Free Republic

So the producer of the new film about Ted Kennedy’s Chappaquiddick scandal says some “very powerful people” tried to kill his movie. What a surprise — NOT! “Unfortunately,” Byron Allen told Variety last week, “very powerful people tried to put pressure on me not to release this movie. They went out of their way to try and influence me in a negative way.” Byron Allen is a TV comedian from the ’80s who has become a successful Hollywood mogul. He just bought what’s left of The Weather Channel for $300 million. By the way, he’s also black, so you would...

Politics, these days, never waits, and already a conservative talking point is emerging to counter the the hope on the left that Kennedy's death will advance his cause of health care reform. Conservative blogger Instapundit suggests that Kennedy's death will provoke "a Wellstone memorial on steroids," referring to the sense in Minnesota in 2002 that the Democratic Party inappropriately used the late Sen. Paul Wellstone's funeral to advance former Vice President Walter Mondale's campaign to replace him. Hot Air's Allahpundit makes the same case, and the comparison is currently starting to course around the conservative blogosphere. It would seem odd...

Some leading conservatives, who for years painted Edward M. Kennedy as the face of ominous liberalism and made him perhaps their most public foil, marked the Massachusetts senator's death this morning with an outpouring of respect and in some cases, even endearment. Far different appraisals sprung from conservative talk radio and the blogosphere, where readers filled comment sections with excoriations of Kennedy's politics and his personal life, chiefly his role behind the wheel in the car accident that killed Mary Jo Kopechne 40 years ago. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele issued a statement saying Kennedy served his country "with...

As the nation mourns Senator Edward M. Kennedy, we will again be reminded of his last major political alliance -- bringing Caroline, his shy niece, into the limelight to support Barack Obama. It was hoped that she would then follow in the Kennedy footsteps and make a push for the powerful Senate seat in New York. For a variety of reasons, she withdrew at the 11th hour. Dems embrace dynasty politics - Charles Mahtesian - Politico.com But as the last surviving Kennedy brother, Uncle Ted still had plans for Caroline, an ambassadorship was whispered. Then came the news: "Vatican sources...