Posted by
Compassionate Conservative on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 12:20:01 PM
The last male of the second generation of Kennedys - the political generation - Senator Edward Kennedy, has just succumbed to the inevitable, dying from brain cancer at age 77. While I was staunchly opposed to Kennedy's liberal agenda, I never wish for someone to die. I only wish the people of Massachusetts had voted him out of office decades ago, but then that was probably too much to hope for. Now, of course, the accolades are rolling in, just as they always do for a recently departed famous person: liberal lion, great compromiser, architect of meaningful legislation, etc. All have some grain of truth, especially if you consider "meaningful" to be the same as "liberal", but probably the most outrageously untrue epitaph was offered by a Republican, of all people.
Governor Arnold "RINO" Scharznegger of California has said of Kennedy that he was, "a man of great faith and character." I don't know about the faith part - only God knows that - but character?? Let's remember that here's a man who, on July 18, 1969, drove away drunk from a party on Chappaquiddick Island with a woman not his wife, intending, apparently, to have an affair with her. Somewhere along the way to Edgartown, he took a wrong turn (drunks will do that) and drove over the side of the Dike Bridge just before 1:00 A.M. Kennedy managed to escape the vehicle, which was overturned in the water, but his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, was unable to escape. Her drowned body was found by fishermen just after 8:00 the next morning.
After Kennedy left the scene of the accident without rescuing Kopechne, his route back to the party took him past four houses from which he could have telephoned and summoned help; however, he didn't do so. He was never able to fully explain why he didn't, nor why he tried to pretend the incident never happened. He simply returned to his room and woke up the next morning, resuming his life as though nothing was wrong. The discovery of Kopechne's body changed all that, of course, but Kennedy was never even charged with a crime, let alone forced to spend time in prison for manslaughter as any ordinary, non-Kennedy peon would have had to do. It seems safe to me to assume that Kennedy was trying to cover up his attempt to have an affair with Mary Jo, which led him to allow her to drown in his car, but I guess we'll never know for sure, and you can bet forgiving liberals will be quick to point that out.
On March 30, 1991, Kennedy was involved in another drinking- and sex-related incident, this time with a couple of his nephews. One of those nephews, William Kennedy Smith, allegedly tackled and raped a woman he picked up in a bar in the vicinity of the Kennedy estate swimming pool as she struggled to fight him off. The police report said she suffered bruises and abrasions and fractured rib. Smith was charged and brought to trial in a most un-Kennedy-like fashion, but order was restored when he was acquitted. I guess we'll never know the truth about this incident, either, since Uncle Teddy successfully orchestrated a cover-up on Billie's behalf. Liberals, however, can forgive a good "progressive" like Kennedy any indiscretion.
I don't want to speak ill of the dead, but there's a pattern here of drinking, sex, and violence that seems inconsistent with the accolade of good character. Perhaps we should simply remember Kennedy as a legislator who pursued his "progressive" legislative agenda with vigor and some success. Oh, but wait, I didn't want to speak ill of the dead...