Need info on Ted Kennedy and Chappawhatchacallit

[Coventina]

This is something that I've never really informed myself about.

The SO likes to bring it up whenever I mention Laura Bush killing her ex-boyfriend he says it's only fair to point out that Dems can do evil things also.

What are some good, reliable sources on Ted's incident? I want to know what exactly happened.

[BlueEyedSon]

1. Try Google.

[Alpha Wolf]

2. I wouldn't go there...

Kennedy may be a great man, and has done much good with his life, but the choices he made that one night in Chappaquittick were not the most noble or admirable.

I'm sure you can find a lot of stuff on Google. I found one site once that had scans of all of the original police reports, files, etc. Wish I had kept the link.

[rkc3]

3. You should point out to the SO that Laura ran over the wrong boyfriend.

[Jackpine Radical]

21. ROFL.

You can bet I'm gonna use THAT line.

[dryan]

4. Tragedy within a mystery

Kennedy and some campaign aides were at a party on Martha's Vineyard. One of his aides was a young woman named Mary Jo Kopechne. Kennedy agreed to drive Kopechne back to her hotel. He apparently made a wrong turn onto a bridge and the car ended up in the water upside down. He tried to save her. Kennedy swam back to shore. He apprently called the police and his attorney but we are still not sure in what order. The car was finally pulled from the water. This has been an ongoing controversy for years. There have been countless books with a very anti-Kennedy slant published that said that Mary Jo Kopechne was Kennedy's mistress, she was pregnant, she was extorting him, Kennedy was drunk, etc. etc. The whole thing is a tragedy because from what I understand she was a nice, middle class young woman who liked politics. There was a very complicated inquest and Kennedy was exonerated; he came to the inquest to testify in a neck brace. Stories about Chappaquidick come up about every ten years now or whenever a Kennedy appears at a National Convention. Lingering questions about the case have been circulating for years--decades.

[Longhorn]

6. Good summary! n/t

[UTUSN]

13. Not JUST a Party. It Was a Thanks for RFK Staff after His Death

Not as an excuse, but somebody who has been through, not one, but two, murders of his family just MIGHT have been in some kind of altered state of mind, with or without sex and alcohol.

[H2O Man]

5. No one knows

exactly what happened. No one. Not even Ted Kennedy. It was a terrible tragic incident. There are numerous questions that are unanswered, and those who are closest to Ted know that, for a variety of reasons, he does not know the answers.

All we know for sure is that he went off the bridge; he escaped the car; Mary Jo K. drown; Kennedy did not get the help he could/should have.

The question "Why?" remains a mystery. There are numerouis theories: from the right wing "he was a cowardly shit;" to the left wing "he had been 'tabbed' with LSD," etc.

I am not going to try to push any theory, but I will say this: many people who have suffered from trauma, especially if it is a repeated trauma over a period of years ( few would debate that Ted had suffered repeated trauma as a result of his four siblings dying violent deaths) will react to an emergency/crisis in a manner similar to Ted's response. I'm not saying it was good or bad; that sense of judgement is not my goal. But I will say that it was not something unique to being Ted Kennedy.

Does that make sense? I realize that it will not make sense to the republicans who passionately hate Ted. I'm not putting this foreward for them. I'm merely saying that the low point of this great American's life is understandable in terms of being a human being. I recognize that this was a terrible tragedy for Mary Jo's family. Yet I view Ted with compassion.

[LiberalEsto]

9. Chappaquiddick

The theory that made the most sense to me - after reading a number of analyses of the incident back in the 70s - is that he was high on LSD, which can distort critical thinking processes. And that it took him several hours to "come down" and become rational again, which is why he didn't immediately report that Mary Jo Kopechne was in the car.

I feel awful for what happened to her and her family. She was an innocent victim. I don't think Kennedy did anything malicious; he was apparently in a state where he couldn't cope with an emergency.

Much as I respect his progressive leadership in the Senate, I wish he would tell the whole truth about what happened there, just to clear the books.

[H2O Man]

14. I tend to agree with everything

you wrote, up until "I wish he would tell the whole truth..." It assumes that there is more he could tell. Life is not always so simple. I think that the people closest to him, with whom he has told everything he knew about the incident, would agree that he does not have more to offer.

The human brain is not programed so that every person is able to access all information. It is a complex system. It's not a matter of good vs bad, or weak vs strong. But some situations are filed in a part of the brain that the conscious mind can't bring up.

Many of those, for example, who ingest LSD (either by choice or not) find the brain is very complex.

[LiberalEsto]

15. LSD

I used to experiment with it myself in bygone days so I am familiar with its effects. Haven't touched it since I watched a relative flip out and try to commit suicide and be restrained by 9 police officers, back in 1974.

What I'd like to hear Kennedy say is "Back in 1969 I did a stupid thing. I experimented with LSD. It was because I took LSD that the tragic accident at Chappaquidick happened, and that poor Mary Jo Kopechne lost her life. Because of the drug's effects, I was incapable of rescuing her or summoning aid. Mary's death haunts me still, and I would give anything to bring her back. I offer my heartfelt apologies to her bereaved family. I have since then tried to dedicate my life to helping people.

"This horrible tragedy taught me an important lesson about the hazards of powerful substances, and I would like to share this with America's young people. Think before you decide to experiment with unfamiliar substances, because their effects can go far beyond merely getting high. You don't know what could happen while you are under the effects of a mind or mood-altering chemical. You could end up costing someone their life, or losing your own, and the price is never worth a temporary high."

[Warpy]

7. I was in the area when it happened.

What I remember was that Kennedy was blind drunk and that the incident was ruled an accident. I'd been to Chappaquiddick, and that bridge had no guardrails and was poorly marked. It wasn't that easy to hit in broad daylight, cold sober.

I also remember a lot of rumors that Kennedy was blotto and Ms. Kopechne was driving him home.

In any case, he didn't report the accident for several hours. Although immediately running to a house and calling the cops might have deodorized the incident slightly, it wouldn't have changed the outcome.

A site with a picture of that bridge and a short discussion is at: http://www.gfsnet.org/msweb/sixties/chappaquiddick.html

[gttim]

8. Google.

There are a couple os sites, but they are maintained by wingnuts. You can get information, but you have to filter it.

The accident was a terrible thing, but that is what it is was, an accident. It happened late at night, on an unfamiliar road, over a one lane bridge. The car took a bath in a dark, fast moving canal. As a former lifeguard, and an openwater swimmer and ironman, I don't see how the wingnuts expected Ted to rescue the girl. I find it amazing anybody got out. Of all the wrecks I have been in, I was never thinking clearly right after it happened, and after the more violent impacts,, was punch drunk and unaware of what was going on. There is no way I could have been in any physical or mental state to dive into cold, dark, fast moving water, swim to a submerged, overturned car, open doors that resue divers had trouble with, and rescue anybody after an string impact. When you consider that Kennedy had an injured back from a plane crash 5 years ealier, I find it even more hard to believe that he could have successfully resued anybody from that car.

Nobody has ever proved that any kind of affair was going on between him and the girl. Nobody has been able to prove that Kennedy did not try and rescue the girl. Nobody has ever proved that Kennedy was drunk. However, it is hard to argue with a wingnut about it. I frequently do, trying to use reason, but wingnuts have never cared about reason.

http://www.gfsnet.org/msweb/sixties/chappaquiddick.html

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/tedkennedychappaquiddick.htm

http://www.ytedk.com/ (Crazy wingnut site, but some good info. You can actually find stuff on some pages that refutes what he says on different pages.)

[RobinA]

22. You Bring Up a Point

that has always amazed me about this incident and many other "why didn't he do this" type situations. Everyone just assumes that you drive a car off a bridge in the dark into water, hop out with all faculties intact, surface, take a deep breath, dive back under, flip the door open, invite Mary Jo K. to come out, and then both swim back to the surface, all's well that ends well.

Have people that think that it would have happened this way if Kennedy had only tried ever been in a traumatic situation? Do they all have the presence of mind of a Navy Seal to handle a situation like this? I'm not sure I would. Not sure at all.

[tibbiit]

10. Ive been thinking about Chapaquidick

and am wondering what kind of LIES do we all accept as fact about that matter. Remember the RW slime machine was working very hard to neutralize the Kennedy Boys threat. They were worried back then that the dems would have kennedy's as future leaders/rulers of the country for as far as the eye could see.

I know bad stuff happened but... what really happened?
The RW sliming is nothing new.
tib

edit for stupid spelling:)

[Wednesdays]

11. Maybe we ought to ask Joe Scarborough...

just a hunch.

[southernleftylady]

16. ok ive seen this a couple times.. please fill me in n/t

[Wednesdays]

18. Just Google "Scarborough" and "Klausutis"

eom

[Scorpious_Maximus]

12. The Issue

My understanding of this is:

The issue stems from the fact that Senator Kennedy went home first and waited to call authorities.


Still, it was one night in the man's life, and he has worked tirelessly to pay his country back.

Also considering, when your last name is "Kennedy" the conservatives are always waiting on your door.

Even then.

[funkybutt]

17. Laura Killed her Ex-Boyfriend??!!

more info please! how could i have missed this!?

[Nevernose]

20. Laura+Bush+Dead+Girlfriend

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/07/earlyshow/leisure/books/main591951.shtml

Google "Laura Bush Dead Boyfriend"
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&client=REAL-tb&q=Laura+Bush+Dead+Boyfriend

[DifferentStrokes]

19. Here you go

End of a long report. I wouldn't want to go there. You know, the young lady does have family and friends who carry a lot of pain over this. I do think some consideration is owing to them. There really isn't any excuse for belittling remarks like "Chappawhatchacallit".

But since you asked.

http://www.ytedk.com/epilogue.htm

One (of many) unsavory elements was having to fix Kennedy's expired license before the court hearing.

- Greelish called Registrar McLaughlin to inform him that Senator Kennedy was driving on an expired license at the time of the fatal accident. Mclaughlin told Greelish he would take over the case personally, "So it doesn't get screwed up."

- Joseph Mellino had been alone in the radio room when he'd checked on Kennedy's license. He hadn't seen anyone in the building, "but a while later, I heard talk going around that McLaughlin was there on Saturday night," he said. It wouldn't take much for someone to keypunch a new license, to spare the Senator the embarrassment of not having one, he said.

- The fact that Kennedy's license had expired, and that it had been concealed by the Registry, was confirmed when Joe Greelish telephoned assistant district attorney Jimmy Smith. Greelish wanted Smith to know the "problem" with the Senator's license, "had been taken care of."

- On Sunday, July 20, Greelish delivered Senator Kennedy's driver's license information to Chief Arena. The records now showed that Kennedy's license was valid until February 22, 1971.

- Arena used this information to complete his citation. Arena charged Kennedy only with leaving the scene of an accident after causing personal injury. Unaware that Kennedy's license had expired, and lacking evidence that the Senator had been operating under the influence of alcohol, Arena said, "We don't and probably will not have a case of negligent driving in the criminal sense."

<snip>

- Six days later, when Senator Ted Kennedy pled guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, he was able to produce a valid driver's license, which he surrendered to the court. Tests later performed on the Senator's license showed absolutely no traces of salt water.

[Coventina]

24. I wasn't trying to belittle

I didn't know how to spell Chappaquiddick.

Excuse the fuck out of me for trying to educate myself.
"Chappawhatchamacallit" was IN NO WAY an attempt to minimize the tragic death of the woman. Jeez.

[WI_DEM]

23. well it wasn't good and it's the reason he never was president

but do look on the internet, i'm sure there is tons of information but be careful about right wing sites. The incident was bad enough without them having to embellish things.