Sen. Edward Kennedy Dies at 77

Not to us here - she was the US Ambassador to Ireland for a while.

 

Thank God. Few have done more to erode the foundations of this Republic than he did.

 

The same can be said of your erosion to the world's view of a believer being Christ like.

 

IMO his failure where it came to killing Mary Jo Kopechne through his intentional desertion of her is not outweighed by whatever other good he may or may not have done in his life.

Part of being a public figure who is held up as an example of compassion and virtue should include the ability to admit one's own shortcomings.

I have never heard of any sort of public apology from him where it comes to his part in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.

 

I know I'm opening a can of worms here, but it wouldn't be the Baptistboard otherwise...

Kopechne wasn't killed by Kennedy. She was accidentally killed in an auto accident in which Kennedy was driving. There was never any indication of any negligence on Kennedy's part in the accident. What Kennedy was guilty of was leaving the scene of an accident without reporting it to authorities. There was never any indication that alcohol ws involved, that there was any infidelity going on, or that his leaving the scene caused her death. He plead guilty to one count of leaving an accident scene and received a two month suspended sentence. He was guilty of stupidity, but of nothing else.

I've abhored the bulk of Kennedy's politics. He was way too liberal for my taste, and even too liberal for many moderate democrats. If a person wants to abhor the man, it is not necessary to inflate Kopechne's death in order to do so.

That said, when a person passes away, it at least appropriate to grant some courtesy and refrain from such debates for a few days. The fact that we can't do that suggests that common courtesy is a trait absent among many.

 

It's sad when anyone dies especially considering that one has to meet God. I hope Mr. Kennedy was ready. Also, there is the loss that the family suffers. For that I have great sympathy.

With that said, I'm glad that he is no longer in the senate working to destroy this country. He should have been gone along time ago (not dead, but no longer a flaming liberal power house in the senate). But, I'm sure the lame brained people of Mass. will find someone just as flaming or even worse to replace him. God help us!!!

What makes me want to throw up is the way the Kennedy family is treated as if they were some sort of royalty deserving of our allegiance and sympathy. I for one will not be watching the funeral and will be turning the channel to Andy Griffith or something else while the drive by media fawns over this family.

 

Ted's death has not tempered my opinion of the man. Or any Kennedy, for that matter. With all the "he did so much" garbage, I'd like someone to articulate exactly what he did that made this a better nation. I'll be checking back, if anyone would like a go at it.

As far as his death goes, perhaps we can praise his fight to survive, but he did not believe average Americans deserve the same choices he was able to make.

And Carpro is right. He, like a lot of liberals here, thought giving with other people's money was virtuous. It's cowardice & hypocrisy.

RIP Ted. But your family has been a curse on this nation.

 

I am sorry that he is dead. You never had a doubt where he would stand in terms of partisan politics. He represented his state and his party to the best of his ability. All other senators of whatever persuasion would attest to his ability to steer legislation through to his desired conclusion. He was an effective US Senator. I disagreed with most all of his positions, but to doubt his abilities as a Senator would be to ignore facts.

But, JohnV, to say he was just guilty of stupidity is to downplay the woman's death. He was 37 years old when she died. I don't think he was guilty of murder. But he was guilty of more than stupidity.

Maybe the people here are saying what they are because it will not be said anywhere else. It will be lost in the process of beatification of Sen Kennedy.

 

I won't be a hypocrite. I have no particular feeling regarding the death of Kennedy. I do sympathize with his family in their bereavement. Even the relatives of criminals morn their passing. Kennedy was an abortionist and just as guilty as those who preformed the slaughter of the unborn baby. Beyond that he was a grave danger to the Republic and has been since starting his Senate tenure.

You opened the can of worms called Chappaquiddick. I will try to close it. I believe you are totally misinformed about what happened to Mary Jo Kopechne. The following may enlighten you somewhat.

Chappaquiddick

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Mary_Jo_Kopechne

On July 18, 1969, Mary Jo attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, held in honor of the "Boiler Room Girls." This affectionate name was given to the six young women who had been vital to the former Robert Kennedy presidential campaign, and who had subsequently closed up Bobby's files and campaign office after his assassination. Besides Kopechne, the other women, all single, were Susan Tannenbaum, Maryellen Lyons, Ann Lyons, Rosemary Keough, and Esther Newburgh. The men in attendance, all married but partying without their wives, were Ted Kennedy, Joe Gargan, U.S. Attorney Paul Markham, Charles Tretter, Raymond La Rosa, and John Crimmins. The festivity was held at Lawrence Cottage, rented for the occasion by Joe Gargan, Kennedy's cousin and lawyer. The twelve attendees gathered at the cottage after two Kennedy boats raced in the Edgartown Regatta earlier in the day.

Kopechne left the party at 11:15 pm with Ted Kennedy after he offered to drive her back to the Katama Shores Motor Inn in Edgartown where she was staying. On his way to the ferry crossing back to Edgartown, Kennedy reported he accidentally turned right onto Dike Road instead of bearing left on Main Street. After proceeding one-half mile, he descended a hill and came upon a narrow bridge set obliquely to the unlit road. Kennedy drove his 1967 Oldsmobile Delta*88 off the side of Dike Bridge, and the car overturned into Poucha Pond.

Kennedy was able to extricate himself from the submerged car, but Mary Jo died, allegedly drowning in the accident. However, undertaker Eugene Frieh told reporters that death "was due to suffocation rather than drowning," and diver John Farrar, who removed Kopechne from the car, claimed she was "too buoyant to be full of water." Since Mary Jo's parents' lawyer Joseph Flanagan filed a petition barring an autopsy, the cause of death was never medically confirmed. When the car was recovered, all the doors were locked and three of the windows were either open or smashed-in. Investigators pondered how Kennedy, a large-framed, 6-foot-2-inch man managed to get out of the car, but Mary Jo, slender, 5 foot 2 inches tall, was not able to do the same.

Kennedy claims he dove down several times attempting to free her. After exhausting himself, he rested for 20 minutes, then walked back to the Lawrence Cottage where the party had been held, and returned with Joe Gargan and Paul Markham who then resumed trying to reach her. The tidal current prevented them from reaching her.

Kennedy did not report the accident to authorities; they located him after the car and Kopechne's body were discovered in the morning. He had in the meantime discussed it with several people, including Kopechne's parents (they say he omitted to tell them that he had been driving the car).

On television Kennedy later said he was not driving under the influence of alcohol. He explained he was in a state of shock when he emerged from the creek and confused by "a jumble of emotions," and that his conduct in not reporting the accident was "inexcusable". He said he gave up hope and remembers little of how he got back to his hotel in Edgartown except that he swam the narrow channel because there were no night ferries and nearly drowned in the process.

Kennedy was charged and tried for failing to report an accident involving injury. He received a suspended sentence. Questions remain about Kennedy's attempts to save her and the possibility of interference in the investigation and the trial by his family and friends. Mary Jo's death severely damaged Kennedy's reputation, and is regarded as one of the reasons why he was never able to mount a successful campaign for President of the United States.

A funeral Mass for Mary Jo was held on July 22, 1969 at St. Vincent's Roman Catholic Church in Plymouth, Pennsylvania. She is buried in the parish cemetery on the side of Larksville Mountain.

 

Despite what the undertaker noted, the medical examiner (Donald Mills) stated that the cause of death was accidental drowning, and noted such on her death certificate. That's sufficient to dispel those of a rumorous mind who suggest she died at Kennedy's hands.

 

I'll probably feel the same way if I live to see Rush Limbaugh die.

 

I missed it...what has he voted on in the House or Senate?

 

Okay, folks, no need to let this thread (like so many others) denegrate into a urinating contest.

 

I missed it... when did I say Limbaugh voted on anything?

Just because someone isn't an elected official doesn't mean they don't have the potential to harm the country. Is this so difficult to understand?

 

When has a conservative harmed anything in this country? Just because you are liberal, you let that blur your judgement.

 

Someone from the media harming this country? It happened last November with the liberal media's poisoning of Americans' mind that Obama was the Chosen One.

 

Nope...not difficult to understand at all. Unfortunately a bunch of folks that haven't been elected to anything ruined this country by electing Obama.

 

His hands may not have been around her throat but they were on the wheel, or were supposed to be.