August 26, 2009, - 2:37 am
RIP, Mary Jo Kopechne: Ted Kennedy Dead at 77; Will His “Memorials” Include the Full Picture?
**** SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE UPDATES ****
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) died at age 77 from a brain tumor, apparent cancer.
Will he get the Robert Novak revisionist history treatment (though he wasn’t the vocal HAMAS-nik and Israel-hater that Novak was, but he was bad enough on plenty of related and other stuff)? Does his epitaph deserve to be whitewashed of Chappaquiddick and animal-like behavior a la mid-day, mid-lunch sex escapades on the table–or was it the floor?– of Washington restaurant, La Brasserie (while on a double “date” with bud Chris Dodd)? Will anyone mention the photos of him on a yacht off the coast of the French Riviera, en flagrante delicto with some other woman in the middle of the day out in the open (marking the first and only time he supported “offshore drilling”)?
Should we forget how he got kicked out of Harvard (TWICE!) for cheating (TWICE!), and how a woman rumored to be pregnant (possibly with his kid) died in a car while he was driving it, and that he waited hours until notifying authorities (perhaps to be sure the woman was dead), then had the chutzpah to show up at her funeral?
(This behavior–when there was still some shame in America, more than a couple of decades ago–kept him from ever becoming President, his one big dream.)
You know my opinion (though I will miss mocking the man I liked to call “Club Ted”). What’s yours?
One thing is certain: He lived a much longer, far more enjoyable life than Mary Jo Kopechne. And unlike her parents, he got to see his kids grow up (in between womanizing bouts) and live extensive adult lives.
They mentioned John Dillinger’s crimes in his obits. Count how many obits for Club Ted mention Chappaquiddick. The one linked above certainly didn’t.
I predict the remembrances of Dear Old Ted will be even more bloated than he was.
Mary Jo Kopechne, Rest In Peace.
**** UPDATE: One thing I forgot to mention–and a Palm Beach reader reminded me of it–is that part of Ted Kennedy’s legacy is waking up his nephew, William Kennedy Smith, after he went to bed for the night, so the two could go carousing at the chic Club Au-Bar (now closed). You’ll recall that this led to a rape by Smith, of which he was acquitted because a good amount of the evidence was ruled out of the trial by the judge. Death and rape . . . two things Ted Kennedy had on his hands.
Sadly, I can’t think of a single thing he contributed to America (other than helping subsidize the wine and spirits industry through personal consumption). Can you?
Read more at Braunstein Speaks.
**** UPDATE #2: My FaceBook Friend, Monorom Wu, writes:
Personally I’ll never forgiven the man for what he was leading in the withdrawal of U.S. Forces from Vietnam. His actions caused Cambodia to collapse and fall under Khmer Rouge. My parents lost half their family.
Me and especially my family have not forgotten what he did. As a result, my parents barely made it out alive, but the rest of my family was killed. At leat 2 million Cambodians were killed under the Khmer Rouge.
**** UPDATE #3: Reader David from Ohio writes:
Your comments on the passing (finally!) of that lecherous drunk were exactly what I was thinking when I first heard of this about one this morning! I have despised him since that MVA and he never
even got a wrist slap where if you or I had done the same thing, would still be in jail!Some Catholic he was, for abortion, fornication outside of marriage, excess booze and food, yep, a real role model if there ever was one. He will get a High Mass at some Catholic church this week and nothing but praise for his “accomplishments” in his life and how much he did for the “common man”. What horse manure!
He never worked a day in his life and had the nerve to tell folks who do what they should do with their hard earned money(tax and give to the poor). Am still trying to figure out what business the USG has in telling anyone what they can pay employees. If the pay isn’t high enough, one does not work there, that simple, but then nothing the USG does is ever simple. I spent over 22 years on active duty in the USAF(55-77), survived the Cold and VN wars, and then 22 years more in the federal CS. Saw all kinds of waste.
The other lives on him are all the South Vietnamese boat people who did not make it to safety when the North Vietnamese took over the south in 1975/76. God himself only knows what horrors they endured from pirates and storms as they tried to escape, only to be butchered by the pirates and drowned by the storms. He led the way to cut funding so how many died for that decision? We will never know…………..
Heard a comment in a store today, that would he meet Mary Jo in heaven. I butted in and said he did not go up, but is hopefully in Hell, and boy, talk about some dirty looks! Not that I gave a damn.
AMEN, Dave.
Tags: cancer, Chappaquiddick, cheating, Club Ted, Dead, Deceased, Died, drunk driver, drunk driving, Edward Kennedy, expelled, expulsion from Harvard, Harvard, La Brasserie, liberal, Mary Jo Kopechne, Massachusetts, offshore drilling, plagiarist, Ted Kennedy, U.S. Senator
I doubt any one will stop to remember her in all the fulsome tributes to Uncle Ted. The Little People don’t count in Washington and aren’t even a footnote in the history books.
NormanF on August 26, 2009 at 3:07 am