Ted is Dead

[seeker_two]

Some religions don't require repentance.
 

The ones that count do.... 

[HankB]

Hopefully it wasn't my comment that got the last thread deleted, but if this post disappears, I'll get the hint . . . 

The man responsible for the death of Mary Jo Kopechne is now facing a Judge who's beyond the influence of money and politics.

[Waitone]

I like to separate the man from the deeds.  As a man Ted experienced more horrors in life than most.  The brutal murder of brothers is enough to send normal mortals over the edge.  Instead of rocking back and enjoying the fruits of his family's wealth he opted for a life of public service.  He was flawed as all humans are flawed.  One of his actions was especially chilling.  I suspect his iron determination to stay in the public light had a lot to do with his burden of the legacy of two murdered public servants.  Something drove him to stay public.  I feel quite sorry for his immediate family and I sincerely hope he made peace with the Almighty before dying.

Now to what he did.  His name is associated with a lot of the legislative decisions some consider to be detrimental to the republic.  Healthcare gets the press now but let us remember he was a fanatical proponent of gun control.  His legislation give us HMO's.  He was the architect of the change in immigration policy which gave us the problems we face today.  He offered support to our enemies during the Vietnam war.  He conspired with the Soviet KGB to defeat Reagan's introduction of medium range missiles in Europe.  He was instrumental in the emasculation of the intelligence community after the Watergate mess.  I could go on but won't.  I hope an enterprising researcher produces an exhaustive study of Ted Kennedy's legislative history so that an honest record of his impact can be made public. 

I do not like the socialist / fascist tack our country is taking.  I keep asking why no one is speaking of rollback of what we find so objectionable.  A good place to start the discussion is an analysis of Ted Kennedy's legislative "accomplishments".

[Perd Hapley]

Instead of rocking back and enjoying the fruits of his family's wealth he opted for a life of public service. 

Huh? 

[Scout26]

I'll merely quote Mark Twain:

"I've never killed a man, but I've read many an obituary with a great deal of satisfaction."

[MrRezister]

I nearly had a heart attack!

Every time I read "Ted", I just automatically think "Nugent".

[209]

I hope an enterprising researcher produces an exhaustive study of Ted Kennedy's legislative history so that an honest record of his impact can be made public. 

A good place to start the discussion is an analysis of Ted Kennedy's legislative "accomplishments".

His record is kind of scant.  A logical person may think anyone who served in Congress for more than forty years would have quite a bit of bills that could be directly linked to them.  He doesn't seem to have many of those links.

I did find this:

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

While expelled, Kennedy enlisted in the Army, but mistakenly signed up for four years instead of two. His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to England, 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 accusations of preferential treatment for him.  However he was a prime accuser of that towards former President Bush.  Kennedy was assigned to Paris, never advanced beyond the rank of private, and returned to Harvard upon being discharged.

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.

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.

I'm sure there will be a lot more coming to light now that he died.

[Silver Bullet]

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chappaquiddick_incident

Discovery of the body

Earlier that morning, two amateur fishermen had seen the overturned car in the water and notified the inhabitants of the cottage nearest to the pond, who called the authorities at around 8:20 am.[15] A diver was sent down and discovered Kopechne's body at around 8:45 am.[16] 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.[9]   ”
Farrar believed that Kopechne "lived for at least two hours down there."

[280plus]

I heard Jimmy Carter say he made up for that with all the hard work he did in congress.

[agricola]

I heard Jimmy Carter say he made up for that with all the hard work he did in congress.

As sick as that is, it has been echoed with an article in today's Guardian that makes much the same points, albeit far more explicitly and with a hypocrisy (given that elsewhere in the Guardian Dan Hannan is attacked for saying that Enoch Powell was a hero of his) that has rarely been equalled anywhere: 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/27/edward-kennedy-usa

I can only hope it is an elaborate joke, but it does not appear to be so. 

[KD5NRH]

Every time I read "Ted", I just automatically think "Nugent".

I just keep waiting for Good Ted to write an article, or better yet, a rock ballad, about Evil Ted's life.

[seeker_two]

I heard Jimmy Carter say he made up for that with all the hard work he did in congress.

....so says the President who would go to the Oval Office at 5am to look like he was "working hard for the people", yet would be napping on the couch for most of the morning.... 

[209]

Well, it's all good.  Obama has now been called the last Kennedy.  So the legacy lives on.

[seeker_two]

Well, it's all good.  Obama has now been called the last Kennedy.  So the legacy lives on.

That's good...he has a title now since Bill Clinton was called the first black president by Maya Angelou.... 

[slingshot]

I'm a little taken back by the royal treatment with military guard and so forth at the viewing at the JFK library.  I don't recall that he served in the military.  The man was born with a silver spoon and lived his life accordingly; do as I say and not as I do.  His request to the MA governor concerning appointing a democratic successor versus the special election just reflects his self image.  BHO delivers a personal letter from Teddie to the Pope.  Teddie, rest in peace.  I hope God forgives you.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

I'm a little taken back by the royal treatment with military guard and so forth at the viewing at the JFK library.  I don't recall that he served in the military.  The man was born with a silver spoon and lived his life accordingly; do as I say and not as I do.  His request to the MA governor concerning appointing a democratic successor versus the special election just reflects his self image.  BHO delivers a personal letter from Teddie to the Pope.  Teddie, rest in peace.  I hope God forgives you.

I think he served a coupla years in the Army between getting kicked out of Harvard (cheating? bad grades? something like that) and being allowed back in a few years later.  As I recall, he spent his Army years as a Private serving in Paris, despite the Korean War going on at the time.

[Jamisjockey]

I think he served a coupla years in the Army between getting kicked out of Harvard (cheating? bad grades? something like that) and being allowed back in a few years later.  As I recall, he spent his Army years as a Private serving in Paris, despite the Korean War going on at the time.

[sarcasm]BUT MSNBC DECLARED HIM A KOREAN WAR VET!!!1ONE!  HOW DARE YOU IMPUNE HIS SERVICE![/sarcasm]

The man served the Senate for alot of years.  Strom Thurmond got similar treatment.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

way i heard it he accidentally signed up for 4 years daddy pulled strings got it changed to 2 year hitch   i had to set a couple flags to 1/2 mast for him yesterday.  gave me a funny feeling doing that. heck we don't honor kids who die in combat like that

[HankB]

 i had to set a couple flags to 1/2 mast for him yesterday. 

That's just grotesque . . . I suppose when he passes, we'll be expected to do the same for O. J. Simpson, who killed two people and walked. 

[slingshot]

I honestly don't care if he was in the military or not.  I just never remembered it being mentioned.  His Father probably sat him down and said... Teddie, if you want to run for political office as I would like you to, you need to serve in the military.  Not to be political, but I hope this helps to put a nail in the huge health care proposal and perhaps if they do anything, they look at some incremental changes which is what was suggested to Bush after the illegal alien bill fell on its face.

[Scout26]

The man served the Senate for alot of years.  Strom Thurmond got similar treatment.

After the outbreak of World War II, Strom Thurmond resigned from the bench to serve in the U.S. Army, rising to Lieutenant Colonel. In the Battle of Normandy (June 6 – August 25, 1944), he landed in a glider attached to the 82nd Airborne Division. For his military service, he received 18 decorations, medals and awards, including the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star with Valor device, Purple Heart, World War II Victory Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Belgium's Order of the Crown and France's Croix de Guerre. During 1954–55 he was president of the Reserve Officers Association. He later retired from the U.S. Army Reserves with the rank of Major General.

I think Strom got the military funeral because he was highly decorated retired US Army Reserve Major General, not because he was a Senator. 

Teddy got drafted into the Army after Havard threw him out for cheating.  Daddy pulled strings to get him sent to Paris and not Korea.


C&SD,
I believe you set your flags to half-staff, unless you're flying those flags from a boat or ship. 

[Gewehr98]

I honestly don't care if he was in the military or not.

Hate to say it, but as a military vet, he was entitled to a military funeral, same as me.  My Arlington internment paperwork will now have an additional request that plainly states I shall be planted on the opposite side of the cemetary from Ted, preferably uphill so that his alcohol-preserved remains don't leach into my own casket. 

[Scout26]

Hate to say it, but as a military vet, he was entitled to a military funeral, same as me.  My Arlington internment paperwork will now have an additional request that plainly states I shall be planted on the opposite side of the cemetary from Ted, preferably uphill so that his alcohol-preserved remains don't leach into my own casket. 

While I agree that Ted does deserve a military funeral, he does not however deserve to be buried at Arlington. 

[AZRedhawk44]

Hate to say it, but as a military vet, he was entitled to a military funeral, same as me.  My Arlington internment paperwork will now have an additional request that plainly states I shall be planted on the opposite side of the cemetary from Ted, preferably uphill so that his alcohol-preserved remains don't leach into my own casket. 

I wonder how many other people's paperwork will say something similar...

[Gowen]

The honor of Arlington was tainted years ago when Politicians started selling plots.  The ones who got in by honorable means will be remembered the others, eh.. not so much.