“Why were you guys so nice to Ted Kennedy?”
Huh?
This was, amazingly, the first question our founding editor was asked yesterday as he attended a completely unrelated press conference in Columbia, S.C.
“We weren’t (nice to him),” was Sic’s reply, at which point he countered that our little website covered the death of U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy with very little in the way of spin or commentary. In fact, we barely wrote 200 words on the subject, but did manage to prominently reference the 1969 car wreck on Chappaquiddick Island that killed Kennedy’s female companion, Mary Jo Kopechne.
Why did we not obsess further on the demise of the “liberal lion?”
Well, this wasn’t exactly a surprise. Anybody who saw Ted Kennedy over the last year knew he was dying.
Nor is it (sorry to say) that big of a deal. A famous politician died at a ripe old age … moving on …
But now that they’re all dead – and since people obviously want to know – what did we really think of the Kennedy boys?
Not much, honestly.
They were sons of a presumably hell-bound Irish bootlegger, people. Privileged, patrician scum with bleeding hearts, bad ideas and annoying accents. Now (aside from Kopechne, obviously) do we begrudge them the many young ladies they lured to their various love nests?
Of course not. Boys will be boys, and over the course of their lives hundreds of ladies threw themselves at this dapper threesome.
And obviously our hearts go out to family and friends (even dysfunctional family and friends) who have suffered losses over the years – brutally in 1963, 1968 and 1999 – and now a bit less sharply, but still painfully, in 2009.
But in spite of that Christian sympathy (or whatever you want to call it) – we don’t buy into Camelot. Sure, we watched Oliver Stone and read William Manchester and got sucked into the Kennedy allure back when we were young and impressionable (those were the days), but then we woke up and started reading books like The Dark Side of Camelot by Seymour Hersch.
And you know what? It turns out the Kennedys weren’t any more or less full of shit than any other politicians of the modern era, they were just smarter and better looking.
By Crooner August 27, 2009 at 12:13 pm
It’s lucky for folks like me that smarter and better-looking still get you a leg up in this society. But that’s not to say I don’t recognize that both result from the luck of a genetic draw rather than anything in particular that I’ve done to deserve them.
By Margaret August 27, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Thanks for the chuckle, Sic. It’s nice to hear somebody cut through the Camelot crap with humor and good will.
By Cooter Brown August 27, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Th’ werld aint lost much wit th’ deaf ov dis Teddy character or his bruthas either. Dey wuz a wicked lot o’ men…
God bless ‘em and all dat, but what does dese folks got t’ do wit SC? Nuthin’!!! (and thank God fer that!)
By CNSYD August 27, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Darlings of the Eastern media is what they were/are. The media tripped all over themselves in praise for these people. Time has shown that it was all a facade. Daddy Joe sought the aid of the Mafia to tilt the Chicago vote so Johnny boy would win the Presidency. Then the brothers double crossed the Mafia. As events have shown, you ain’t going to get away with that. Payback is a bitch.
By Palmetto Pulse August 27, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Sic,
You’re just jealous because they are HOTTT. And that’s with 3 t’s!
PP
By Liberty For Me August 27, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I think they should move quick and name the Healthcare bill..The Sweetheart Kennedy Please Dont Kill The Baby Seals Healthcare Extravaganza!!…Then it should sail right through
By jazzgrrrl25 August 27, 2009 at 4:47 pm
yes, they bullied and muscled their way into politics…yes, they were philanderers…and, yes, teddy certainly found himself in a mess with chappaquiddick…but, having said this, i think teddy’s later efforts as senator are, perhaps, a tribute to redemption…the guy did a great deal for the betterment of society, and, how we treat it, through various bills…he seemed to dedicate the latter part of his life to the bigger picture…and, there is something to be said for this.
By Rebel August 27, 2009 at 6:24 pm
At least Bobby Kennedy went after union bosses and organized crime. He may have been the only right-leaning one among them.
By old bike dude August 27, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Ya know Laura Bush had a vehicular homicide but no one ever brings it up. As far as we know the Kennedy’s never lied us into a war or shot any of their huntin’ buddies. Wonder if he knocked up any 15 year old black girls?
By CNSYD August 27, 2009 at 7:19 pm
old bike dude, ask the Cubans who JFK abandoned at the Bay of Pigs what they think of him. I guess you were happy with the Vietnam War that JFK got us into.
Rebel, after making a deal with union bosses and organized crime to get into office, the Kennedys then double crossed them. Did they think they could “charm” their way out of that? And how avout their Dad’s rum running? Did they look into that?
BTW after having worked around Teamsters members in the 1960s they could have cared less what Hoffa did as they were better off than they had ever been.
By NoToObama August 27, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Seems to me he ran a chick off into a damn lake and left her for dead. What a man! Come on . . .this guy was a major looser?!
By Aquinas August 27, 2009 at 9:58 pm
jazzgrrrl25, your statement, “…the guy did a great deal for the betterment of society” must be tampered with things he did to NOT “better” society, starting with not being a voice for the voiceless unborn. For all the good Teddy did with Head Start, and his concern for children outside the womb, his betrayal of the most fundamental moral teachings of the faith he claimed to follow and willingness to not only bow to the liberal altar of abortion, but become one of its most ardent supporters, undermined everything. What makes it all the more sensless is this quote from the man himself in 1971: “When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception.” Indeed, if only. May he rest in peace.
By Liberty For Me August 27, 2009 at 10:41 pm
A cannibal was walking through the jungle and came upon a restaurant operated by a fellow cannibal. Feeling somewhat hungry, he sat down and looked over the menu…
+ Broiled Missionary: $10.00
+ Fried Explorer: $15.00
+ Grilled Republican : $20.00
+ Baked DEMOCRAT: $100.00
The cannibal called the waiter over and asked, ‘Why such a price difference for the Democrat?’
The cook replied, “Have you ever tried to clean one? They’re so full of shit, it takes all morning.”
By madcock August 27, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Hey,”Liberty For Me” I read your comment in FITS’original post on Kennedy’s death: “..about time,” and it made me curious. Do you attend church regularly? My guess is you never miss a Sunday.
Thanks in advance for your answer.
By Rebel August 27, 2009 at 11:10 pm
CNSYD: “Rebel, after making a deal with union bosses and organized crime to get into office, the Kennedys then double crossed them. ”
Well yeah, you are correct, I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time. We all see how that worked out.
By Donna August 28, 2009 at 6:14 am
When I was just a naive teenager back in my home state of Mississippi, our President, John Kennedy, was killed in Dallas. I will never forget the cheer that rang through my school cafeteria when someone cried out, “Kennedy has been shot!” I suddenly recognized the crass cruelty of many of my fellows. Could their joy at our own President’s death have been because Kennedy was trying to bring equality and justice to Mississippi to end the evil of the racist state in which I was living? (To have lived in that racist society was to understand true evil; it permeated everything; it tainted everyone.) Your remarks leave me with a chill; they take me back to a time I had hoped was gone forever.
By Liberty For Me August 28, 2009 at 7:06 am
Madcock..I have read your posts in the past..Are you having any headaches??..Thanks for your dumbass answer is advance.
Kennedy was a facist piece of shit and a traitor to LIBERTY. Anyone who supports him or his legacy is a Communist or just ignorant.If we win this battle to regain freedom,it will take genrations to wipe out the socialist brainwashing that prevails in the minds of such as Madcock,CNSYD,etc…LONG LIVE FREEDOM
By Pat Hendrix August 28, 2009 at 9:04 am
Liberty,
Not that I find any of posts anything more than unmitigated nonsense, but I’d just like to point out that facism and communism are mututally exclusive. Stick with one or the other. In the case of Kennedy, communism would be more appropriate.
By CNSYD August 28, 2009 at 10:25 am
Liberty for me, since I am not as learned as you, please explain what I said that constitutes “socialist brainwashing”.
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