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 Washingtons Bite. It was a mini-biography of Mrs. Martha-Ann Alito, and it purported to explain the reasons for Mrs. Alitos tears during her husband Samuels 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 didnt. 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 fathers profession as an air traffic controller to New Jersey, where she attended Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly. After earning bachelors and masters degrees at the University of Kentucky, she returned to New Jersey and became a librarian in the US Attorneys office, where she met her husband.
Through her husbands 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 husbands 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 womans 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. Alitos tears.
[Authors 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. Alitos upset at the hearing.]
John_Armor@aya.yale.edu
Nice article, sir. I have only one teensy issue.
She was killed by Senator Ted Kennedy, in an auto accident on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, on 18 July, 1969. might be modified to read "...was killed by Senator Edward Kennedy, who chose not to seek her rescue following an auto accident in which she survived for a few desperate hours..."
I have no idea why Republicans use the familiar "Ted" when we are not friends with this (apparent) scoundrel.
I also have no idea just how Sen. Edward Kennedy sleeps at night. There can't be that much scotch in D.C.
.
Its easy, just sell your soul. Problem solved.
What a hoax the MSM played on the "American People" trying to claim they were "American Royalty" called "Camelot". I have met trashy crooks with better morals. At least, their whole family wasn't brain dead criminals (aka petrified old drunks/druggies) like the Kennedy's. Even John F. Kennedy's drug cabinet looked similar to that of Elvis'.
Thanks for this post. Bet that this thread hits "thousands" of replies, and at least Fox News.
1. Mary Jo Kopechne was born in 1940 while Martha Alito was born in 1953 - thirteen years later.
I was told that they were family friends. I have many family friends far more separated from me than 13 years. A family friend could be fifty years separated from you.
2. Ms. Kopechne was raised in Pennsylvania while Mrs. Alito was raised in Kentucky with family roots in Oklahoma and Texas.
I thought that might be a problem with the story too, but it's not:
Martha-Ann Bomgardner was born in Kentucky, but moved to Mount Holly Pennsylvania after her father, an air traffic controller in the Air Force, was transferred to McGuire Air Force Base. She is a 1971 graduate of Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly. Source: PhillyBurbs.com
57 posted on 01/20/2006 10:36:46 AM PST by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
Whoa. This stopped me in my tracks. Wonder why the NYT didn't want to dredge up Chappaquiddick again? All the news that fits our agenda.
Churches foster friendships among all age groups.
I don't know. I think I have to agree with that assessment. As much as I hate Kennedy, I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that Mrs. Alito was crying for someone she never met and had only heard of from her husband and his family.
Thanks for the ping!
WHOAH!
I didn't know that. I will forward this to some of the local Boston media.
Totally agree. There is no zip, zero, nada evidence that Kopechne is the reason for Mrs. Alito's tears.
He is dying. Look at some of the pics from the hearings. He is far from being well. A reasonable man would step aside to get some time of his own. He is going to die in some chair in some hearing room.
This a ridiculous, made-up story. The reason for Mrs. Alito's tears were obvious...her husband was pounded for days...and someone finally said something nice.
We women are like that...stoic when attacked...and then breaking down with kindness.
I think this article is disgraceful. Sorry...Mrs. Alito was NOT sitting there thinking of Mary Jo...she was thinking of her husband!!
Mount Holly is in New Jersey, not Pennsylvania. It is a Philly suburb near McGuire AFB and Fort Dix.
You didn't look close enough- This happened way after JFK and Robert (RFK?), and I believe others before that. But it is part of their Karma, what goes around, comes around. Can't think of a more deserving family.
You obviously are not familiar with small town social life - are you?
"He is going to die in some chair in some hearing room."
Will it be electrified?
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