Saturday, August 29, 2009

Ted Kennedy's Terrible Legacy

Senator Ted Kennedy died on Tuesday. He was truly one of the worst figures in American public life.

A Conservative Reflection on Ted Kennedy

Kennedy was a reprobate in his personal life. He was kicked out of Harvard for paying another student to take a test for him. He was a lifelong drunk. He mistreated women through his entire life.

“He was my baby,” mother Rose remembered, “and I tried to keep him my baby.” When he was a man, this showed. He cheated his way out of Harvard. He led police on drunken high-speed chases while at law school in Charlottesville, Va. He bedded the most available women. When he finally settled down with Joan Bennett, his virgin bride surmised that he did so mainly because she refused to give him what so many of his girlfriends had “The only reason he wanted to marry me,” Joan reflected, “was because he couldn’t get me any other way.” The tone of the marriage was set when, upon watching the commemorative film of her wedding, Joan heard John Kennedy -- momentarily unaware that he was miked up for the wedding motion picture -- tell his youngest brother that being married didn’t mean he had to stop sleeping with other women. After a lifetime observing the brazen adultery of his father, and hearing stories of his grandfather’s liaisons derailing his reelection as mayor of Boston, the advice probably seemed redundant.
Kennedy's drinking and mistreatment of women came together when a drunken Kennedy drove his Oldsmobile off a bridge near Chappaquiddick Bay. He escaped from the car, leaving behind his passenger Mary Jo Kopechne. Kopechne didn't die right away. She was trapped in the car, surviving for hours on the air bubble until she slowly suffocated to death. Kennedy could have saved her life by just calling 911, but instead he tried to concoct an alibi to cover up his responsibility for the crash. He chose to let her die.

But at least he felt sorry about it later, right?




Nor was this his only crime, though it was the only one for which he was convicted (he got a slap on the wrist). Kennedy was a long-time supporter of imprisoning citizens who want to protect their lives against criminals (aka gun control). But he flouted federal gun laws by having machine gun toting guards protect a convicted criminal.

Kennedy was also a traitor. Yes, a giving aid and comfort to the enemies of America traitor.

Ted Kennedy's Soviet Gambit
Remembering Teddy’s KGB Connection
This is Treason

He secretly contacted the Soviet KGB to attempt to undermine America's defenses against the Soviet Union. This began even under pansy Jimmy Carter. But Kennedy's efforts to undermine America really got going under Ronald Reagan. He attempted to arrange a propaganda tour for Soviet dictator Yuri Andropov.

"On 9-10 May of this year," the May 14 memorandum explained, "Sen. Edward Kennedy's close friend and trusted confidant [John] Tunney was in Moscow." (Tunney was Kennedy's law school roommate and a former Democratic senator from California.) "The senator charged Tunney to convey the following message, through confidential contacts, to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Y. Andropov."

Kennedy's message was simple. He proposed an unabashed quid pro quo. Kennedy would lend Andropov a hand in dealing with President Reagan. In return, the Soviet leader would lend the Democratic Party a hand in challenging Reagan in the 1984 presidential election. "The only real potential threats to Reagan are problems of war and peace and Soviet-American relations," the memorandum stated. "These issues, according to the senator, will without a doubt become the most important of the election campaign."
Andropov wasn't even your average Soviet dictator. He was a longtime head of the KGB. He was "the leader of the Soviet Union, a former director of the KGB and a principal mover in both the crushing of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the suppression of the 1968 Prague Spring". Andropov authorized the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II, the leader of the church that Kennedy claimed to be a member of. Later in 1983, the Soviet Union shot down a Korean airliner, killing an American congressman, Larry MacDonald.

Soviet assassinations

Thankfully, Kennedy failed and so did the Soviet Union. His treachery was exposed thanks to the discovery of documents in the Soviet archives following its collapse.

Kennedy's legislative efforts have been just as disastrous. While he was a long time supporter of a government takeover of health care, he had no problem availing himself of the best private medicine, instead of the government-run VA hospitals. He supported the bill creating HMOs, which he would later attack.

Kennedy consistently advocated disastrous immigration policy. He led the floor efforts for the disastrous 1965 immigration bill. During debate, he argued

“First, our cities will not be flooded with a million immigrants annually. Under the proposed bill, the present level of immigration remains substantially the same… Secondly, the ethnic mix of this country will not be upset…. Contrary to the charges in some quarters, [the bill] will not inundate America with immigrants from any one country or area, or the most populated and deprived nations of Africa and Asia….

In the final analysis, the ethnic pattern of immigration under the proposed measure is not expected to change as sharply as the critics seem to think.”
Kennedy never apologized for being so wrong. He was a leading supporter of the 1986 amnesty, and a main sponsor of the failed 2006 and 2007 amnesty efforts.

Kennedy was also a leading supporter of cutting off all aid to South Vietnam. This is not American troops or bombing, mind you, but aid that America had committed by treaty to provide. This snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and led to the slaughter of millions of Vietnamese by the communists.

When it was convenient, Kennedy opposed abortion.

“[O]nce life has begun, no matter at what stage of growth, it is my belief that termination should not be decided merely by desire.”
But when it was politically necessary, he became a staunch defender of baby-killing.

While the "McCarthyism" of Joe McCarthy is a myth, Kennedy did something like it with his ludicrous "Robert Bork's America" speech smearing a highly distinguished judge. (Ironically, Robert F. Kennedy worked for McCarthy.) (see Blacklisted by History)

Contrary to the plaudits of liberals, Kennedy didn't give a damn about the common man. He cared about Ted Kennedy first and only. Where was Kennedy's compassion for others when he was letting Mary Jo Kopechne die? Kennedy never gave his millions in inherited wealth to the poor, but he was always eager to take money in taxes away from Americans far poorer than him.

Kennedy's longevity in politics says a lot about the liberals who covered for and defended him through the years. Somehow, it seems unlikely that a Republican (much less a conservative) could have gotten away with Kennedy's actions.

Kennedy's record speaks volumes about both Kennedy himself and the modern American left.

UPDATE: Not funny, indeed.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, mostly all true.

But Kennedy women all knew the score and enjoyed being part of the plot. It takes two to tango.

As for the death of Marry Joe- yes, very bad.

But, this wasn't in the days when everyone has cell phones to call

911

Few people in cars have car phones, none had cell phones.

After the crash, Teddy escaped, he may or may not have made some attempt to save Marry Joe, probably not. Then it was cover up.

The worst thing Ted Kennedy did was sponsor the 1965 immigration act and work endlessly to attack working class European Americans embrace all Leftist causes (Sandinistas, ANC etc).

Yeah, Kennedy cult was bad, Ted Kennedy the worst.

Check out our music video on the subject:

http://blip.tv/file/2529332

von Dotty said...

Amen. Being raised by Democrats, I was unaware of the depth of his involvement with the Soviet Union. Thank you for reminding the public of this.

As a conservative, I have enough decency not to dance on a man's grave, but I'll not wax eloquent for so base and vulgar a man. Excellent post.

edwin forprogress.org said...

He saw in Columbia Point and Mound Bayou a model for the nation and introduced an amendment to the Economic Opportunity Act that set aside $51 million to get another 30 centers started around the country. Today, as a direct result of Sen. Kennedy’s vision as a 34-year-old, first-term senator, 20 million low-income Americans receive access to quality primary care at 1,200 community health centers across all 50 states and U.S. territories.

edwin forprogress.org said...

"She was trapped in the car, surviving for hours on the air bubble until she slowly suffocated to death. Kennedy could have saved her life by just calling 911, but instead he tried to concoct an alibi to cover up his responsibility for the crash. He chose to let her die."

This is how right wing media and political leaders teach you to think?

Really he left her there to die? Where did you get that information?

Real Americans believe in innocent until proven guilty. This is not easy, but a real patriot would rather die than betray our principals.

So where is your evidence?

Of course, where you get your news is always giving you examples of making substantiated arguments, right?

Without evidence your some deranged lunatic that makes baseless accusations.

Conservative First said...

To "Edwin":

Kennedy was 'proven guilty'--in a court of law.

As for evidence, examine the first link.

"They hated him in large part because in the wee hours of July 18, 1969, Ted Kennedy drove Mary Jo Kopechne to her death and, rather than report the accident to the police, spent the next ten hours or so sobering up, attempting to cajole his drinking buddies to vouch for his innocence in the matter, and calling his lawyer, a German girlfriend, and political cronies. The indifference was particularly galling to many involved in the case. “She didn’t drown,” the diver who retrieved Kophechne’s body from Kennedy’s Oldsmobile Delmont 88, steadfastly held. “She died of suffocation in her own air void. It took her at least three or four hours to die. I could have had her out of that car in 25 minutes after I got the call. But he didn’t call.” As with Watergate, it was more the cover-up than the crime that infuriated observers."

Gloomycon said...

Edwin -

It appears that after the "accident", Kennedy passed a fire station walking away from the scene.

http://www.examiner.com/x-5919-Norfolk-Crime-Examiner~y2009m7d17-40th-anniversary-of-Mary-Jo-Kopechnes-drowning-at-ChappaquiddickKennedys-story-still-doubtful

Reg Cæsar said...

But he flaunted federal gun laws by having machine gun toting guards...

No, that's flouting federal gun laws. But he's certainly guilty of flaunting federal gun laws: the 'assault-weapon' ban, the Brady Bill, the Gun Control Act of 1968, etc.

Don't forget that he's of the same tribe as Big Tim, who gave his name to New York's nasty Sullivan Law. Kennedy was not only the father of bad immigration policy, he was the child of it as well.

edwin forprogress.org said...

http://www.snopes.com/politics/politicians/tedkennedy.asp

Even if the Green Bay Packers never were interested in recruiting him, there are numerous examples of his strength and willingness to take risks. Had he been successful at saving her, it would have made him a hero.

She was dead before he left and the only thing that calling the police earlier would have meant that her dead body would have been pulled out sooner. Who is this diver? What is his name? What credentials (or political motivations) did he have to make such an assessment?

The three paragraphs before point 8 address the claim as well.

We must not reach the point where we turn on one another unfairly.

Criticize his policies, his failure to report her death sooner, but to not betray your own honor or American principals.

edwin forprogress.org said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
edwin forprogress.org said...

http://www.snopes.com/politics/

politicians/tedkennedy.asp

I'm not sure why the last part keeps getting cut off