Teddy Kennedy was no “Jack” Kennedy

This is the preamble to the Wikipedia article of an incident the Kennedy clan would love to see forgotten: The article is far more favorable to Kennedy than many national papers were at the time.

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“ July of 1969, Kopechne's body was discovered inside an overturned car belonging to Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy of Massachusetts under water in a tidal channel on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts. After the body was found, Kennedy gave a statement to police saying that on the previous night he had taken a wrong turn and accidentally driven his car off a bridge into the water. Later, he pleaded guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident after causing injury; he received a suspended sentence. The incident became a national scandal and may have affected the Senator's decision not to run for President of the United States in 1972.”

The article is not quite accurate. There is more than enough evidence showing that JFK’s younger brother was very drunk when he left the party and in no shape to drive, but who’s going to tell a Kennedy that he can’t do anything? The bridge connecting Chappaquiddick to the mainland was very narrow so a guy driving with considerably more single malt in his system than plasma is an accident waiting to happen. After the scandal, young Teddy remained quiet for a while and then, after winning reelection to the Senate, developed a reputation as a hard-drinking Senator. Time Magazine’s Joe Klein wrote how he encountered a drunken Ted Kennedy while he himself was high on pot. And we wonder what has happened to journalism...as Lloyd Bentsen said to Dan Quayle in their Vice Presidential debate: “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.” Well, neither was Teddy. Suffice it to say that only the Mainstream Media (MSM) and the Washington establishment are really mourning this passing. Many are wishing such events would escalate in Washington; we might get our country back. In fact, many in Washington are hoping to be able to use this death to their own ends. ABC News reports that the Democrat leadership wants to push HR3200, the horrendous healthcare reform act, as “winning one for Ted”. They know the voters won't be fooled, but they are hoping to win over the Bluedogs and a couple of moderate GOP members to get it passed. This is typical of Senator Kennedy’s resume. There is no believable evidence that he created one single significant piece of legislation during his entire far too long legislative career. He did develop a reputation as being very willing to loudly proclaim the left’s talking points on supporting the AARP, Medicare and other social welfare programs, though I doubt he wrote any of his speeches, unlike Ronaldus Magnus, our greatest President of the 20th century. Remember that quote from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet? “What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet;” Well...the same it true for those items that, shall we say, stink? HR3200 stinks to high heaven. It doesn’t matter how many commercials are running calling those of us who have actually read the bill, far right special interests. In that case, the only thing I get out of the bill failing is my continued freedom and civil rights. The AARP should be ashamed. They are lying to their membership just as much as the Democrat Congress is lying to their constituents. They have more than likely been promised some pretty fat paydays if the bill passes. Of course, the AARP policyholders will be out in the cold, but hey, they’re old anyway and the death panel provision in HR3200 will take care of them. Obamacare/Kennedycare…it’s still a pile, regardless of the name. Of course, if they want to name a huge steaming, stinking pile of legislation after an appropriate dead Senator, than they’ve chosen the right one.