Posted on 01/26/2006 10:22:20 PM PST by Congressman Billybob
On 12 January, 2006, the New York Times ran an article entitled “Thrust into the Limelight, and for Some A Symbol of Washington’s Bite.” It was a mini-biography of Mrs. Martha-Ann Alito, and it purported to explain the reasons for Mrs. Alito’s tears during her husband Samuel’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. It blamed them on a follow-up question by Senator Lindsay Graham, rather than on the verbal savaging of Judge Alito by the Democrats on the Committee, led by Senator Ted Kennedy.
The Times should have gotten the story right, because one of the three reporters on the story was in their New Jersey Bureau, and based in Caldwell. But they didn’t. Here are the operative paragraphs from that article on the cause of her tears:
She has sat behind him [her husband] all week, a pleasant-looking woman in sensible clothes, peering through rimless glasses as Democrats grilled Judge Alito about his investments and his affiliation with a conservative Princeton alumni group and Republicans tried to provide him some relief.
On Wednesday, one of those Republicans, Mr. Graham, tried to mock the Democrats with a question about the alumni group, which opposed affirmative action.
"Are you really a closet bigot?" Mr. Graham asked, at which point Mrs. Alito drew her hands to her face and left the hearing room weeping.
Source: http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F20C14FD3C5B0C708DDDA80894DE404482
As the article explained, Mrs. Alito is “fiercely protective” of her husband. And she was upset by the attacks on him as if he were dishonest, or a bigot, or a poor judge. But there was an additional reason, much older and much darker than what happened at that hearing. It concerns the fact that Senator Kennedy led the attack against Judge Alito.
Mrs, Alito was born Martha-Ann Bomgardner in Ft. Knox, Kentucky. The family moved with her father’s profession as an air traffic controller to New Jersey, where she attended Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly. After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Kentucky, she returned to New Jersey and became a librarian in the US Attorney’s office, where she met her husband.
Through her husband’s family, she learned of their personal friendship with another young woman who was also an only child. This other woman and her family were staunch Catholics. On occasion, they attended the same church in Roseland, New Jersey, as the Alitos, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, one of only two churches in that town of 5,298. The Alitos live in Caldwell, population 7,584, where this other woman graduated from Caldwell College, probably as a commuter student from her home, rather than a resident student.
From the personal memories of this woman that Mrs. Alito got from her husband’s family, and from her own understanding of what it means to be an only child, Mrs. Alito knew of the worst thing that any human being could do to another. She also heard of its impact on the family.
That other woman’s name was Mary Jo Kopeckne. She was killed by Senator Ted Kennedy, in an auto accident on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, on 18 July, 1969. That was the other reason for Mrs. Alito’s tears.
[Author’s notes: The author did not bother any of the three families referred to here in writing this. All the information was gathered from reputable Internet sources. If the Times puts a competent reporter on the story, it can find the same information. It should also then apologize for its original article, in which the three reporters presented their personal assumptions as facts on the cause of Mrs. Alito’s upset at the hearing.]
John_Armor@aya.yale.edu
You know what the worst thing is? He wouldn't care, even if his sotted rotted pickled "mind" knew.
And yes, the scare quotes around "mind" are intentional.
Interesting stuff, John. Good work. Would there be public interest in about a 45 minute documentary --- TED KENNEDY, CHAPPAQUIDDICK LIFEGUARD ?
Can this go in "breaking?" Or not enough in the way of sources?
Ping!
L
It's there. Great!
Read more carefully. The article draws a link between Kopechne and the Alitos, a family to which Samuel's wife (the former Miss Bomgardner) is related by law.
Sorry...this is lame.
I went to high school with a girl who won a gold medal in ice skating in the Olympics. We never met.
However...somebody could draw "a connection"....
Well written and timely. Teddy still has to face his Creator.
Good job. But it's sick, disheartening and evil if true. I look back over years and wonder if this is why Kennedys get killed. Criminals inside and smiley pictures outside. No wonder Massachusettes is Cuba without the sugar cane. It really fits together nicely.
Mary Jo would be about the same age as Judge Alito if she had lived.
what part of this sentence do you not understand.
". On occasion, they attended the same church in Roseland, New Jersey, as the Alitos, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, one of only two churches in that town of 5,298"
This has been discussed on FreeRepublic before, but not all of the facts were presented as you have done. Thanks. Earlier post:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1561685/posts
Posting your research links would be helpful.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1561685/posts?page=44#44 "A couple of problems with this theory:
1. Mary Jo Kopechne was born in 1940 while Martha Alito was born in 1953 - thirteen years later.
2. Ms. Kopechne was raised in Pennsylvania while Mrs. Alito was raised in Kentucky with family roots in Oklahoma and Texas." - writmeister
>>>Sorry...this is lame.
Your assessment is what's lame.
The connection is through her husband's family. She doesn't know what THEY think of Kennedy?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.