Posted on 07/18/2006 9:54:03 AM PDT by ncountylee
Late on the night of July 18, 1969, a car went off a bridge on Marthas Vineyard. With a young senator from Massachusetts, Edward Kennedy, at the wheel, the Oldsmobile sank into the water beneath the Dike Bridge.
In a sequence of events that instantly became famous, Senator Kennedy escaped from the submerged vehicle and swam to shore. By 2:30 a.m. he had made his way back to his hotel in Edgartown, where he was sighted in the lobby. He made 17 phone calls to family members and associates. But not until 10 hours after the accident did he call the police to tell them about the car crashand the other person in the car, who had died.
Senator Kennedy had not been alone. Riding alongside him had been a young woman, not his wife, named Mary Jo Kopechne. She had been sitting next to him as they drove away from a party, and as they crossed Dike Bridge on Chappaquiddick Island the accident ended her life. It would haunt the rest of Kennedys career.
After President John F. Kennedys assassination and then the killing of Robert F. Kennedy, Ted Kennedy was regarded as the next standard-bearer of Americas foremost political family. With the 1972 presidential election approaching, many, including some of President Richard M. Nixons advisers, expected the youngest Kennedy brother to make a bid for the White House. As the details of the events at Chappaquiddick slowly emerged, however, they significantly weakened his prospects.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanheritage.com ...
Your comment about Delay is quite correct. Nothing points out the hypocrisy of the Democrats and the bias of the MSM more than the events at Chappaquiddick. Merely insert the names of either of two contemporaries in place of Kennedy and ask yourself if either would still be in public office, or if the MSM would treat Chappaquiddick as a non-event:Richard Nixon or Jesse Helms.
He apparently pled guilty to "leaving the scene of an accident".
Sorry for not being able to site a source but I read (at one of the Chappaquidick websites) that his license was expired at the time and that it was "retroactively" brought up to date after the accident.
I'd vote instead for the eldest brother that died in WWII volunteering to take off in a flying bomb B24, which then prematurely blew up before it could be switched to full radio control and before he could bail out. That took more guts then letting your PT boat get sliced in half by failing to notice an enemy destroyer. At least JFK did well AFTER he got sunk and did some good stuff in office; he was better than the 2 younger brothers.
Not the way it should be looked at but Mary Jo's death insured that Ted Kennedy would never be president.
Mary Jo's father made this exact statement about 20 years ago.
The only thing Kennedy was charged with was leaving the scene of an accident. His story stunk to high heaven, and no autopsy was performed on MJ Kopechne thus quashing any evidence of whether or not she was pregnant. Of the many issues surrounding the incident was how did a big man like Kennedy manage to get out of the car, while the diminutive Kopechne could not? He swam the channel and went back to his hotel and complained to the desk of a party in the hotel disturbing him, attempting to establish an alibi. He tried to get a cousin to lie and say he was driving to get himself off the hook. He said there was no one around to help yet there was a residence with lights on only a couple of hundred yards away from the scene. He didn't return to the scene till late the next morning.
The Libs gave one of their own a pass. As they always do.
It didn't hurt his career at all. The Libs gave him a free Get Out Of Jail card. And he's still a Senator 37 years later.
>>because fat boy showed up the children were not allowed on the field
naturally...sorry to hear that!
Last night my 85 yr old dad (a big lib) was being taken to the game by my older brother, a house builder on the Cape--tickets not far from owner's seat; and I heard that my brother got them from someone he knew--an older Cape Cod man who "knew JFK". It's who you know.
Succinct and accurate but I might speculate and add to your list that he was also a wife cheater as his intentions IF he had crossed the bridge was clearly to get to the beach not far away and do it up with his young aide.
Not true. It's a bridge accross a pond which is used now by jeeps or suvs that let some air out of their tires and can drive up to the beach not far away. The bridge did have brand new "sides" or wooden rails added shortly after the accident. At the speed kennedy was driving he would have still went into the pond, but he may have "seen" the bridge better if it hasd the rails.
He did.
mary jo; "teddy I think I'm pregnant"
teddy; "er ah don't worry mary jo we'll cross that bridge when we come to it"
Maybe he pushed the car, with her drunk inside.
Chappy Kennedy celebrates this date by getting drunk, of course.
It's as good as any theory.
This thread brought to mind an absolute FR classic by pabianice:
George Bush -- Not a King (Kennedy detox alert)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1502044/posts
A TK press release brilliantly interpreted w/ visual aids and links.
Somebody asked Senator Kennedy if he was going to run for President. He then replied: "Err aaghh... I'll drive off that bridge when I come to it!"
Kennedy is under the protection of Greenpeace!
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