The Senator

Quote: "I've been to the bridge at Chappaquiddick. He was flawed. He knew that. The world knew that. Whether you forgive him or not doesn't matter anymore. The point is, he persevered in the face of it." -- Or better stated, he got away with womanizing, cheating on his wife, driving while drunk, and eventually killing a woman as a result -- a bit more than just a "flaw" in my book. And oh, yes, my relative who lives in Mass, a police officer no less, pulled him over for drunk driving a few years ago. You want to know what happened? The senator from Mass told the officer "Do you know who I am?" My relative called the station to ask what to do and was promptly told to "let him go."

Ted Kennedy apparently didn't agree with his brother's governing philosoplies. And for that I didn't respect him.

"I don't know how he got up in the morning sometimes..."
He got up in the morning knowing there was another pill and another drink and another available floozy available by the end of the day, plus if he was really lucky he'd hear a new Chapaquiddick joke that'd have him in stitches by lunch.

Q: What's the difference between Ted Kennedy and Barak Obama? A: Kennedy's socialist views were developed as a form of good intentions, Obama's have developed as a way to get even. Both manifest themselves by stripping away individual freedom, liberties, and pose a direct threat to capitalism that ultimately undermines our previous democracy.

Excellent article from a person with an insiders view. Too often when someone dies a halo effect kicks in, and all we hear is how great this or that person was.

I believe that Robert Kennedy was the driving force for the brothers success, Ted made too many mistakes to carry on without him, though he lingered quite awhile, I must admit.

You said on Fox today "many people still don't like Teddy because of Chappaquiddick. I am one of them. I cannot believe he never made an apology, that he "ran" away that night only to surface long after she could have been saved, never took responsibility for his condition when the event happened, and that he was never contrite regarding the accident. He was a coward, he hid behind his family name and money, and he died a murderer. That fact can never be erased.

I am sorry Susan but I can not view Ted Kennedy as a hero or a person of morals. He is known for the murder of MaryJo and other sexual advances on women along with Sen. Dodd. I am a recovering alcoholic and we have to take responsibility for our actions even in sobriety and he has not. He deprived a mother and father the life of their daughter and I wish that family would finally speak out now they do not have to fear him anymore. I am glad the "camelot" is over and now maybe we can take our country back. Why in America do we make heroes of those who die when they do not deserve it. I admired Eunice Shriver for her work with special olympics and I also thought Jackie Kennedy had class but for Teddy I am sorry he should be in jail for what he did that day but the Kennedy name saved him like it saved many of his nephews. Shame on Mass. for keeping him in office.

How sad that those who chose to leave a comment, used their space to trash this man and outwardly show how hateful they were toward this man. Some men deserve the hate they get because they actually WORK to earn that hate. Ted Kennedy had an accident that night. He did not deliberately PLAN what happened. Mr. Arena, who investigated the incident described it as an accident when he first wrote the police report. I think I will take Mr. Arena's word, and remember Mr Arena was a registered Republican at the time, over anything else. I was in college at the time with an Arena family member who later told me that his relative was not a person who would lie or could be bribed. If we separate the man from his legislative work and look only at the bills he sponsored and co-sponsored, we can see a huge body of work that improved the conditions for countless people. As a disabled person, the Americans with Disabilities Act directly benefitted me. For that reason alone, I will respect his memory. I note that many many Republicans over the past few days described this man as "...a caring friend."

As soon as his cancer was detected, I noticed the immediate attempt at
the "canonization" of old Teddy Kennedy by the mainstream media. They are
saying what a "great American" he is. I say, let's get a couple things
clear & not twist the facts to change the real history.

1. He was caught cheating at Harvard when he attended it. He was
expelled twice, once for cheating on a test, and once for paying a
classmate to cheat for him.

2. While expelled, Kennedy enlisted in the Army, but mistakenly signed
up for four years instead of two. Oops! The man can't count to four!
His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to England (a step
up from bootlegging liquor into the US from Canada during prohibition),
pulled the necessary strings to have his enlistment shortened to two
years, and to ensure that he served in Europe, not Korea , where a war
was raging. No preferential treatment for him! (like he charged that
President Bush received).

3. Kennedy was assigned to Paris , never advanced beyond the rank of
Private, and returned to Harvard upon being discharged. Imagine a person
of his "education" NEVER advancing past the rank of Private!

4. While attending law school at the University of Virginia , he was
cited for reckless driving four times, including once when he was clocked
driving 90 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood with his
headlights off after dark. Yet his Virginia driver's license was never
revoked. Coincidentally, he passed the bar exam in 1959. Amazing!

5. In 1964, he was seriously injured in a plane crash, and
hospitalized for several months. Test results done by the hospital at
the time he was admitted had shown he was legally intoxicated. The
results of those tests remained a "state secret" until in the 1980's when
the report was unsealed. Didn't hear about that from the unbiased media,
did we?

6. On July 19, 1969, Kennedy attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island
in Massachusetts . At about 11:00 PM, he borrowed his chauffeur's keys
to his Oldsmobile limousine, and offered to give a ride home to Mary Jo
Kopechne, a campaign worker. Leaving the island via an unlit bridge with
no guard rail, Kennedy steered the car off the bridge, flipped, and into
Poucha Pond.

7. He swam to shore and walked back to the party, passing several
houses and a fire station. Two friends then returned with him to the
scene of the accident. According to their later testimony, they told him
what he already knew - that he was required by law to immediately report
the accident to the authorities. Instead Kennedy made his way to his
hotel, called his lawyer, and went to sleep. Kennedy called the police
the next morning and by then the wreck had already been discovered.
Before dying, Kopechne had scratched at the upholstered floor above her
head in the upside-down car..


The Kennedy family began "calling in favors", ensuring that any inquiry
would be contained. Her corpse was whisked out-of-state to her family,
before an autopsy could be conducted. Further details are uncertain, but
after the accident Kennedy says he repeatedly dove under the water trying
to rescue Kopechne and he didn't call police because he
was in a state of shock. It is widely assumed Kennedy was drunk, and he
held off calling police in hopes that his family could fix the problem
overnight.. Since the accident, Kennedy's "political enemies" have
referred to him as the distinguished Senator from Chappaquiddick. He
pled guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, and was given a
SUSPENDED SENTENCE OF TWO MONTHS. Kopechne's family received a small
payout from the Kennedy's insurance policy, and never sued. There was
later an effort to have her body exhumed and autopsied, but her family
successfully fought against this in court, and Kennedy's family paid
their attorney's bills... a "token of friendship"?


8. Kennedy has held his Senate seat for more than forty years, but
considering his longevity, his accomplishments seem scant. He authored
or argued for legislation that ensured a variety of civil rights,
increased the minimum wage in 1981, made access to health care easier for
the indigent, and funded Meals on Wheels for fixed-income seniors and is
widely held as the "standard-bearer for liberalism". In his very first
Senate roll, he was the floor manager for the bill that turned U.S.
immigration policy upside down and opened the floodgate for immigrants
from third world countries.

9. Since that time, he has been the prime instigator and author of
every expansion of an increase in immigration, up to and including the
latest attempt to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. Not to mention the
pious grilling he gave the last two Supreme Court nominees, as if he was
the standard bearer for the nation in matters of "what's right".

10. He is known around Washington as a public drunk, loud, boisterous
and very disrespectful to ladies.


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robert lipka: "Ted Kennedy had an accident that night. He did not deliberately PLAN what happened."....being drunk and driving is NO accident. His brother didn't "PLAN" to have his PT boat sliced in 2 but it didn't stop him from aiding his crew that night, it didn't stop him from swimming 3 miles with a badly burned crewman in tow (even with serious back injuries), it didn't stop him from taking what measures that were needed to save his crew. Ted was no where near the men his brothers were (Joe Jr, John and Robert).......the gene pool was getting a little tired by the time Ted came along.

Kathaleen covered most of what I do not like about Teddy. The only part that she missed is that he was the main Senator behind pulling the funding in the mid 1970's for support of the Vietnamese government, which essentially caused the fall in Vietnam, and the killing fields in Laos and Cambodia. I hold him responsible, abet not solely, for the deaths of millions of innocent people. He was definitely flawed, but to his credit he was a good father, uncle, and grandfather to a lot of children that really needed his help. He gave far more eulogies than any man should ever have to give. None of us are without flaws, but he was not Joe, Jack, or Robert.