Ted Kennedy: Off the deep end ... again

Hmmmm - it was pretty bad all right.

Will he ever get any credit from you folk for a long life of hard politial slog, though?

Or will that always be all he ever did?

Not being inflammatory - just interested.

dlowan- IMO the man deserved to been incarcerated as a felon, and stripped of his position in Congress. As far as I am concerned, whatever he has done subsequently is overshadowed by the fact that he should not have been in the position of power in the first place.

He committed am egregious act, and was never called upon to pay for that crime. The motivation for that act was most likely being the preservation of his position.

ted and george are, by birth, victims of elitism that makes them different in the eyes of the law.

I am sure he has labored for his beliefs, and whether I agree with them or not I will give him credit for trying to move our country in the direction that he believes is best.

I don't necessarily condemn him. We all made mistakes when we were young. It is just that some of us learn from these mistakes. I don't think he did. But then, it is hard to learn from a mistake that you are able to buy your way out of through money or family.

Interesting, CoastalRat.

I think it extraordinarily harsh and one-sided to look at a life through the lens of one - albeit terrible - mistake.

I hope nobody does that to me.

I think we need to judge - if we DO judge - in more complex and compassionate ways.

Mind you - there is a limit.

dlowan- In the vast majority of cases, I would absolutely agree with you. In Kennedy's, the mistake was driving drunk, and having an accident. I could forgive that, although it is a terrible thing. What I can't forgive is the apparently callous regard for the young woman's life, in the service of preserving Kennedy's power and position.

Glad to see there is a limit. Would that limit be reached with vehicular homicide or is the limit somewhere above that? I try to be compassionate and understanding, I really do. I have compassion for people who find themselves in difficult circumstances and still manage to do the right thing. I have no compassion for anyone, regardless of political affiliation, church affiliation or financial success, who flout the law and evade the consequences of their actions. I guess I am just a hard man, but I was raised to take responsibility for my actions. I don't think Ted was raised that way (he is not the only one, but he is the focus of this particular discussion).

I agree with Phoenix that the overwhelming evidence is that Mary Jo Kopechne could have been saved if Kennedy had even reported the accident, much less if he had saved her himself. He at the very least is guilty of criminal negligence, a fact to this day he has never admitted. That is what is unforgivable.

http://www.ytedk.com/chapter5.htm#farrar

FoxyCoastal, I agree with both of you that it's unforgiveable. But I think it's a case of water under the br...hmmmm....nah, never mind.

Spiro be da man. damn I love olden times history. is Ike still porkin' his jeep driver and does Mamie know?

dys- There are two main differences with your reference to Ike. One, he's dead, and no longer wields any power. Two, his actions did not cause a criminally negligent death.

As fo porkin', if one wants to dredge up ancient history of the dead, JFK was pretty free with his wand!

Have to admit that Agnew WAS a piece of work!

JFK was indeed a porker, how far back do we wish to go with this and to what avail?

As far as I am concerned, I would just as soon stop right here. YOU were the one who brought the subject up!

I think you should go back at least as far as Glover...

When I read "off the deep end" I was thinking a dock or pier.........

I wonder if anyone has done a study to see whether the Nixon administration or the Clinton administration wound up with the most people in jail or prison? Probably Nixon would win. And as it turned out, Nixon resigned his presidency to keep from being impeached; Clinton was impeached and disbarred though it was never proved either had directly caused somebody to die.

And the consequences for Ted Kennedy?

Those who say he was driving drunk do so without any evidence, and oddly enough this doesn't bother them. <shrugs>

Geez Craven, if he wasn't drunk, he has no defense at all.