We're comfortable with moral relativism in this country -- or, at least, we love us a good "sinned and redeemed" narrative. And, for the most part, we realize that there are few lives on which we can slap a "Good" or "Evil" label and expect it to be accurate.
Which, let's face it, is one of the reasons the Ted Kennedy story is so fascinating. The huge achievements, weighed against the huge sins. Forty-six years of history-book accomplishments on everything from Civil Rights to the Americans with Disabilities Act to gender equality. Disabled? Poor? A member of any minority group? Then chances are your life is at least somewhat better because of Ted Kennedy. And for anyone who started to lose faith in the left's seeming impotence over the past decade (cough cough) he provided a pretty strong reason not to throw in the towel.
So now he's dead, and we do what we do when a Kennedy dies: read and write obsessively about him. Some of the obituaries are point-counterpoint parallels of sin with salvation. Then there are obsequious, grandiose bromides like:
He was a Rabelaisian figure in the Senate and in life, instantly recognizable by his shock of white hair, his florid, oversize face, his booming Boston brogue, his powerful but pained stride. He was a celebrity, sometimes a self-parody, a hearty friend, an implacable foe, a man of large faith and large flaws, a melancholy character who persevered, drank deeply and sang loudly. He was a Kennedy.
Good grief.
But in all the florid or scalpel-sharp prose, there's one constant: Peeking out from the center of the story is the matter of his playing a major part in the death of a 28-year-old woman.
Mary Jo wasn't a right-wing talking point or a negative campaign slogan. She was a dedicated civil rights activist and political talent with a bright future -- granted, whenever someone dies young, people sermonize about how he had a "bright future" ahead of him -- but she actually did. She wasn't afraid to defy convention (28 and unmarried, oh the horror!) or create her own career path based on her talents. She lived in Georgetown (where I grew up) and loved the Red Sox (we'll forgive her for that). Then she got in a car driven by a 36-year-old senator with an alcohol problem and a cauldron full of demons, and wound up a controversial footnote in a dynasty.
We don't know how much Kennedy was affected by her death, or what she'd have thought about arguably being a catalyst for the most successful Senate career in history. What we don't know, as always, could fill a Metrodome.
Still, ignorance doesn't preclude a right to wonder. So it doesn't automatically make someone (aka, me) a Limbaugh-loving, aerial-wolf-hunting NRA troll for asking what Mary Jo Kopechne would have had to say about Ted's death, and what she'd have thought of the life and career that are being (rightfully) heralded.
Who knows -- maybe she'd feel it was worth it.
This post originally appeared on Opinionistas.com.
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""There was definitely a cover-up. We were all madder than hell that we couldn't subpoena anyone we wanted—our hands were tied," says another grand juror, Lloyd Mayhew, 68, a retired New England Telephone Company employee. "So many things bothered me; they still do. One of them is that within 100 yards of the Dike Bridge is a summer cottage. The lights were on, and there was a phone. Kennedy walked right by it. I don't know what kind of a man would do that."
Kennedy's cousin, Joe Gargan, who helped him that night said Kennedy wanted to make it appear Kopechne was driving the car alone:
"Indeed, Gargan told Leo Damore, author of Senatorial Privilege: The Chappaquid
People change over their lifetime, so assuming she would support all or most of what Kennedy did in Congress is ridiculous
Also, drowning is one of the most terrifying ways to go, especially when you have to wait to do it, as Kopechne did. So, even if her political ideals followed the same track as Kennedy's, when you look at the way the Democratic party has extoled his life with nary an afterthoug
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By his own admission in the inquest he said he had been drinking beer that day and that he had had "two rum and Cokes" at the party. Did he stop at two? A man who had a drinking problem? Be realistic. It explains WHY he waited 10 hours to call police and shows he put himself above her life.
The judge at the inquest did not believe Kennedy's version of events. He noted that Kennedy claimed to have mistakenly turned onto the road toward the bridge (which led AWAY from the ferry). The road he "mistakenl
He got away with this because of his family connection
I read something not too long ago that put this whole thing into a new light for me. I don't believe it was a local case. A mother was in an accident that killed her son (I believe he was in his teens or 20's) . She was the driver, and she also walked away, and didn't report until the next day. I don't remember, if alcohol was involved, but it sounds like she loved her son, so there wasn't a hint of foul play. She was banged up, and not everyone processes extreme emotional distress in the same way. As a person with bipolar disorder, I can definitely testify to this.
I have never driven off a bridge with someone in my car and then not reported it for 10 hours, so I can offer no personal experience of his actions. I have however hit someone with my car who walked out into an intersecti
The only thing I can say is that it is painfully obvious that Keneedys' actions were negligent at best and criminal to any sane thinking person.
The fact that he comes from money had everything to do with him suffering no legal consequenc
I believe she would say, "He tried to save me, for god's sake. Get over it!"
Admit that you are a fan of the Kennedy clan and that in your eyes they can do no wrong. No one except Teddy knows what he may have done or not done to try and save this woman.
To think that Ms Koepechne would have said "get over it" is ludicrous.