Thursday, August 27, 2009

Lionizing Ted Kennedy--An American Embarrassment


Hey, I am never eager to trample on graves. But my readers know that I am willing to express what others only want to keep to themselves. But all this poppycock about Ted Kennedy being a wonderful senator, and all the revisionism that revitalized his questionable political career sickens me greatly.

It was 1969 and I was 14 years old, when I heard that Mr. Kennedy drove his car off a bridge, killing a beautiful 28 year old woman. Then I found out that he didn't report this accident for nearly one day. Now I'm sure we have all done some terrible things in our lives but some events are so horrific that they end up defining our entire existence. Well, not so for Mr. Kennedy. For normal people, a tragedy like this might have ruined them...I can certainly say that I would never have been the same thereafter.

The police treated the episode like a fender-bender. Kennedy was let off the hook despite the assertion that rapid response (under two hours) might have saved the woman's life (see the link below.)

And what was Kennedy (a notorious drunk and womanizer) whose then-current wife was pregnant, doing in a car that late with a lady nearly 10 years younger? Forget about getting any answers anymore...everyone has tried to investigate this thing and only the Lord will ever know what really happened; but I have my strong suspicions. Here's a very interesting link:

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

So what about the great liberal senator from Massachusetts? Other than introducing the verb "Borked" into the nation's vocabulary, what the hell did this guy ever do for the USA? He served his country without distinction in the military (unlike his two older brothers) and was discharged as a private. He was caught cheating on a Spanish exam at Harvard and was accordingly suspended. He grew up as the privileged son of a famous American bootlegger, so I suppose that you can claim that his prolific and well-detailed drinking habits were genetic. He and his staff introduced more than 300 bills in the Senate but I challenge you to name a single one that has had any lasting consequence (except COBRA.) He was a proponent for the Vietnam War and for universal health care...both turned out to be fiascoes. In 1980, he tried to run for President against his own (admittedly feckless) incumbent, Jimmy Carter.

Ted Kennedy always tried to be the consummate power-broker, but he did so by utter compromise and promise breaking. His pernicious personal habits constantly hindered his efficacy.

After all this, and you can read it for yourself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kennedy

what we get from oratorical Obama et al is a hagiography that ignores what could have been a prodigious life, and instead turned out to be a profligate one.

I'm not the first one to imply this, but Ted Kennedy isn't just any departed American hero; he was an American disgrace.

4 comments:

  1. Tell it like is, I love it! What's wrong with us as a nation?

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  2. John - sometimes you're right, sometimes you're wrong, but you're always scary. And I mean that with respect. :)

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  3. Maybe the better term than just scary - the right word is scary candid.

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  4. Wow, you found that spoof Volkswagen ad! Finest kind.

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