Ted Kennedy Is Dead
A liberal lion has roared his last.
U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, who staked out the far left of the American political spectrum for decades, succumbed to brain cancer early Wednesday morning at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. He was 77 years old.
The younger brother of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert Kennedy – both of whom were brutally assassinated during the 1960’s – Ted probably would have been president himself had it not been for a 1969 car wreck on Chappaquiddick Island that killed his female companion, Mary Jo Kopechne.
Kennedy insisted that he had not been drunk, and that he made “seven or eight” attempts to save Kopechne’s life, but he still failed to report the accident until the following day.
Still, Kennedy was elected seven times to the U.S. Senate by the voters of Massachusetts, although he lost his one presidential bid – in 1980 – to incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter.
Kennedy was first diagnosed with a brain tumor in May of 2008. He is survived by his first and second wife, and five children.
Comments
By Liberty For Me on August 26th, 2009 at 6:37 am
About time…..
By rick on August 26th, 2009 at 7:28 am
Amen….and the devil is smiling in welcome at his old friend finally coming home…..
By Hutchins on August 26th, 2009 at 7:42 am
His last effort in arrogance was to try to change the Mass law concerning Senate vacancies. He wanted to hand pick his successor. To hell with the law or democracy.
He and his ilk believe they are above the law, and the rest of us are just pawns to their majesty.
Obama is of the same mindset.
By Pamela on August 26th, 2009 at 8:14 am
Its so sad when someone celebrates a persons passing. JMO
RIP Ted
By Not Sayin', Just Sayin' on August 26th, 2009 at 8:48 am
You didn’t mention the night of Au Bar or his resulting close relection against, of all people, Mitt Romney in ‘94, but overall it was a good piece! RIP, Senator.
By Paying Respect on August 26th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Rest in Peace, Senator Kennedy. It is so sad that some would rejoice in the passing of a great American statesman. Whether you agreed with him or not philosophically, his service to his country was honorable beyond measure.
By Huh? on August 26th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Statesman?? Surely you jest! How about add to that “an irresponsible driver at best” or a flat out “murderer at worst.” Moreover, the man was a male version of Jane Fonda, doing more to undermine this country during time of war, than he ever did to help it in either peace or in war. I agree that he should be remembered for his accomplishments, but let’s never forget what he stood against either. His arrogance, hubris, and often bizarre behavior are all part of what he was and all contributed to many of our problems as a nation today. From my perspective he will be missed like a bad tooth ache. I don’t rejoice in his passing, but if you want tears or some kind words about his resting in peace, then forget it, he isn’t worth it!
By sid on August 26th, 2009 at 10:15 am
So, any linkage between today’s Tunage pick and this story?
By Not Sayin', Just Sayin' on August 26th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Oh, and RIP, Mary Jo.
By 1+1=3 on August 26th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Funny how all those “good” people who celebrate a man’s death are the same ones who talk about forgiveness when it comes to their own – like Sanford
By 3=1+1 on August 26th, 2009 at 10:53 am
How many people has Sanford killed?
By Eric on August 26th, 2009 at 10:58 am
I wonder how many of these finger waggers (ie 1+1=3, Paying Respect, Pamela) would celebrate Hilter’s suicide?
By Bee on August 26th, 2009 at 11:01 am
RIP, Mary Jo Kepechne. 1940 – 1969.
By Pamela on August 26th, 2009 at 11:21 am
I did not wag a finger my comment was “it is sad to here someone celebrate a person passing” Are you asking if I’m glad Hitler is gone? Then yes I am. I strongly dislike Sanford but I will not celebrate his death,& no he has not killed anyone that I know of, just raped the people of MY great state.
By Um, no on August 26th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Nice to know this site continues to attract high-quality commenters of such admirable character.
By Cooter Brown on August 26th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
While I wishes da Kennedy familie the blessing ov comfert an’ piece during deir loss, dis feller wuz evil an’ we could do a lot werse dan lose dis feller wit 5 months befo dey can send anotha socialist frum Mass-i-tooless to fill Sinator Kennedy seat.
No disrespect t’ th’ dead, mind ye, jest a practickle observashun…
By Cooter Brown on August 26th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Spoke tooo soon:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9AAM41G1&show_article=1
Dey is a gonna fill dat seat– You can neber trust a Yankee when deir is stealin’ t’ bee done!
By nolin on August 26th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Teddy makes Mark Sanford seem like a virtuous saint.
By sandy on August 26th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Let’s be honest with ourselves, people. If his last name wasn’t Kennnedy, he would’ve died in jail for the murder of Mary Jo.
By newzjunkie on August 26th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
It’s good to know the Christian values reps. like to throw in everyone’s face is being reflected in their comments.
This is why your boy SANFRAUD is falling so hard…
Walk the walk or shut the hell up!
By Workin' Tommy C on August 26th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Dead Kennedy is Ted?
By Crooner on August 26th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
From Republican strategist and political commentator Ed Rollins:
“No one has been a more prolific sponsor of legislation for the poor and disadvantaged.”
Yes, this son of privilege chose a life of public service dedicated to improving the plight of those less fortunate rather than protecting the fortunes and feathering the nests of his peers. I understand why Republicans vilify him. I don’t understand how Christians can.
By randy on August 26th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I remember watching Kennedy on the Senate floor as a middle school student in the Galley. He was very imposing and exuded power and confidence…
I found him to be incredibly intimidating and impressive–much moreso in person.
I will never forget his slanderous remarks regarding Judge Bork and Clarence Thomas…
No one every dared to challenge Kennedy–he was the media.
The Republicans have never had a leader so brazen and brash and self-righteous.
By Cooter Brown on August 26th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Eberyone lubs t’ cry Christian an’ hypocrite when folks is bein’ truthful ’bout a wicked man.
Lub yer enemies don’t mean we caint ax t’ be delivered frum evil (an’ be glad when we are) or dat we caint lub th’ sinner whilst hating the sins, whether politickal o’ moral.
Anie stick will do t’ beat a dawg an’ bad folks hab been a’ usin’ th’ gud Lawrd as a stick t’ beat down haters of sin an’ corruption wheneber dey don’t approv’ ov whats a’bein’ sayed by a citizen hoo also a happens to profess belief in da Lawrd Jesus Christ. Shameful bastards, dey is– God bless ‘em…
By derek demos on August 26th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
That’s a terrible thing for American…and the world; we all lost a great man and also a long legacy of family patriots and supporters to the American people and politics. We will miss you. Condolences to the family.
By Bear on August 26th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
I did not always agree with Kennedy but I did admire me. Especially during the Bush years when most of the senate was afraid to say anything against the war or other topics, Kennedy would speak out. He did not have to fear the heat that he would get from the white house. Was he always right, no, but he did not remain quiet and let Bush do whatever he wanted. Sorry to see him go.
By male sapphist on August 26th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
The brain tumor would have Ted hear from the past Kopechne, Kopechne, Kopechne, Kopechne;
By will on August 26th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
this mans death is the great. now i hope all the rest of the kennedys will die.this man ran off and let a young woman die.ted my boy i hope you rot in hell
By vance on August 26th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Kennedy was a mean-spirited,arrogant, self-righteous liar who repeatedly demonstrated an unquenchable lust for power.
Why is it that when a multi-millionaire liberal who made a career of spending the treasures of others, passes, there is such a commotion?
Every day, honorable, law-abiding Americans die in our military without any accolades bestowed upon them by the press.
Let’s dedicate a post to the true heroes.
By madcock on August 26th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
The hate that has driven the national Republican party since Nixon sold the GOP’s soul by getting in bed with dissafected Democrats like Strom Thurmond and their acolytes who so despised and feared the idea of black Americans being treated like full citizens is never more evident than at times like this.
Posters like “Liberty For Me” and “Rick” gleefully cheering Kennedy’s death say all you need to know about the soul(or lack of it)of the Republican Party.
It’s a great reminder of history and a real service for younger folks who haven’t witnessed many examples of this hate. The paid ad by leaders of the Texas GOP, incensed at JFK’s support of civil rights and Medicare(socialism they called it), in the Dallas Morning News the morning of Nov 22, 1963 “warning” JFK that he wasn’t welcome in Dallas and that his safety couldn’t be guaranteed seems almost unfathomable until events like this come along.
I have a clipping from a 1973 magazine retrospective of JFK’s assasination. Various citizens gave their rememberances of 11-22-1963. One man, Gary Dale Babin, relates the following:
“We were known as the the Prescott Jr. High School Rebels of Baton Rouge, La., and boy, did we ever live up to our name on November 22, 1963. Negroes attend Prescott now, but when I was in the seventh grade in 1963, we had no Negro pupils; and if we had had Negro pupils I’m afraid they would have been lynched.
Immediately after lunch we were allowed to go out into the schooyard for a recess. Rumors were thick during recess.
‘Kennedy’s been shot.’
‘Is it true?’
‘Are you sure?’
‘I hope it’s true.’
‘Let’s give a medal to whoever shot him.’
‘Yeah! I hope that nigger-loving son of a bitch is dead.’
Groups of students began doing different things. Some students sang choruses of ‘Glory, glory, hallelujah,’and ‘Hip! Hip1 Hooray!’ Everyone was happy, laughing, putting their arms around each other, slapping each other on their back. It really seemed like a joyous occasion. The teachers who were standing by their classroom doors did nothing to stop the celebration. They only smiled at our antics.”
The children of Prescott Jr. High are adults now and posting on this board as “Rick” and “Liberty For Me.” They do us all a service by giving us a glimpse into the real soul of today’s GOP, gleeful still at the death of a Kennedy.
Even the most ardent supporter of Ted Kennedy would have to admit that his behavior the night of and the days after Mary Jo Kopechne was killed was horrid. Leaving the scene of an accident is a crime, for which Kennedy plead guilty. Taking two days to report the incident is inexcusable.
His claims that he was not drunk couldn’t be proven because he left the scene of the accident, making a breathylizer test impossible. As with the Lubbock, TX police failing to follow their own procedures by not giving a teen-age Laura Bush the required breathylizer test after she ran a stop sign crashing into another vehicle and killing her estranged boyfriend, it’s human nature to fill in the blanks in the most negative way possible. Kennedy brought that on himself.
Many people who drive drunk and cause an accident in which someone dies serve jail time, as well they should. Kennedy never saw the inside of a slammer for the incident. Again, it’s human nature that we should be outraged that wealth and privilage allow anyone to skirt the system for their own benefit. Especially in a case like this that involved life and death.
I’ve often wondered if George W. Bush, whose father, while a Texas congressman, was able to get the Texas Air National Guard to add a spot for his son after their ranks were full, allowing him to avoid the draft at the heighth of the Vietnam War, ever wonders about the young man who was drafted instead of him, whether he survived or was one of the 50,000+ Americans who died in the war that Congressman Bush voted for but pulled strings to keep his son, George out of.
Likewise, it’s only human to wonder what Ted Kennedy’s thoughts were about Mary Jo Kopechne four decades after his involvement in her death and the fact that he walked away a free man.
I choose to dwell on Kennedy’s strength as he watched his three brothers die premature deaths, the way he was there for his many nieces and nephews serving as their surrogate father. His support for Medicare, Medicaid, S-chip and many other legislative achievements leave a very positive legacy on the whole in my opinion.
If someone chooses to make a judgement of Ted Kennedy based strictly on the Kopechne death that is certainly their right. Like judging Strom Thurmond only on his Senate filibuster of voting rights for black American citizens while hiding the fact that he had a daughter conceived illegitimately with a black woman during a sexual encounter that was, by SC law, statutory rape, it’s a choice based on factual events.
Thurmond and Kennedy made choices that may or may not say much about them. Likewise, our posts on this forum may speak volumes about us.
By Republic - too small, insane asylum -- too large on August 26th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Ted Kennedy was never supposed to be in government. He was the little brother that handled stuff and kept everybody happy. He was there while all three of his brothers died violently. He was there every time a disaster befell his family. He was involved in a horrible thing and may have acted dishonorably. What really happened will never be known so people largely pick sides based upon their political beliefs. But he watched his family be swallowed whole by the 20th century and he kept coming back and doing what he thought was right. And he held on, barely, until all of his siblings died — I choose to believe that was important to him — to be there so Eunice wouldnt have to bury them all. That said, I would like to point out that Laura Bush killed a kid, George got collared for DUI and likely snorted half of Columbia (nation, not city) before he was 40 and was joking around about a woman that was about to be electrocuted when she asked him to spare her life, George Senior had a mistress, Prescott palled around with Nazis, Strom fathered a child out of wedlock while railing that her race (hence his child) should not be allowed equal rights, Reagan knocked up Nancy before they got married, Nixon ruined peoples lives out of his own paranoia, Carroll Campbell marched across the Camperdown street bridge in Greenville like SC’s own Lester Maddox with an axe handle against desegration, and to be bipartisan, Clinton and Obama smoked weed, Clinton cheated on his wife, Kennedys Joe, Sr., Bobby and Jack had their own indiscretions with women and Bobby may well have been involved in the death of Marilyn Monroe, and LBJ was indisputably an SOB — oh yeah, Carter lusted in his heart. That said, and lest you doubt my position, I hated Reagan with a white hot passion, I thought Campbell was stone cold evil, I think DeMint is dumber than a box of hammers, and I dont see how Sanford staying helps any single person in this state — BUT — despite wondering each and every day how a bunch of wackodoodle, right to life, the world is 6000 years old, libertarian don’t even want to pay for prisons and roads, much less education, gained control of my state — despite all of that, not once in my life have I ever said I was (nor have I been for that matter) glad for either Reagan or Campbell to get Alzheimers, not once have I wished that any person that I politically despise be killed, maimed or incapacitated, and when they were, I actually felt bad about it. This world has enough to worry about without you chuckleheads wishing ill on your political enemies, particularly when your comments indicate that the biggest problem you seem to be aware of is whether a philandering hypocrite gets his just desserts now or in 16 months.
By James the Foot Soldier on August 26th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
I miss him – Presdident Reagan that is.
By Libb on August 27th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Madcock and Republic-too small,
Amen!!!
Just wondering how many of these commenters rejoicing in someone’s death consider themselves “Christians”?? Pitiful, pitiful, pitiful.
By tyron on August 27th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Madcock, what a racist, how dare you refer to African Americans as negros. We didnt fight for all these years to be patronized by some self loathing cracker.
By Silverfox on August 27th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
I do not understand the liberal left. A murderer (remember Mary Jo?) dies of nnatural causes after a long life, there is weeping wailing and all is gloom. A fifty years of age pedophile ODs, you want to name a national holiday after him. You call people names, then you are upset if someone calls you a name. You venerate a political ward heeler from one of the most corrupt local governments (Chicago and Cook County)that has ever existed. You compare the governor, that got laid, to a murderer, Ted Kennedy.
By 3=1+1 on August 27th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Tyron, Why is it racist of him to call a negro, a negro? and then turn around and refer to him as a cracker. Doesn’t that make you a racist as well?
By rick on August 31st, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Madcock you poor deluded soul. Go into the inner city and look at that which men like Kennedy brought into being. Instead of a growing powerful black community you have men and women who have no soul. They’ve lived on the socialist welfare state for so long they themselves have no idea what it means to be free. Go look blocks from their latest hero who has done nothing to provide jobs, decent housing, good food. Instead its a transfer of wealth, lower all boats, don’t raise the downtrodden…..Madcock save your breath, you like Ted would enslave others in the misguided belief that giving something for nothing is good.
Oh, and madcock…I’m a conservative and would rather see a corporation make money and hire employees, rather than have the population standing in bread lines waiting for a hand out. Something you should think about since your hero hasn’t done a damn thing to stimulate job creation or economic growth. Something he can talk about, but seems incapable of performing. And no I don’t believe the media reports….if Barak said shit tasted good, they’d all shake their heads agreeing with their mouths full.