# 40th anniversary of the Ted Kennedy/Chappaquiddick incident **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 18, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40th-anniversary-of-the-ted-kennedy-chappaquiddick-incident/503397 "2009-07-18T01:35:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40th-anniversary-of-the-ted-kennedy-chappaquiddick-incident/503397/41 "2009-07-20T02:47:13Z")
Q. Why shouldn’t you play golf with Heidi Fleiss, O. J. Simpson, or Ted Kennedy? A. One’s a hooker, one’s a slicer, and the third one drives into the water. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40th-anniversary-of-the-ted-kennedy-chappaquiddick-incident/503397/42 "2009-07-20T03:06:06Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > The Kennedy influence isn’t what it used to be. Tell that to Hillary Clinton. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40th-anniversary-of-the-ted-kennedy-chappaquiddick-incident/503397/43 "2009-07-20T04:12:40Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Exactly. How hard would it have been for Ted Kennedy to simply say something like, “I was going to drive, but had too much to drink, so I suggested she find another way home” - and then claiming not to know that she would just end up trying to drive herself. That certainly would seem more plausible, not to mention forgivable, then the elaborate tale that A&E suggests he spun. They were seen leaving the party together with Ted at the wheel. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40th-anniversary-of-the-ted-kennedy-chappaquiddick-incident/503397/44 "2009-07-20T12:53:51Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > They were seen leaving the party together with Ted at the wheel. You’ve repeated that as if you think it means something. There’s no possible way that the story is any better if Ted is in the driver’s seat. And there’s nothing that would seriously haunt him if he said he was too drunk to drive and so he got out and walked home. Mary Jo continuing to drive on her own wouldn’t have looked great, but it wouldn’t have been a significant blow to his career. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40th-anniversary-of-the-ted-kennedy-chappaquiddick-incident/503397/45 "2009-07-20T15:36:07Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Read all about the [famous National Lampoon ad parody](http://www.terpsboy.com/terpsboyarchives/000141.html). And that was from _1973._ I’d seen this before, but I didn’t know they had printed a retraction when threatened with a lawsuit: “Even if Ted Kennedy had driven a Volkswagen he wouldn’t be president today”. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40th-anniversary-of-the-ted-kennedy-chappaquiddick-incident/503397/46 "2009-07-20T16:02:31Z")
I saw a bumper sticker on the back of a pickup truck (next to an NRA sticker) saying “My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy’s car”. StG [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40th-anniversary-of-the-ted-kennedy-chappaquiddick-incident/503397.md?page=2)