy. That’s what his drinking buddies called him.
a public servant
August 26th, 2009
1:14 pm
a public servant
August 26th, 2009
11:10 am
What Ted Kennedy’s life can teach us is that there is a little bit of bad in the best of us and a little bit of good in the worst of us. A lifetime of service counts. It doesn’t negate the mistakes he made in his life anymore than the mistakes negate his service. Ted Kennedy’s life should show us that redemption is possible.