The Alito's knew the Kopchne's, or the Bomgardner's knew the Kopechne's?
Where and when?
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
Thank you!! This article is horribly presumptuous!!!
Yea, technically she wasn't killed in the accident. It was the subsequent drowning that killed her.
Small town social life doesn't have anything to do with it. Mrs. Alito (based on this article) did not know Mary Jo personally. It's a leap to say that she was crying about someone she's never met who has a vague relationship with her husband's family.
You ever heard of Spring Valley, Illinois? That's where my family's from.
Not a stretch at all. The fact that she knew her husband's family knew the Kopechne family would most definitely be on her mind. It was on mine.
Wow! BUMP for excellence in freeping.
No, but Senator Frist will be around to make sure he's dead. He's a heart surgeon and knows a few ways to use his hands.
The Alito's knew the Kopchne's, or the Bomgardner's knew the Kopechne's?
Where and when?
paulat, you should debunk this story with some research before claiming it's untrue. Right?
That information is in the article, as I've been posting to you repeatedly.
That was the other reason for Mrs. Alito’s tears.
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How do you know that?
Certainly I would connect the fact that he's responsible for Mary Jo's death and his ridiculous questioning of Alito's integrity. What I object to is the idea that Mrs. Alito was crying for Mary Jo Kopechne. She wasn't. She was crying because her husband was being belittled and attacked by the dims, including Drunkennedy who has no business questioning anyone's ethics and integrity.
Thanks, John. I think you are wonderful. If you were in front of me, I'd probably plant a kiss on you. :)
Thanks dude. Found it by accident. Wow. Small world.
I hope her husband's confirmation will ease some of Mrs. Alito's pain. As for the Kopechne's, there's comfort in the fact that 1) Maryu Jo is safe in heaven and 2) the Toad will get his.
I'm pretty sure this story is accurate. Hat tip to Congressman BB and dead for breaking the news.
This could be another Buckhead moment!
Seven minutes.
Mount Holly is in New Jersey, not far from the Burlington-Bristol bridge.
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