KOPECHNE AS MARTYR TO KENNEDY’S FAILED AMBITION
Maybe she phrased it wrong. Maybe liberal blogger Melissa Lafsky writing in Huffpo this morning had a brain cramp and wrote something she didn’t want to.
Maybe aliens made her do it.
Somehow, some explanation must be given for this kind of incredible, tone deaf, idiocy:
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.
I’m sure the 29 year old woman was comforted by the fact as she was gasping out her last breaths in that air pocket that formed when the drunken sot of a senator steered his car into the tidal pool and left her to die a terrifying death, that her passing would launch “the most successful senate career in history.” Kopechne was, after all, a good liberal - civil rights worker, RFK volunteer, and the kind of dedicated young person who would gladly sacrifice their life for the cause.
Except that liberals (despite what some of my righty colleagues may think) are people too. I’m going to take a wild guess here and say that Mary Jo Kopechne, when she realized that no help would arrive in time to save her, was, if she was thinking about anything except the dwindling supply of oxygen and screaming and shaking and crying as her lungs began to burn from the excess CO2 in that tiny space, may have cursed the living daylights out of Kennedy for being responsible for her impending death.
And if, by some miracle granted by God, she had been able to see the future, what would have been her reaction to Kennedy’s story of what happened that night? The attempts to get his cousin Joe Gargan to lie for him and back his bogus claim that Kopechne was alone in the car? What would she have thought about the fact that after extricating himself, he went back to the party he had just left? What would she have thought of Kennedy going back to his hotel, complaining to the manager that he couldn’t sleep because of a noisy party, and then having the balls to say at the inquest, “I almost tossed and turned and walked around that room…?”
Almost describes everything Kennedy did that night - except he was mostly drunk and tried to concoct a plan that would have absolved him of any responsibility for Kopechne’s death.
I think it much more appropriate to ask what Mary Jo Kopechne would have thought about that, rather than her views on Senator Kennedy’s glorious senate career.
I don’t know about you, but I sure would rather be alive and kicking than being the “catalyst” for the notion that Kennedy could never be president because of my death and this was somehow a good thing because of all the good my killer did during the rest of his life, being forced to abandon his presidential aspirations and serve in the senate.
Mary Jo Kopechne - Martyr to Kennedy’s failed ambition.
Of all the millions of words, tens of thousands of articles, blog posts, and other scribblings by liberals over the death of Ted Kennedy, this may be the most amazingly shallow, myopic, and ultimately self centered sentence that has been written. To write, to hint that Kopechne would have somehow preferred to be dead rather than alive in any circumstance, for any cause, or for any person in her life at that time is ghoulish, and bespeaks an extraordinary callousness toward life that calls to mind the absolute worst that ideologues of either the left or right are capable.
I do not wish to generalize, and indeed, I know there are many liberals who are shocked by this as well. But it does highlight the mindset of some liberals quite well, don’t you think? To left wing fanatics like Lafsky, human life does not belong to the individual, but to the higher cause of the collective good. For Lafsky, of course Kopechne would, if she had a crystal ball and been able to see the future, have sacrificed herself on the altar of social “progress” rather than live a full life filled with friends, family, kids, and a fulfilling career.
What a despicable thing to write.
Rick said:
Amen. If hell actually existed (it doesn’t) then Kennedy would surely be burning in it (he won’t.)
It’s always comforting to know that the ruling class can literally get away with murdering people. Gives us all something to aspire to.
The more I think about it, the more I think that fat bastard Ted was not only a murderer, but a torturer as well. I mean, if she was actually conscious before she died, and evidence says that she probably was… guh. the horror.
As you probably know, Kennedy operatives convinced the Kopechne’s not to have an autopsy done which would have established the cause of death - either drowning or asphyxiation. However, Firemen at the scene who had some experience in fishing cars out of water were pretty adamant that an air pocket almost certainly formed that would have given Kopechne anywhere from 1/2 hr to 2 hrs worth of breathable air. If it was the low end of that estimate, she probably would have died no matter what. But if it was toward the high end, it would have been ample time for rescuers to have saved her life.
One interesting tidbit from the event that shows how thorough the Kennedy whitewash was. Ted’s drivers license had expired and before the day was out, he had a brand new, valid MA license. Talk about pull…
Ed.
Comment by Chuck Tucson — 8/28/2009 @ 9:27 am
[...] Moran puts it quite well: I don’t know about you, but I sure would rather be alive and kicking than being the [...]
Pingback by Below The Beltway » Blog Archive » HuffPo Blogger: Maybe Mary Jo Kopechne Wouldn’t Have Minded Dying For Ted’s Career — 8/28/2009 @ 10:02 am
The difference between martyrs and Kopechne is that martyrs go willingly to their deaths in advancement of a cause.
She on the other hand was sacrificed to the cause of nothing greater than Ted Kennedy’s ambitions.
Comment by theblackcommenter — 8/28/2009 @ 10:39 am
Well done, Rick.
While I hope Kopechne was unconscious, she likely did watch as water seeped into her last gasp of air. We can’t grasp the enormity.
I initially thought Kennedy’s legacy was the coarsening of political discourse via his tirade against Bork (whom I wouldn’t have supported, either, due to ideological extremism but like any ratonal person would have done so respectfully due to the man’s immense intellect). You have made me reconsider, though. Kennedy’s legacy probably is the murder of Kopechne and his subsequent public acceptance.
Ignorant non-entities like Lafsky are a dime a dozen. A senator who murdered a woman and was re-elected time and time again–and came close to the presidency–are sui generis.
Again, this was a very thoughtful blog and one of the few I’ve read in a while that made me question something I believed.
Comment by jackson1234 — 8/28/2009 @ 10:47 am
Excellent retort to an imbecile. Apparently, Huffpo lets any hack write for them, regardless of their IQ.
Well said by Chuck also, in comment 1.
Comment by lionheart — 8/28/2009 @ 11:08 am
And Dick Cheney shoots a guy in the face, attempts a cover-up, and then gets an apology from his victim…
Watch out. Your ignorance really showed up on that one. Where’s the coverup? It wasn’t reported for 3 hrs and you call that a coverup?
Also, no deaths involved right? So basically, you are arguing a logical fallacy by setting up a strawman that has absolutely no relevance to Kennedy’s manslaughter except, like a 5 year old little boy, it gives you the opportunity to run around the room with your fingers in your ears, going LALALALALALALALALA…NEENER NEENER NEENER.
ed.
Comment by Moltenorb — 8/28/2009 @ 11:33 am
[...] Underground Conservative in Chappaquiddick, Conservatives, Liberals, Ted Kennedy. trackback From Rick Moran at Right Wing Nut House comes the information that a blogger at the PuffHo has implied that Maray Jo Kopechne is somehow a [...]
Pingback by More Despicable Conduct By The Left « The Underground Conservative — 8/28/2009 @ 11:34 am
Edward Moore Kennedy was behind the wheel of the Oldsmobile. Mary Jo Kopechne was his passenger and thus, his responsibility. He drove into the water off the bridge. He got out of the vehicle and saved his own life. She died - whether or asphixyation or drowning is irrelevant. She DIED. He LIED. And continued to LIE as any good liberal is wont to do. She is dead. He is dead. According to the liberal game plan, move along, nothing to see here folks, just move along!
Comment by Gayle Miller — 8/28/2009 @ 11:54 am
When I hear people talk glowingly about Ted Kennedy now, I get that same creepy feeling that I get when people praised Michael Jackson after his death.
Something like:
Douche: “Michael Jackson was a great musician and inspiration to us all.”
Me: “Yeah, but you seem to be forgetting that whole paedophile thing.”
-or-
Douche: “Ted Kennedy was a great American who was amazing and awesome.”
Me: “Yeah, but he murdered someone, and his entire family covered for him, he’s actually a horrible human being, and should be in prison.”
Comment by Chuck Tucson — 8/28/2009 @ 12:39 pm
Lafsky’s attitude, that Mary Jo would say today that, “I was worthless, look at all the ‘good’ things he did” is reflected in what will occur with the Democrats’ H.3200, where, when the rationing of health care finally begins (and it WILL happen; sooner if we allow 47 million uninsured to participate) to result in the denial of care to elderly patients, with, let’s say, a lung disease that gradually shuts off oxygen, they will be expected to give up the continuation of their lives, forced to watch as the light goes out, knowing that, “for the greater good” their government denied them a medication that would allow them to live longer. I wonder if they, their children and grandchildren, will take solace in knowing that the same government that, for reasons of cost would refuse to pay for life-extending medicine, WOULD pay for end-of-life counseling?
Comment by Mike — 8/28/2009 @ 1:08 pm
Sometimes it is easy to overlook the obvious. The vile act that made Kennedy notorious really did define the man.
Comment by obamathered — 8/28/2009 @ 1:56 pm
Mike, or anyone…
Rationing sounds scary (by design), but the more I think about it, the more the fear subsides. It seems like rationing care would lead to the creation of jobs and opportunity in the health care industry. I’m not talking about the insurance industry, but the actual hospitals and health care facilities.
I mean, each patient would be covered, so the hospitals/urgent care/doctors offices/etc. would all get paid. If they’re getting paid, they can hire more people. More people means less unemployment, which means more people contributing, etc etc.
Rationing seems to be a short term problem, with long term benefits. Of course, that short term problem would be a huge pain in the ass, maybe. I’m still not convinced that swarms of uninsured are suddenly going to descend upon medical facilities and overwhelm them.
There are doctors in my area that donate time every weekend to free patient care to people who can’t afford/get insurance. I asked my doctor (who participates in the program) how many people come, and if there are lines. She said that it all depends on the day, but usually it’s just like a regular urgent care day.
thoughts anyone?
Comment by Chuck Tucson — 8/28/2009 @ 2:16 pm
I nominated Ms. Lafsky as a charter member of Obama’s “Death Panel” ( you know, the Death Panel that isn’t really in the Bill that no one’s read yet.)
Comment by Dewey — 8/28/2009 @ 3:24 pm
Of late, when the conversation has turned to debating values and moral equivalence, I have run a little dry on repulsive examples of those who think people are means and not ends.
Thank you, Rick.
Comment by Jon Dough — 8/28/2009 @ 3:24 pm
First, the sentiments expressed in Ms. Lafsky’s article offend me as deeply as they do you - and very rightfully so. It’s unconscionable. Kennedy’s actions on that night cannot be defended, nor the tragedy belittled in such a way.
Second, with regards to Mike’s comment:
“…what will occur with the Democrats’ H.3200, where, when the rationing of health care finally begins (and it WILL happen; sooner if we allow 47 million uninsured to participate)…”
ALLOW to participate in getting basic health care? ALLOW? So you are so freaking special that 47 million Americans should just die or go bankrupt so… what? You don’t have to stand in line somewhere? I am so deeply moved by your compassion.
Comment by Allegro — 8/28/2009 @ 4:10 pm
Yeah, that was ridiculous.
She DIED. He LIED. And continued to LIE as any good liberal is wont to do. She is dead
Yeah Gayle, because I’m sure a “Conservative” politician would just have fessed up to drunk-driving a young woman somewhere on a quest to commit adultery.
Lying is something that politicians, liberal AND conservative, are wont to do.
Comment by angulimala — 8/28/2009 @ 4:44 pm
No Rick…you’re the one arguing, I just made a simple statement.
But now that you mention it…GW was the first one notified of the attempted murder of Harry Whittington…not local law enforcement.
I call it “attempted murder” here because Cheney was never charged with that crime, the same way as you use the phrase “Kennedy’s manslaughter” when Teddy was never charged with that particular crime…Fair enough?
It was the next day when the local sherrif first interviewed Cheney and began the official investigation. Who knows why it took so long to make the perp available to the local authorities?…Maybe Dick tossed a few beers back while shooting…We’ll never know..
Everyone involved stonewalled both law enforcement and media overnight, bypassing any blood alcohol tests..
The victim had a heart attack from a pellet that migrated and lodged in or near his heart. he spent about a week in the hospital if I remember correctly…
Lucky Dick..
My original point was that accidents happen…Its not Cheneys fault he shot the guy…the woods are full of six foot 200 pound quail…any one could have made the same mistake..
Maybe if Dick (”I had other priorities in the 60’s than military service.”)Cheney had actually served his country in battle instead of seeking 5 deferments during Vietnam, he would have been a bit more thoughtful wielding his shotgun that day…
We’ll never know..
Comment by Moltenorb — 8/28/2009 @ 7:07 pm
Moltenorb,
Thanks for proving Rick Moran right. It is quite stunning for a liberal dolt like you who is so pained at the thought of Cheney’s friend getting shot by rubber bullets, and not having it “reported” it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to say about Kennedy running away from the scene and not saying anything about it for hours on end and leaving the woman to die !
Is it any wonder that more than a few liberals have the same moral compass as that of any good old fashioned collectivist? And these people wonder why they get “smeared” as pinko-commies.
Moltenorb, No one asked you to make an assclown of yourself today, but you still insist.
Please shut up.
Comment by Nagarajan Sivakumar — 8/28/2009 @ 8:15 pm
Nagarajan Sivakumar…
Calling me a “dolt” an “assclown” and telling me to “shut up” are all weak arguments which I will answer with a quote from Elbert Hubbard…
“If you can’t answer a man’s arguments, all is not lost; you can still call him vile names.”
That said…I personally DO NOT wonder why progressives get smeared as “pinko-commies” by conservatives…the answer to that one is simple..
It’s because most conservatives don’t know the difference between communism, collectivism, fascism, nationalism, socialism, patriotism, nazism, capitalism, or the color pink..
As for the the “bullets” in Cheneys shotgun…they’re actually called “shot” or “pellets”, and each one is a sphere of dense metal such as lead, which is often plated with copper or nickel…
Can you supply a link that proves Cheney was using rubber shot that day?…
I didn’t think so..
What the Cheneyquiddick story illustrates is that when politians screw up bigtime…they tend to stonewall until they get their story straight…that’s all…I never defended the actions of Ted Kennedy…He plead guilty to leaving the scene of an accident…and he was guilty of that crime..
For conservatives to obsess about a single innocent life lost to the bad judgment of one liberal politician is the ultimate in hypocrisy…Especially since the last administrations bad judgment has resulted in the elimination of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives..
So don’t pretend to actually care about the life of Mary Jo Kopechne…she is nothing more than a political pawn used by conservatives to smear one of the most influential politians in the history of this country..
You aren’t even comparing apples and oranges - more like apples and nuclear bombs. Did Cheney’s victim survive? That is the key moral question - one you avoid because you know you lose big time if you answer it.
That singular fact makes the rest of your analogy nothing more than smoke - a partisan attempt to equate two incidents that cannot be equated morally, factually, or logically.
Give it up.
ed.
Comment by Moltenorb — 8/29/2009 @ 7:40 am
I’m not commenting to win or lose Rick…I became quite aware that reason cannot win around here after you declined to admit in a previous post that Pelosi never said the word that you put dirctly into her mouth. I learned that you will never admit publicly when you are wrong, and that you will always attempt to use the “partisan” card on people like me to try and discredit anything we say..
I’ll readily admit that that particular victim of Dick Cheney did live through his ordeal…Could Cheneys victim have died?…Sure…Would that have made a comparison viable…Maybe…but that wasn’t my point…My main thrust was not equating the two episodes, but pointing out that accidents happen, and that politicians in general will take the time necessary to cover their asses in a crisis..
You may not have noticed that I didn’t mention Ted Kennedy at all in either of my first two posts on this topic…You and your name-calling compatriot assumed that I was making a moral comparison, which allowed you both to act like 5 year old little boys, running around the room with your fingers in your ears, going LALALALALALALALALA…NEENER NEENER NEENER..
Comment by Moltenorb — 8/29/2009 @ 9:31 am
Speaking of Mary Jo, I believe it truly was an accident, and Kennedy’s strange actions followed by the false testimony was meant to cover up his romantic escapade with another woman (possibly, Rosemary Koeugh whose purse was found in the car) form the “Broiler Room Girls” party.
The only logical explanation of Kennedy’s ridiculous behavior and unconvincing explanation is that at the time the accident happened, he had no idea that Mary Jo was sleeping on the back of his car while he and his female companion, both under the influence of alcohol, were rushing to the beach to satisfy their lust. They both managed to escape, leaving unknowingly Mary Jo to her slow and painful death in a sank car.
When Kennedy and his buddies realized that Mary Jo was in the car, it was too late to invent a completely new scenario, so they came up with a modified one that would minimize damage to Kennedy’s political career.
Should Kennedy report the accident right after it happened, as he was required by the law, Mary Jo would have been, most likely, spared.
So, was Kennedy a monster who knowingly left a human being in need in order to protect his own ass? I don’t think so. Was he a self-centered opportunist (like the one pictured in the movie “Emperor’s Club”) who thought that he was above the law as long as he could get away with what he’d done? You bet he was.
The “mainstream” media brouhaha of Kennedy’s “redemption” tacitly ignores one inconvenient fact: he never came clean and never revealed what really happened that tragic night. (Why am I not surprised?) Should he do so, I would probably be among those calling for forgiveness and for giving him a chance to straighten his life.
Comment by A Reader — 8/29/2009 @ 12:07 pm
As for the the “bullets” in Cheneys shotgun…they’re actually called “shot” or “pellets”, and each one is a sphere of dense metal such as lead, which is often plated with copper or nickel…
Can you supply a link that proves Cheney was using rubber shot that day?…
Cheney was using pellets - and they were not made of rubber. I flubbed on this one. It was NOT made of rubber.
But i dont know what exactly these were made of - and no, they did not prove to be fatal - remember Cheney’s friend was an old guy - he could have easily been dead on the spot if the pellets had stronger lead composition.
That said…I personally DO NOT wonder why progressives get smeared as “pinko-commies” by conservatives…the answer to that one is simple…It’s because most conservatives don’t know the difference between communism, collectivism, fascism, nationalism, socialism, patriotism, nazism, capitalism, or the color pink..
Its because we cut the bullshit out and cut right to the chase… you are all a bunch of high falutin moralists who have zero respect for the individual… “collective/common/greater” good is the excuse that you give for all your social engineering schemes - the difference between all these collectivist philosophies is IN DEGREE.. not in substance.Something that you dont have the intellecutal honesty to admit to.
All these frauds involve submission of the individual’s wil to the co-ercive power of the state in the name of the “greater good”.
Some of these such as communism ended up killing thousands and millions of people - just as you are able to cooly rationalize the death of Mary Jo, so were many of your liberal compatriots who “understood” Uncle Joe’s reasons for the gulag and said nothing about Mao’s “great leap” forward.
For conservatives to obsess about a single innocent life lost to the bad judgment of one liberal politician is the ultimate in hypocrisy…Especially since the last administrations bad judgment has resulted in the elimination of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives..
all those Democrats who voted for the Iraq war… hmm, lets see all their sins are absolved. You dont have the balls to even admit that the first resolution in Congress that considered Saddam Hussein dangerous and called for a regime change came from A Democrat President, A Democrat Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle - co-sponsored by two Democrats, Dodd and Kerry = remember the Iraq regime change resolution of 1998 ??
http://newwars.blogspot.com/2007/02/1998-iraq-resolution.html
Iraq was a mistake of BOTH Democrats and Republican politicans - and you want to conveniently blame the “conservatives” alone ?? You think that suddenly one fine day Bush decreed that Iraq must be invaded and NOTHING happened in terms of debates on how to proceed?
So don’t pretend to actually care about the life of Mary Jo Kopechne…she is nothing more than a political pawn used by conservatives to smear one of the most influential politians in the history of this country..
You first stop pretending that you are concerned for Dick Cheney’s friend more than Dick Cheney himself - he was nothing more than a political pawn to get to bash a guy who was one of the most influential Vice Presidents in history.
And no it only requires common decency to feel bad for BOTH Mary Jo and Cheney’s friend - something that you obviously lack.
The only difference is that Cheney was interested in his friend’s well being and checked on his status after being admitted to the hospital… unlike the man that you so love who ran away from a drowning woman in pursuit of his own life and didnt report it in pursuit of his greed for Presidential power.
Comment by Nagarajan Sivakumar — 8/30/2009 @ 3:10 pm