So, how to square that whole nagging Mary Jo Kopechne thing?
Decades of blissfully liberal legislation: Thanks, Mary Jo!!!
Yet, ironically, following this nadir in his life/ career, Ted Kennedy seemed to have genuinely refashioned himself as a serious, idealistic, tirelessly energetic liberal Democrat in the mold of 1960s/1970s American liberalism, arguably the greatest Democratic senator of the 20th century. His tireless advocacy of civil rights, rights for disabled Americans, health care, voting reform, his courageous vote against the Iraq war (when numerous Democrats including Hillary Clinton voted for it) suggest that there are not only "second acts" in American lives, but that the Renaissance concept of the "fortunate fall" may be relevant here: one "falls" as Adam and Eve "fell"; one sins and repents and is forgiven, provided that one remakes one's life.
Yet if one weighs the life of a single young woman against the accomplishments of the man President Obama has called the greatest Democratic senator in history, what is one to think?
and this:
Mary Jo wasn't a right-wing talking point or a negative campaign slogan. She was a dedicated civil rights activist and political talent with a bright future -- granted, whenever someone dies young, people sermonize about how he had a "bright future" ahead of him -- but she actually did. She wasn't afraid to defy convention (28 and unmarried, oh the horror!) or create her own career path based on her talents. She lived in Georgetown (where I grew up) and loved the Red Sox (we'll forgive her for that). Then she got in a car driven by a 36-year-old senator with an alcohol problem and a cauldron full of demons, and wound up a controversial footnote in a dynasty.
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.
Who knows -- maybe she'd feel it was worth it.
The eulogies have been rolling in and they have been, uh…. telling. One can see the value that the liberal-Left places on life especially when seen in the context of achieving politcal ends.
Mark Steyn contends that Mary Jo Kopechne has been “airbrushed” from history. Quite the contrary. She has achieved celebrity status in some circles because without Mary Jo there would be no Lion of the Senate.
Mary Jo, you see, had to pay with her life so that greatest legislator of our time could be allowed to touch so many other lives. Perhaps there are now two Marys that have been responsible for berthing miracles.
As great as Kennedy’s career was, one has to wonder just how much greater it might have been were there another young lady or two in that car.
H/T: Hot Air
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6 comments:
It has been disgusting. I turned off the coverage on Teddy before his body was cold. I can't stand the hypocrissy.
Very well said. Some information on Mary Jo that did not get much coverage in many of those long ago articles. Then there is Nancy Pelosi who did not even wait for Ted's body to cool before she was using his death to push her agenda.
Too bad he wasn't driving a busload of them. He'd have become President-for-Life!
A thought:
Teddy’s Forgotten “Accomplishment”
By Ray Wotring
People will spend the next few weeks discussing Ted Kennedy’s various conquests and battles in the Senate. Most conservatives will shutter when several of his pet issues are discussed, but one issue, which may have done more damage to college athletics then any single piece of legislation, will likely be ignored.
The 1972 Education Amendments included an especially destructive provision for which Kennedy fought relentlessly. It was Title IX, a measure ensuring the death of many “second tier” college sports, including wrestling. The long and short of Title IX is that any school that offers varsity sports must offer as many women’s programs as men’s. Additionally, the program is required to offer as many women’s athletic scholarships as it does men’s.
What this meant for men’s athletics was that unless you played football, or basketball, your funding was cut drastically. College wrestling, once one of the most popular college sports, was thrown by the wayside to ensure that football and basketball programs still had their funding. Today, you are hard pressed, unless you visit a major Big 10 wrestling program, to find a team, which is adequately funded.
Kennedy was the chief proponent of Title IX in the Senate during its passage in 1972. Then again, in 1987, after a Supreme Court ruling eliminated Title IX, it was Kennedy who brokered a bi-partisan deal in the Senate, which reenacted the Title IX death knell for second-tier men’s college athletics.
A year or so ago, a women in TX parked in her apartment parking space with an injured man lodged in her wind shield. She retired to her apartment without notifying anyone. The woman got 50 years for her action. Other than my Letter to the Editor, noone seemed to notice that the facts of law were exactly the same as in Mary Jo’s death. It was a felony and if he was anyone besides a Kennedy, he would have had many years of hard time.
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