Ted Kennedy represents the values of the Democratic Party.

"Do we operate under a system of equal justice under law?  Or is there one system for the average citizen and another for the high and mighty?"   -  Senator Ted Kennedy, 1973

Ted Kennedy is a murderer.  He should have been sent to prison years ago. 

For those who are too young to remember, during a weekend in July of 1969, the Kennedy's were gathered off Martha's Vineyard on Chappaquiddick Island for their annual "Regatta Weekend".   Chappaquiddick was separated from Martha's Vineyard by a narrow channel that was only accessible by ferry. 

The Kennedy's had two boats entered in the 1969 races - the "Resolute" and the "Victura". Aside from boating, such events were well-known for lots of partying, heavy drinking, and wild times.  Ted Kennedy felt the weekend was the ideal situation to reunite members of his assassinated brother Bobby's campaign staff - known as "the Boiler Room Girls".   Ted Kennedy was in a group that included five other married men, with the six single "Boiler Room Girls" during a party after the boat races.  Wives were not present - Ted Kennedy's wife, Joan, was said to "have a medical condition" so she could not be with him during the weekend (she was pregnant).

Ted Kennedy, after a day and evening of many rums and cokes, as well as a few beers thrown in, left the party with a young woman named Mary Jo Kopechne.  Kennedy took a wrong turn down an unlit road and drove the car off of Dike Bridge, which had no guard rails, into Poucha Pond. Kennedy was able to free himself, but Mary Jo was not.  After several attempts to rescue her,  Ted returned to the party they had just left, leaving Miss Kopechne to die alone.

He then swam to Edgartown and discussed the incident with his lawyers and Mary Jo's family before calling the police the next morning.   Her death was ruled an accidental drowning and no autopsy was performed.

Beginning with his first statement to police,  Kennedy has always maintained that he delayed reporting the accident to authorities because he was "confused and in shock" after the accident. The Senator's statements regarding his rescue attempts suggest that in fact he was quite aware that Miss Kopechne's life was in peril and that immediate action was in order.

In addition to leaving the scene of a fatal accident, it was discovered that Ted Kennedy had been driving on an expired license at the time. The Senator's growing list of motor vehicle violations were evidence of "some negligence" that supported a charge of manslaughter in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.  After the Kennedy political machine geared up, favors were called in, witnesses were ignored, the police investigation was stymied, and Ted was charged only with "leaving the scene of an accident".

                            

George Killen , the State Police Detective-Lieutenant who investigated the accident, said that Senator Kennedy "killed that girl the same as if he put a gun to her head and pulled the trigger."

And is it any surprise that the Democratic Party chooses to HONOR this man at the Democratic National Convention on August 25, 2008?    

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTysI_72J-M

From the Boston Globe (10/16/2003):  "Ratcheting up his criticism of the war in Iraq, Senator Edward M. Kennedy accuses the Bush administration of telling "lie after lie after lie" to defend its policy in a fiery speech prepared for delivery today on the Senate floor."  So Teddy, who murders a girl and gets away with it, has the gall to call President Bush a "liar".  And other Democrats and liberals continue to call Bush a "murderer".  They need to look no further than their own ranks to their own Senator Theodore Kennedy to see a liar and a murderer.

The Democratic Party isn't about doing what is right for the country.  The Democratic Party is about doing what is right for the Democratic Party.  As long as they are in power, who cares how they got there?  As long as they are in power, they will look the other way when one of their own does something reprehensible.  Bill Clinton was impeached for lying under oath while President of the United States.  In addition,  he committed adultery and misled the American people.  Did the Democratic Party disown him?  No - quite the opposite!  Clinton is still the darling of the left - making millions off of speaking engagements and still as popular as ever.  Ted Kennedy, too,  has been embraced by the Democrats for years.  Why?  He was a known adulterer, drinker and hard partying senator for quite some time.  One night years ago he got very drunk and drove off with a young woman, who eventually lost her life when Teddy drove the car off a bridge and left her to die.  If that wasn't bad enough - Ted's thoughts weren't about the safety of the young woman - no - he had to look out for himself.  That was his top priority and why he chose to let Mary Jo Kopechne in the water for hours after the accident - with no help coming.  Ted needed the time to get the story straight to save himself - which, unfortunately, he did.

...and Ted Kennedy is honored at the Democratic National Convention!  Kennedy truly does represent the values of the Democratic party of today - do everything and anything necessary to stay in power.  It doesn't matter if it is wrong, immoral, or criminal.  What matters is staying in power.  And the Democratic Party will support its own - right or wrong.

Comments

[Zach W.]

So by your logic, Mark Foley and Larry Craig are representative of the values of the Republican Party, right?

Surely that means Duke Cunningham and Jack Abramoff are representative of the values of the Republican Party as well, right?

[Iceman1964]

Amy you talk as if being liberal is a bad thing! Talk radio has made many of us on the left afraid to use the word liberal. It is not a bad thing. Ted Kennedy before Obama was one of the most leftist senators. I am shocked that you didn’t bring up how the Kennedy’s made their money in the past. It is a favorite thing of the right!

The Kennedy’s are the closest thing we have to royalty.

You appear to be the judge jury and executioner on Ted. Excuse me!!! Presumption of innocence; Innocent until Proven Guilty.

Seat belts were not even standard in 1969. If it happen today she would still be alive.

Do you want to bring up the wind farm Ted doesn’t want?

Do you think his brain tumor is god’s punishment?

What happen to forgive and forget?

Everyone can make a personal mistake, but what does his record say in accordance to his party? Has he not done what the party wants, asks, and needs?

Is McCain any different? What about Bush and his wire Laura?

Don’t people truly want the government to take care of them? I do believe it is a mom complex.

Where you a liberal before you became a born again conservative or where you always this way?

[zabadu]

Let's not forget our current presidents wife - who ran a stop sign at 50mph and killed someone. When is the last time you heard that brought up?

Those who fail to forgive, especially when confronted with a man who has done more for the nation than the person who continues to bring up Chappaquiddick, will fail to be forgiven themselves should being a human ever get in the way of making a proper decision.

Ted Kennedy is an easy target for the right, because he has so much power for the left. The right is afraid of him, has always been.

Let's hear more about W's "missing" records of his war service. His cocaine habit. His alcoholism. Before you tear down a respected senator, take a good look at the president. He is by no means unsoiled. And now, he has the blood of our American sons and daughters on his hands. What a shining example HE is for our nations children. HA!

[Amy L. Geiger-Hemmer]

Zach W.: What great examples you give that help me make my point. Mark Foley and Larry Craig? Duke Cunnigham? Seems to me none of these men killed anyone, then tried to hide their involvement. And these men resigned their posts when their bad behaviors came to light. The Republican Party would not tolerate such behavior! Did Kennedy do the same? No - and the Demcrats supported him! Big difference, and it clearly shows how corrupt the Demcratic party is. As for Jack Abramoff - who was a lobbyist, not a Republican politician - he is currently serving time for his wrongdoings. Where is the comparison with Teddy?

And what is so wonderful about Ted Kennedy's politics? He has championed ultra-liberal programs that do nothing to better our country. Big government - big tax increases. Fits right in with the liberal program.

Ted Kennedy killed a woman and was above the law. He couldn't be touched because he was protected by the Kennedy political machine and others that enabled him to get away with it. He made a deliberate effort to shirk his involvement and responsibility. He waited hours before notifying anyone that a girl was in a submerged car - and it is said that she was indeed alive initially, hence the desire for no autopsy.

Seems like other examples the liberals try to use do not compare: Laura Bush driving as a careless teen - was she drunk? No. Did she flee the scene? No. She has been haunted by the accident ever since - Yes. Was she charged with anything? No. Was she a well-known senator? No.

No comparison to Teddy Kennedy fleeing the scene, hiding out for hours to come up with a plan to save his career and avoid prison. Big difference, too, in that Teddy was a grown-up (supposedly). Laura Bush (last name: "Welch" at the time) was seventeen years old.

And for the Democrats to "celebrate" this man and praise him the way they did says very little about the values of the Democratic party. In a way, we should be thankful Teddy appeared at the DNC Monday night. It gave many people yet another glimpse of how immoral many in the Democratic party are.

Iceman 1964: I was a die-hard liberal through my college years - I graduated from UW-Madison. While living in the Peoples Republic of Madison, as a clueless college student with no real life experiences, it sure was easy to be a liberal and just complain about everything. My college professors and T.A.'s helped promote liberal viewpoints in many classes. I even had a sociology class where we had to read almost every book Kurt Vonnegut wrote. Then we'd get together after class to discuss at the Memorial Union over a few beers and rail against "the establishment"... Little did I realize what a fool I was till I got out into the real world. Paying taxes, having responsibilities, etc. usually makes one grow up. Liberalism is having a child's viewpoint and trying to deal with adult issues. I am so glad I wised up and am now proud to be a die-hard conservative.

[John Foust]

Robert Anton Wilson once said "It only takes 20 years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea."

[grumps]

Um, Amy? Larry Craig didn't resign nor did Vito Fossela.

Duke Cunningham didn't resign after "bad behavior." He got caught breaking the law.

As for hiding for hours, shall we ask Dick Whittington how many toddies VP Cheney had that day?

Americans are notoriously forgiving of their politicians. I even hear that there's one now who is a serial adulterer who married a bootlegger's daughter to further his career. Any idea who that particular blackguard is, Amy?

[Steve T.]

Yes John he did say that and these:

“Of course I'm crazy, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong.”

If you think you know what the hell is going on, you're probably full of shit.”

“The Bible tells us to be like God, and then on page after page it describes God as a mass murderer. This may be the single most important key to the political behavior of Western Civilization.”

“I don't believe anything I write or say. I regard belief as a form of brain damage, the death of intelligence, the fracture of creativity, the atrophy of imagination. I have opinions but no Belief System (B.S.)”

"We're living on the Planet of the Apes. Is that funny or serious?

[Amy L. Geiger-Hemmer]

Grumps: Duke Cunningham did indeed resign from Congress before he was sentenced. Larry Craig did announce his intent to resign, then changed his mind and is instead not running for re-election this year. Republicans wanted him out - and he is going.
Cheney had one beer with lunch before his hunting accident with a friend. He was not drunk. He did not kill anyone. The Secret Service was there when the accident happened and called an ambulance immediately. How does that compare to Teddy?
Serial adulterer? Bill Clinton? (Oops, you added "married a bootlegger's daughter".... since I don't recall McCain being a "serial adulterer", you must be referring to Peter Lawford, who married Patricia Kennedy years ago...)