Ted Kennedy's Book

Does anyone want it?

I do.

No.

Malcolm,

I ordered it --only $15.25 for a hardcover.
I am dying to see what he says about Chappaquidick--everything else too.

I do say he overcame alot and I admire that.

What did he overcome? I never got the whole "Kennedy tragedy" thing. An enormous family is bound to have individual tragedies in it.

I don't know why what he says about Chap. matters anymore. As if he'd give an honest accounting, anyhow. Phone records after the incident show he called his lawyers asking what he should do, not emergency help. That tells me all I need to know.

I heard his sons on TV this morning. They said Chappaquidick haunted him all his life. I would like his book.

I think the Kennedy's have had more than their share of tragedy. What if JFK had lived? Would our country be different today? Would Vietnam have been as disastrous?

Carol

My husband and I went to the bridge. We are both of the opinion that he was not in the car when it went off the bridge.

We think he was guilty of an extra marital affair--not good, but not murder.

He was a very good Senator, in my opinion.

9/15/2009

Alice...

I wouldn't read it. I remember the incident very
well, to me he didn't do the right thing and what was a bunch
of married men doing partying with secretaries ? I think he
was having an affair wither her or she was pregnant , for some
un-known reason they didn't do an autopsy on her ? The law
states if you die under unusual circumstances there must be
a autopsy performed , also I remember over the years every
time her family was going to speak out, all of a sudden they
clamed up , maybe hush money. And as for his brother Jack
he was the biggest womanizer going...


Cheers..Joe

I agree with the womanizer bit, Joe.
He was not a perfect husband that is for certain.

I want people to read my book and I am not perfect.

I am perfect so how come no one is reading my books?

That is probably the very reason.

You have no racey secrets to divulge.

Now if you were a naughty lady...

Well, Joe, you seem to capture how I felt at the time. But my experience in life to date has taught me that even the most faithful husband strays. The most judgmental of another's trists really wants one for himself. If we are to rule out of government men who either have already strayed or those who will once they have the aura of power, there will be no men left to serve. I was 21 and a political intern in Wshington, D.C.; the aura of powerful men is overwhelming; and their ability to attract power-struck younger women is an ego boost the aging politicians seem unable to resist.

An Armani suit, a rolex watch, a fat wallet and a powerful position create an aura of confidence and mythical sexuality - mythical - because it is in the desire that lust is born, not in the fulfillment.

Dear Jimmy Carter said it so well that he had lusted - and found that sinful. Power doth corrupt - check out any country's leadership and that's evident. Women almost always figure in the picture, from the nearly innocent to the bawdy.

Yet, mistakes that we live through may make us stronger. Resisting temptation also builds character. But some would say, there is no place for character in politics.

When I was 21, I didn't drink and I was quite religious in my approach to life. I had goals that were not monetary. However, I was starstruck and if my resolve had weakened, I might be writing a book today.......

Oops - I did write a book - but not DK does Washington.

I think both sides need to keep a handle on themselves.

I once had a doctor who was obviously losing it. He lost me as a patient.

He had the audacity to tell me, I was his very best friend.

I looked at him and thought," No I am not." Henceforth he saw me no more.

Fact. After driving off the bridge Teddy went to a hotel for a good nights sleep and reported the accident nine hours later.

The diver who recovered the body of Mary Jo Kopechne said she was in an airpocket and thought she might have lived for twenty-five minutes.

Regardless of his straying husband antics I hate the man for leaving her alone to die while he tried to cover his ass.

He was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident so he did in fact do crime.

Even a Kennedy couldn't explain away that car with the dead girl inside.

I don't think I will be buying his book.

Fact, she drove off of the bridge--he had hopped out of the car because he did not want to be found out womanizing.

He did not know she drove off of the bridge until the car was discovered.

He lied for certain.

9/15/2009

In their hey day the Kennedy's John and Robert had
powerful political clout. Robert Kennedy was warned by the
F.B.I to tell his brother John to stop screwing around with
Marilyn Monroe , it was dangerous, first she was famous,
second she could pull the plug on them and end their political
careers, you see in those days the American public didn't
tolerate that kind of scandal , so the Kennedy's attitude
towards the F.B.I was screw you, we do what we want to do,
this is how their father taught them, it was okay to screw
around on your wife.....I was 14 at the time and I remember
it well....

Cheers..Joe

Joe,
What they did was not good. I do not approve of them womanizing.

The women were wrong too. It is impossible--short of rape to womanize without a willing woman.

The reason there are sexual harassment laws is that a "willing woman" is not always so willing but rather intimidated or mesmerized by the power and position of the man involved. It may be consent, but it is a type of mental coersion. Yes, men are also harassed; but it is less frequently. Washington is a place where upward mobility is based on favors, a woman's favors may often be sexual.

I have had plenty of times in my workplace where men have suggested dinner in "payment" for a late project, that "I'm so irresistable" look in their eye and the power to fire or promote in their bag of tricks.

Quote :

Fact, she drove off of the bridge--he had hopped out of the car because he did not want to be found out womanizing.

I don't know where you would have found this fact. He admitted to the police and everyone afterward that he was driving the car.

His two friends who he went back to right after the accident testified that
Ted was driving the car. All of the official investigation at the time put him as the driver. All the rest of his life he has admitted to driving the car.

Mary Jo drowned while he was acting just plain silly. Like she didn't even exist. When it came time for the Great Ted Kennedy to step up he turned into a sniveling little coward.

I had a grandfather I adored. We lived in his house. I did not know for most of my life that he had an affair, but my mother did and it was always evident she was angry at him for something.

I did not know about the affair until after he died. It did not change my love for him. I am not saying it was right.

Carol

Phil wrote:

Quote :

Fact, she drove off of the bridge--he had hopped out of the car because he did not want to be found out womanizing.

I don't know where you would have found this fact. He admitted to the police and everyone afterward that he was driving the car.

His two friends who he went back to right after the accident testified that
Ted was driving the car. All of the official investigation at the time put him as the driver. All the rest of his life he has admitted to driving the car.

Mary Jo drowned while he was acting just plain silly. Like she didn't even exist. When it came time for the Great Ted Kennedy to step up he turned into a sniveling little coward.

A book by Jack Anderson, a trip to the bridge, talking with the people on the island etc., They all think he'd have drowned too if he had been in the car. There was a lot of lying.

His oldest brother was supposed to be the family hero. He was shot down and killed during WWII. That made jack the oldest, Jack performed the role quite well, until he was shot down by an assassin's bullet. Then Bobby stepped up to the plate and was shot down, too. I would not want to be in Ted Kennedy's shoes. Of course he had to be afraid. How could he not be afraid. He made some mistakes, some very serious mistakes, and he lived with the results for the rest of his life. He went on in spite of them, and did his best to serve and improve the quality of life for a whole lot of less fortunate Americans.

In the end, I think he earned some compassion.

Ann

Jack Anderson's theory abbreviated.

Ted was out with Mary Jo. They were spotted by a cop, Ted did not want to be caught with a woman. He said to her, "Let me out , circle around and pick me up.""

He was tall, she was short, the car seat was adjusted for him--not her. She could not see well , thus drove off the bridge without even braking.

He did not know she was in the water until they found her. Lie after lie was told.

I agree he was wrong. She was wrong too. In my opinion he lied and womanized--I don't think he intentionally left her to die. I have read books , traveled to the sight, talked to the locals.

No one needs to agree with me.

Ann,

Good post.

People can make big mistakes and continue making them throughout their lives, or they can make mistakes and work for redemption for them. I think he did the latter. He certainly was loved by those who knew him. His sons were overwhelmed and surprised by the compassion shown after he died.

I think sometimes people feel closer to those who have made mistakes than those who appear perfect, because in reality those who appear perfect have flaws just like all of us. Some of us make one or two big mistakes and others a lot of small ones, (except Shelagh, of course.)

Carol

I don't consider leaving someone to die a "mistake." I agree that he was "haunted" by it - what an impediment it proved to be to his political ambitions!

His subsequent "redemption" was enabled by his undeserved position in society. Anyone else would have served too long a sentence to redeem themselves like that.

The Ted Kennedy story will forever be whatever one wants to believe about it. Most will say that the affair was wrong, and after that some will say one thing, some another. If you like the Kennedys, you will give him the benefit of the doubt. If you don't like them, you will blame him for everything.

The Kennedys were a powerful family, and there is no doubt that the three brothers did a lot of good for the American people as a whole. Again, you will agree with that or dispute, depending on how you feel about them.

The past is past, and I think the ghosts should remain unseen and unheard. I simply don't care about what might or might not have happened that night.

I think JFK would have been a two term President and among the greatest of all time had he lived. If he had an affair with Marilyn Monroe, it was his business, and not ours. At point in time many men in the world would have loved to have had one with her.

I have to disagree with DK on one thing, however. She says that even the most faithful husband will stray, and I can say with a certainty that this isn't so. Last week, on the 10th of September, my wife and I observed our 44th wedding anniversary, and we dated for a year before we were married. Since the night we had our first date, I have never given one thought to having an affair, and have never wanted to. I honestly believe that some people are meant to be together, and that we are such a couple. I have had occasions over the years to enter into a relationship outside my marriage, some of which no one would have ever learned of, and I chose not to. I have to think that I am not the only person that has remained faithful.