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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