Ted Kennedy

I feel like I should comment on the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy.

On one hand, you can't deny the impact Senator Kennedy had on politics during his life. Though I don't agree with many of the bills he supported and helped pass, it would be foolish and ignorant of me to deny that his work across party lines was not a true accomplishment.

I also cannot deny that the man went through quite a bit in his life with both his brothers being assassinated and the many other tragedies he suffered. He became 'surrogate' father for his brothers' 13 children. He was part of many influential campaigns and legislation and was a very influential politician overall, drawing respect from Democrats and Republicans alike.

But one has to wonder how much his name may have contributed to his standing. He was often reckless, a womanizer, and showed very poor judgment.

Though many will find issue with this, I simply cannot ignore the Chappaquiddick Incident. The incident in which Kennedy attended a party, took Mary Jo Kopechne for a drive in his vehicle, drove off a bridge, left her to drown, and failed to report this to authorities. Kennedy's story was never quite believable, as excuses of "shock, fear, a hope that Kopechne would have escaped the next morning," were all very questionable. The diver who retrieved Kopechne's body stated that she had an air bubble and very likely could have been saved if the incident had been reported in a timely manner. Other further investigations showed that Kennedy had been driving recklessly, did not show proper care in driving on the road, and that the purpose and destination of their drive was not as Kennedy had stated.

The legal system is what it is, but Massachusetts prosecutors agreed to a plea from Kennedy's attorney's that his sentence be suspended because of his "character and standing". Keep in mind that Kennedy was only sentence to two months of incarceration for simply leaving the scene of an accident after causing injury. So not only was the crime he committed reduced, but the sentence of that reduced crime was suspended.

Everyone welcomed Kennedy back with open arms, and he was a name mentioned in Presidential elections for the next 20-30 years. Though this incident likely prevented him from ever winning a Presidential election, the fact that he was still allowed to be in the senate and very active in politics after a very questionable incident like this is very interesting. Also the fact that much of the investigation on the incident was "kept in secret" or ignored altogether is very interesting.

Needless to say, recent politicians have been exonerated for cheating on their spouses, for their conduct in the military decades ago, for doing drugs during their college years, for the churches they go to, for the businesses they've worked with, for the things they've said...

Yet for all these years, we simply ignored the fact that Kennedy was a very direct cause to the death of a young woman and did nothing to save her when all he needed to do was report the incident?

As I said, Kennedy had quite an impact politically, but the pardon he received for this incident is further proof that government protects its own before protecting the people. He should've been tried fairly, should have been unable to run for President, and should have served jail time for this. The fact that none of this happened and that he went right back to his reckless, womanizing ways shows me that Kennedy wasn't very affected by the causes of his actions.

I guess living above the law is quite the privilege. What's even better is that when you die people praise you as if you were a saint.