The Kennedy Death Watch

Brace yourself, when Sen. Teddy Kennedy dies—and it looks like that could be any day now—the mainstream media will launch an orgy of tributes, minute-by-minute coverage of all the hoopla that will surround the event. It may make the coverage of Michael Jackson’s recent passing seem mild by comparison.

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The Kennedy’s have acquired a mythic quality despite the fact that this was and is a deeply flawed family. John F. Kennedy’s time as president was quite brief, but it was enough to engage in one of the great blunders of the post-war era, the aborted invasion of Cuba by a CIA-trained and funded group of mercenaries. JFK was later able to redeem himself in the confrontation with the Soviet Union over the placement of missiles in Cuba. As Dean Rusk, his Secretary of State, put it, “The other side just blinked.” It was, however, Kennedy who signed off on the growing U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Military “advisors” metastasized into more than 50,000 dead when Lyndon Johnson assumed the presidency in the wake of his assassination. Unquestionably the most liberal among his Senate brethren, we can thank Teddy for the ghastly “No Child Left Behind Bill” and all others that have advanced the interests of the National Education Association. His support for Obama critically turned the tide against Hillary Clinton’s nomination. He has worn Big Government blinders for years, eager to see it grow for any reason. Most famously, the drowning of Mary Jo Kopechne on July 18, 1969 became a scandal etched into the political history of the nation. What is not in doubt is that Kennedy was at the wheel of a car that went off a bridge in Chappaquiddick, Massachusetts, trapping the girl, a campaign volunteer for brother Bobby, while Teddy was able to extricate himself. The details of what followed seem to confirm that he was more concerned with avoiding responsibility than for the victim. The incident mercifully ensured he would never be able to secure the Democrat nomination for president.

The Kennedy Curse

His death will occasion 24/7 news coverage, endless colleagues and journalists blathering away and striving to out-do one another in lavishing praise on the old sot. It's rumored that sailors used his bulbous, glowing nose to guide themselves through the waters off Hyannisport. His brain tumor would appear to confirm “the Kennedy curse” because almost all the prominent members of the family have fallen to some awful end; Joe Jr., the oldest son, died in World War II, John and Bobby were both assassinated, and, in 1999, John Jr. managed to nosedive his plane into the Atlantic Ocean off of Martha’s Vineyard. Bobby Kennedy Jr. lives on as an environmental wacko who is far too comfortable shilling for Venezuelan despot Hugo Chavez than any Kennedy should ever be. Caroline embarrassed herself in an aborted effort to become a Senator from New York. The Kennedy’s always seemed to find ways to shorten their lives or to end their marriages after begetting still more kin. The women born to this family or married into it suffered greatly. Only old Joe Kennedy of infamy (he was an admirer of Hitler’s Germany and made no secret of it) managed to live to a point of antiquity. His wife, Rose, did as well. A graceful and beautiful Jackie Kennedy Onassis alone managed to bring some real glamour and style to this ragged group of ambitious and libidinous power brokers, though her marriage to the Greek shipping magnate took some edge of the legend. I will have to keep the television turned off for days after his passing in order to avoid the din of coverage. His casket will surely be rolled to the center of the Capitol rotunda to ensure that some final moments of worship can be lavished on him. He may be buried in Arlington in the plot where his older brothers reside in perpetuity. The cameras will follow every lugubrious moment of the ceremonies. I am willing to bet that future historians will be less forgiving of his role and his contribution to the nation, particularly as regards his voting record. If the nation ever erects a monument to those who have benefited overly from their family connections, the name of Edward Moore Kennedy surely will be engraved on it.

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