EDWARD Kennedy is dead and in remembering the work of a career drinker, philanderer and rich liberal the starstruck nodding heads of the mainstream media try not to mention Mary Jo Kopechne.
On July 19 1969 Kennedy was driving his Oldsmobile on the island of Chappaquiddick, east of Martha’s Vineyard. The car drove off a bridge and into a creek.
Mary Jo Kopechne, 29, a former secretary to Senator Kennedy’s late brother Robert was also in the car. Kennedy escaped. He fled. He left Mary Jo Kopechne in the car. Ten hours later he reported the accident. And Mary Jo was dead.
Let us not judge the man on one action. Oh no. Kennedy would later stand for the US presidency, a man bigger than a dead girl in a car. As for that incident, he claimed to have been in a state of shock. He was judged by his peers, pleading guilty to leaving the scene of a crime and given a two-month suspended jail sentence.
Now the nodding heads in the mainstream media looks back on Kennedy’s life, replacing the ink with an airbrush:
Gaby Wood in the Observer:
It’s often said that Kennedy spoke for the distressed and the dispossessed because he himself had suffered – the deaths of siblings, eventually the sickness of his own children – and because his powers of empathy were extreme.
Kennedy is quickly established as the victim.
In July 1969, the single most damaging incident of his life took place when he left a party on an island called Chappaquiddick with Mary Jo Kopechne, a 28-year-old former aide to Bobby, and drove off a bridge into the water. Afraid of the publicity a police report would cause, he fled the scene and left Kopechne to die, not reporting the accident until 10 hours later.
Hold your judgment. And lest you make your own judgment, Gaby Wood provides you with one, that you should accept as fact and never think on the matter again:
His friend the late Jack Newfield wrote that his career became “an atonement for one night of indefensible behaviour”; Kennedy, Newfield said, “converted persistence into redemption”.
Ted Sorensen in Time magazine:
“Both a plane crash in Massachusetts in 1964 and the ugly automobile accident on Chappaquiddick Island in 1969 almost cost him his life.”
Once more, Kennedy is the victim.
As Victor David Hanson notes:
Mary Jo Kopechne (never mentioned by name in the essay) owing to (according to a later inquest) the negligence of the driver, Ted Kennedy.
Melissa Lafsky in the Huffington Post
Mary Jo “would have thought about arguably being a catalyst for the most successful Senate career in history . . . Who knows — maybe she’d feel it was worth it.”
Joan Vennochi in the Boston Globe
IN DEATH, Ted Kennedy will be idealized, his accomplishments lionized, his weaknesses glossed over.
You betcha:
Like all figures in history - and like those in the Bible, for that matter - Kennedy came with flaws. Moses had a temper. Peter betrayed Jesus. Kennedy had Chappaquiddick, a moment of tremendous moral collapse.
Kennedy the prophet. Kennedy the disciple. And not one mention of Mary Jo Kopechne by name.
Jackson Sun editorial:
There’s probably dead woman in history who’s been more exploited by the right-wing sleaze machine than Miss Kopechne [sic].
Those right-wring sleazers having a pop at a privileged man who left a woman to die alone. Scum, that’s what they are. Scum. Un-for-give-able.
Joyce Carol Oates in the Guardian:
A political career suggests “that there are not only “second acts” in American lives, but that the Renaissance concept of the “fortunate fall” may be relevant here: one “falls” as Adam and Eve “fell”; one sins and repents and is forgiven, provided that one remakes one’s life…
Mary Jo Kopechne was put on Earth to make Edward Kennedy, to give America a truly Kennedy-tastic senator.
Iowahawk remembers…
Edward Kennedy’s Life And Funeral In Pictures
Posted: 30th, August 2009 | In: Politicians Comments (72) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
September 7th, 2009 at 4:47 am
I read your comment Sarah and I think that was well said. Perfection does not come with birth. I too lost my daughter-in-law to a drunk driver just 3 years ago. I do not dwell on the his bad choice, but I have a beautiful grandaughter to love and help her to remember her wonderful Mom. Carrying the beast of hatred on and on is a waste of good time in this short life. Birth is a one way ticket. RIP Ted and Mary Jo.
I too am through with this topic.
September 7th, 2009 at 4:28 am
Just a vain attempt to stick to facts; Ted Kennedy would have been 37 in 1969. This is pretty easy since he was born in 1932. Ms. Kopechne was 28. It seems to me that this would make them both adults.
That said, the accident was horrendous, his behavior afterwards unacceptable.
But, that was 40+ years ago and he spent a lifetime in service; Ted Kennedy did not need to work but it seems that the citizens of his state saw fit to send him back to the senate one term after another. He must have done something right.
For those who think it’s money, that says more about you than the late senator. For those who judge him, your god is worthless and frightening.
No man or woman should sit in judgment. My faith tells me that we are all imperfect and all worthy of forgiveness. When we harbor hatred, when we harbor resentment and envy, we, as people shrink.
I lost my dad to a drunk driver 20 years ago and learned that forgiveness has made me a better and more compassionate person. I don’t think about the killer, don’t wonder whether he will burn in hell or wish it. Any time spent on that is time wasted.
This will be my last post on this issue. Ted Kennedy, Rest in Peace
September 6th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Ted was an adult when he recklessly murdered this woman. Charla is an IDIOT. 19 what planet are you on he was 24 years old when he killed her. He was a piece of shit just like most politicians are. You have to be a scumbag to run for any office.
September 6th, 2009 at 5:45 am
Anybody who wants to condem Ted Kennedy better look out because we all will go some time. I am still upset that this young girl had to die, but I think Mr. Kennedy was too drunk to save her. That does not make it right, but I hate it when people say he got his justice. They both made a bad choice that night. That is why kids are told not to go with a friend who is drinking. In the case above where the 17 year old girl was killed, it is a tragedy, but it is a tragedy for the boy too. Both should have made a different choice. The Kennedy’s were womanizers, but very few are chaste. Sex is everywhere you look. I feel very sorry for anybody who has to die, and the younger they are the worse they are. Those of you who do not feel that way, you need to clean up your act.
Moderator - what boy? he was a 37 year old man!
September 6th, 2009 at 4:20 am
19???? Charla you are not the only idiot out there but my heavens, don’t show how stupid you are to the world. Everybody has an opinion, but if you don’t have a clue what you are talking about then keep your opinion to yourself. You are a perfect example of how our current president was elected by the least informed voters in the history of elections. Don’t elect on sound bites, find out the true story before you vote. God help America, we don’t stand a chance!!!!
September 6th, 2009 at 2:57 am
LEAVE IT ALL ALONE EVERYBODY INVOLVED IS DEAD LET THEM REST IN PEACE, AS FAR AS TED KENNEDY NOT DOING ENOUGH FOR THIS COUNTRY THAT IS PURE HORSE SHIT, LET THESE PEOPLE WHO SAY THAT DO ONE TENTH OF WHAT HE HAS DONE OR HIS FAMILY HAS DONE AND THEY WOULD WANT TO BE PUT UP FOR SAINT HOOD. EVERY BODY HAS AN OPINION NOW THAT HE HAS GONE. JUST LET HIM REST HE DOES DESERVE THAT MUCH
Moderator: You are shouting loudly enough to get his attention.
September 6th, 2009 at 2:53 am
Clearly, Something does not compute with this family. With due resprct to all, starting with the father…………….Lots of questions …………….??????????????
September 6th, 2009 at 2:30 am
I am amazed at all the personal assumptions. No one was there but Ted and Mary Jo. Not a happy ending in any manner. But speculation will never bring the truth out. No one person in our lifetime is pure, just more in the limelight. Rich or poor does not determine good or evil.
Life is like a box of chocolates– you never know what your gonna get
September 6th, 2009 at 2:12 am
After all these years, Ted Kennedy will now be judged for killing Mary J0. Because he was a politician, he got off with this. He was a drunken slob; good riddance!
September 6th, 2009 at 1:41 am
Mary Jo knew too much. For all we know she could have been packed off and the accident made to look real. Because he was a Kennedy he got off. Stinks.
September 6th, 2009 at 1:12 am
Ted Kennedy let a young woman die. She was found near an air pocket in the back of the car. Some say she could have lived for two hours–suffocated to death.
He was a coward, interested only in saving his political career. His assistants were cowards, also. He told them not to call anyone, and they obliged. This wasn’t a teen-ager. He was a 37 year old married man with children. She had parents who loved her–she had dreams, too. The press has made him out to be this huge hero who has done so much for this country–he is even idolized by Obama. What a joke it all is–the Kennedy mystique and Camelot. The public made them all out to be something they never were.
September 6th, 2009 at 12:31 am
I cannot make a precise comment on this subject, because I did not leave the party with them, do not know who actually promoted the event, do not know who promoted a sexual event, if any happened, do not know why a door was not left open, or why it could not be opened by the girl. That leaves me talking about an event that I know little about. I know it is a bad sin to not forgive a person, but that is being promoted here. I was Catholic for most of my life, was taught that there is a Purgatory, that all of us go to first at death, where we remain until all of our sins are atoned for, but I believe after this atonement is complete, we all end up in Heaven. So now I believe that all of these nasty comments, will make you spend more time in Purgatory, but will not do anything to lengthen the time Ted Kennedy has to spend there, so maybe it would be wise to forgive him like Jesus told you to do. I have a large sign in my yard, lighted all year round that reads “THANK YOU JESUS” and that is my only thought.
September 6th, 2009 at 12:28 am
The young man that killed our seventeen year old daughter in a drunken car crash died also; that’s how I have gotten through it. My heart goes out to Mary Jo’s family; for even after all these years they certainly grieve for a life cut short. It must have been agonizing for them to have watched all these years, the man that took that life, going about daily as though nothing happened. We don’t know the guilt he perhaps, hopefully, felt at what he had done. But the lady that said Ted Kennedy was only 19 at the time, I believe was wrong; he was more like 37. He was old enough to know better and should have been held accoutnable no matter his status. But if we look around us, people are not held accountable for their actions; lighter sentnces are given to drunk drivers and murderers than to those convicted of cruelty to animals. Ted Kennedy did wrong and so did the justice system that patted him on the back!
September 6th, 2009 at 12:15 am
Ignoring her in the car, was completely intentional. Ted wanted her dead.
September 5th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Charla wrote that Ted Kennedy was 19 when this ocurred. What has she been smoking, or is she just another product of our educational system
September 5th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
#55 Charla. Where did you come up with he was only 19 when ran the car into the water? Kennedy was born on Feb 22,1932 and the accident happened on july 19,1969. That would have made him 37 years old. Nearly twice the age as you quoted. No I cannot accept your answer that he mad a “bad choice”. He was 37 years old, an elected official, that should be held to a higher standard. In regards to you message about people hating Obama because he is black, please put the “race card” back in your pocket. We don’t like him because he is a liar and a failure that refuses to admit that he has no plan and what he is trying to do is not working.
September 5th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
And if you people read your bible, God would never hold a grudge like you guys do, and It makes me wonder how you know who is going to heaven and who isn’t. Do you know if you are? spending time on website bashing another person who is deceased that may have made his peace with god, you do not know what he did. show some maturity. People are too immature and don’t make comments when you do not know what you are talking about, if you cannot say something good don’t say anything. And one more thing, Our president is Barack Obama, he is trying the best he can to fix what has gone wrong with this country, democrat or republican, he needs to be supported and not bashed, and the fact that he is black is killing some of you, and you know who you are, it’s not because you think he is a bad president, it’s because he is black and you can’t stand the fact that he is our president. at least be truthful with yourself.
Moderator - keep to the topic which is Teddy Kennedy and NOT Barack Obama
September 5th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
I know all of you guys are getting a big kick out of “Judging” someone else, mainly Ted Kennedy, but, for one Ted was a 19 year old when this happened, and I would bet if it was your 19 year old that did this you would not be so quick to hand him over to the police. I know that when I was 19 years old I didn’t the best of decisions all the time and put myself in harms way more than I care to remember. I do believe it is also wrong to judge other people for any reason, you have not worn their shoes, nor were you there that fateful night with mary jo and ted. I have talked to a guy that worked for the secret service and he told me that the public only gets bits of info when something huge happens, like 911 for instance, they only tell you the basics. There is a lot more to it than what is expressed on the news. Everyone should know that by now, there is always more to the story.But, people just love to rip into other people, you know who you are, you do it to your coworkers, friends, even your family when it suits you. You need to go to the mirror and take a long look and ask yourself, what can I fix about me? and do not worry about someone elses life, you haven’t even fixed your own.
September 5th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Mary Jo Kopechne died for her country. She is a hero. She kept a fat ass liberal drunk Kennedy from any chance at the White House.
Satan finally called his disciple home, none too soon.
September 5th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
First I want to say,Saint Peter isn’t the one in charge of who gets into Heaven,it’s Jesus.Now,I say this,yes I forgive him as I do all.For I too need forgiveness from Jesus.Jesus said that he that forgives not will I not forgive,and him that forgiveth,him will I forgive.Remember that!!
September 5th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Good Riddance.
September 5th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Aherm!
Keith, burning in Hell and drowning are mutually exclusive, aren’t they?
September 5th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Let us make sure that this evil, cowardly old man does not influence legislation beyond the grave. Hope he is being BBQ’d down below, or sentenced to experience the horror of drowning for all of eternity!
September 5th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I truly believe that Ted led such a destructive life because of the losses that he suffered, i.e. two brothers. He felt demonized, he was Catholic, not a good one, but still. He paid a friend at Harvard to take one or two of his Spanish Exams and was caught and thrown out of school. Then signed up for the military, however, Daddy got him to stay only for two years instead of 4 years. He also got assigned to France, where it was safe. Then poor Mary Jo, he was drunk, and when he left supposedly went to his hotel room, went to sleep and called his attorney in the morning. Obviously Mary Jo was dead by then and the car was already being pulled out of Poucha Pond. The car by the way had her finger nail marks scraping up the carpet on the floor. So, yes, she suffered. They sent the body back home within a day so that an autopsy could not be done? Then the court tried to get a court ordered exhuming of her body but the parents refused, payed off again?The flight that he crashed, records reveal he was drunk for that also, but the records were closed for 20 plus years.
To make matters worse, and this is why people can justify speaking of Ted in a mere truth setting. In 1968 he opened the doors to illegal aliens and today because of that, we have 15 MILLION AMERICANS WITHOUT JOBS. Thanks, Ted.
He pursued illegal immigrants relentlessly to his last day. It will take us a good hundred years to fix this problem. He also wanted them on our health insurance plan. Like the American population is stupid enough to agree to pay for 20 million illegal alien health care???????? He finally found something that he was “safe” doing, and did not kill, murder anyone. He could get drunk and still go for illegals and the only ones that it hurt was America. The man had many demons and needed a lot of help. Aristocracy can buy you freedom, but it can’t buy life.
September 5th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Yes Sarah, the Vatican has forgiven him.
The Vatican gave him an annullment. I wonder how much money that cost him to have his adult children essentially declared illegitimate.
Money bought him his 2 month probation. Money bought his nephew William out of rape charges. Mone bought him his annullment.
Money could not save the lives of John and his family, money could not save the lives of his brothers. I believe everyone in the Kennedy family paid for the sins of the father - Joe.
September 5th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Personally Ted Kennedy was a poor rich man, who got away with murder. Nothing happened to him, because there is one law for the rich and one law tor the rest of the world. So goes the relaity of life. There Father Joe started it all, and probably others way back farther. So monkey see monkey do!! They all knew what they were doing, and how to get a way with it. As for meeting St. Peter, I am not in control of that, and will not even comment on that one. Because none of us are perfect, so who will cast the first stone not I. I am far from perfect,and have done some things in my past that I am not proud of. We all have!! Life goes on, so let it go quit beating a dead horse. What is in the past, will stay there. We can’t change it, but we all can move on. So let the Kennedys ret in peace, and let us all move on to more important matters that we can make a difference with. Our world has so very important issues that need our help with, lets deal with those instead of dealing with dead people lives we can not change at all!! Look at the big picture America, wake up and smell the kibble. Or we are all going to be in a world of hurt, more then you could ever think or dream of. Time is now to stop, look, and listen, WAKE UP before it is to late!! Address the issues at hand, and try to make things better now where we can!!
September 5th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Does time lessen an event then Sarah? I got married nearly 40 years ago, am I still married? WW2 broke out 70 years ago last Monday, do the millions of deaths that occurred not matter?
Should we forgive Hitler and say we don’t know whether he is with your god or your devil because of all his crimes committed 65 to 70 years ago?
Its also quite a while since Ted’s brothers were assassinated, so shall we just say ‘they died young, just like Mary Jo?’
September 5th, 2009 at 4:17 am
Maybe because this occurred just over 40 years ago….
September 4th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
not envy, Sarah - more like disgust at what he did and the fact he got away with it.
…and how do you know that God has not forgiven Ted Kennedy? do you have a hotline…? …and if God has not forgiven him, why have you…?
September 4th, 2009 at 5:58 am
Like most internet sites, the dark side will come out with outrageous statements; I do not understand any living person who seems to know with such certainty what God will do.
So far, Kennedy will burn in Hell after being turned away by St. Peter;
The Vatican has not defended Kennedy (an unreasonable task)
The posters, for the most part, seem to know so much about Mary Jo Kopechne when, in fact, no one does.
God has not forgiven Ted Kennedy.
Folks, you are some “interesting” people, that’s for sure.
I am sorry that Ted Kennedy was born into wealth and privilege; by these gifts, he could have lived a pretty good life without the worry of being shot at any moment. Instead, he stayed in public service.
And tell me, which of us will have the glorious send-off he got from Americans and foreigners from all walks of life?
Is there some envy going on here?
September 4th, 2009 at 5:04 am
The way I herd the story, was, Teddy was high on L.S.D., when he drove off the bridge. Thats why he waited ten hrs. to report it. He had to come down first.