Your guide to the region's top events, mixed with some commentary about life, media, gossip and politics in Washington, DC.

Remembering Ted Kennedy

Published Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Kennedy during his 1980 presidential campaign with, from left, longtime adviser Carey Parker, Bob Shrum, and Lawrence Horowitz. Photograph of Kennedy with staffers by Ken Regan

Ted Kennedy passed away late Tuesday at the age of 77. Here's an October 2008 piece we wrote on what would be his lasting legacy:

In a 1979 photo by Time’s Diana Walker, Ted Kennedy and Strom Thurmond lock horns at a Senate Judiciary Committee session. A young Kennedy aide slips into the frame, just over his boss’s shoulder. The caption doesn’t identify the aide, but it’s 41-year-old Stephen Breyer, 15 years before his appointment to the Supreme Court.

Among the legions who’ve worked for Kennedy during his 46 years in the Senate, dozens like Breyer are near the top of Washington’s hierarchy of power. This network of former aides, which reaches nearly every field, is Kennedy’s legacy to Washington.

>> Read the full piece here

 

Comments


Ted Keneddy was a privilaged American from a corrupt family. His father booot legged alcohol as well as his hand with Wall Streets downward spiral in 1928 which gave the Keneddy family and left alot of working and average Americans hopeless and homeless.

Ted Keneddy like his father walked away from criminal charges given Money, Power, Influence. Most Americans would be in jail for what he did.

Ted Keneddy is a criminal in this persons mind and his family is nothing more than a rat pack of rabies. And yes I live in Massachusetts in a western part that is very liberal and I voted for the Patrick and Obamba and support both....yet find Keneddy like Kerry a disgust for their Money, power, Influence and above the law mentality. Te3ddy boy got his jstice...hell is awaiting this bastard!!!!!

Posted by: ADGeorge, Aug 28, 2009 05:42:51 PM

In honor of Senator Kennedy, I re-posted
a story detailing a poignant personal encounter with the Senator by a close friend of mine in 2006:

http://peacemoonbeam.typepad.com/scooters_report/2009/08/remembering-ted-kennedy-senator-overboard.html

Posted by: Scooter Van Neuter, Aug 26, 2009 11:06:02 AM

As soon as his cancer was detected, I noticed the immediate attempt at the canonization of old Teddy Kennedy by the mainstream media.
They are saying what a "great American" he is. I say, let’s get a couple of things clear and not twist the facts to change the real history.
1. He was caught cheating at Harvard when he attended. He was expelled twice, once for cheating on a test, and once for paying a
classmate to cheat for him.
2. While expelled, Kennedy enlisted in the Army, but he mistakenly signed up for four years instead of two. OOPS! The man can’t count
to four! His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, former US Ambassador to England (a step up from bootlegging liquor into the US from Canada during prohibition), pulled the necessary strings to have his enlistment shortened to two years, and to ensure that he served in Europe, not Korea, where a war was raging. No preferential treatment for him! (like he charged that President Bush received).

3. Kennedy was assigned to Paris , never advanced beyond the Rank of Private, and returned to Harvard upon being discharged. Imagine a person of his "education" NEVER advancing past the rank of Private!
4. While attending law school at the University of Virginia, he was cited for reckless driving four times, including once when he was clocked driving 90 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood with his headlights off after dark. Yet his Virginia driver’s license was never revoked. Coincidentally, he passed the bar exam in 1959. Amazing!

5. In 1964, he was seriously injured in a plane crash, and hospitalized for several months. Test results done by the hospital at the time he was admitted had shown he was legally intoxicated. The results of those tests remained a "state secret" until in the 1980’s when the report was unsealed. Didn’t hear about that from the unbiased media, did we?

6. On July 19, 1969, Kennedy attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts ... At about 11:00 PM, he borrowed his chauffeur’s’ keys to his Oldsmobile limousine, and offered to give a ride home to Mary Jo Kopechne, a campaign worker. Leaving the island via an unlit bridge with no guard rail, Kennedy steered the car off the bridge, flipped, and into Poucha Pond.
7. He swam to shore and walked back to the party, passing several houses and a fire station. Two friends then returned with him to the scene of the accident. According to their later testimony, they told him what he already knew - that he was required by law to immediately report the accident to the authorities. Instead Kennedy made his way to his hotel, called his lawyer, and went to sleep. Kennedy called the police the next morning and by then the wreck had already been discovered. Before dying, Kopechne had scratched at the upholstered floor above her head in the upside-down car. The Kennedy family began "calling in favors", ensuring that any inquiry would be contained. Her corpse was whisked out-of-state to her family, before an autopsy could be conducted. Further details are uncertain, but after the accident Kennedy says he repeatedly dove under the water trying to rescue Kopechne, and he didn’t call police because he was in a sta te of shock. It is widely assumed Kennedy was drunk, and he held off calling police in hopes that his family could fix the problem overnight. Since the accident, Kennedy’s "political enemies" have referred to him as the distinguished Senator from Chappaquiddick. He pled guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, and was given a SUSPENDED SENTENCE OF TWO MONTHS. Kopechne’s family received A small payout from the Kennedy’s insurance policy, and never sued. There was later an effort to have her body exhumed and
autopsied, but her family successfully fought against this in court, and Kennedy’s family paid their attorney’s bills... A "token of friendship"?
8. Kennedy has held his Senate seat for more than forty years, but considering his longevity, his accomplishments seem scant. He authored or argued for legislation that ensured a variety of Civil Rights, increased the minimum wage in 1981, made access to health care easier for the indigent, and funded Meals on Wheels for fixed-income seniors and is widely held as the "standard-bearer for liberalism". In his very first Senate roll, he was the floor manager for the bill that turned U.S. Immigration policy upside down and opened the floodgate for immigrants from third world countries.
9. Since that time, he has been the prime instigator and author of every expansion of an increase in immigration, up to and including the latest attempt to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. Not to mention the pious grilling he gave the previous two Supreme Court nominees, as if he was the standard bearer for the nation in matters of what is right or wrong. What a pompous ass!
10. He is known around Washington as a public drunk, loud, boisterous and very disrespectful to ladies. JERK is a better description than "great American". A blonde in every pond is his motto.

Let’s not allow the spin doctors make this jerk a hero -- how quickly the American public forgets what his real legacy is. Let’s keep this going for truth, justice and the American way.

Posted by: poakes, Aug 26, 2009 10:24:32 AM

Post a comment

Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question. Because of the prevalence of spam, we ask that you fill out the code in the image below to help us eliminate spam comments. By posting here, you affirm that you are 13 years of age or older. Washingtonian.com reserves the right to remove or edit content once posted.

Find A ...
Find A Restaurant







  1. Only show Delivery
    Only show Kid Friendly
    Only show Late Night
    Only show Party Space
    Only show Weekend Brunch
Find Events




Find A Happy Hour





  1. search_finda.gif
Find A Spa




  1. search_finda.gif
Find a Home





  1. search_finda.gif
  2. Powered by  
Find A Hotel


  1.   


  2. Reviewed by Washingtonian
  3. Kid Friendly     Valet Parking
    Handicap Accessible    

  4. Childcare
    WiFi
    Pet Friendly
    Bar/Lounge/Dining
    Airport Shuttle
    Salon/Spa
    Swimming Pool
    Fitness Room
    On-site Drycleaning
    Meeting Rooms
    Golf
    Tennis Courts
    Game Room
  5. search_finda.gif
Newsletter Signup
  1. Bridal Party
  2. Dining Out
  3. Kliman Online
  4. Shop Around
  5. Where & When
  6. Learn more sign_up.gif
 

Can DC’s New Digital News Operations Replace the Once-Great Newspaper Bureaus?

Gone are the robust bureaus for the Los Angeles Times, Newhouse News, and other once-healthy news organizations. Digital media bureaus now are taking their places with as many reporters and plenty of swagger. more

Where & When: What to Do This Weekend

Sip some Beaujolais Nouveau, check out the Terra Cotta warriors, see a vintage murder thriller, and more this weekend. more