# Can Brown really beat Coakley for the MA Senate seat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 15, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114 "2010-01-15T19:49:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/221 "2010-01-20T03:22:31Z")
> [@tetranz](#): > > A strange sound has been reported in Arlington National Cemetery. > > A guy called Ted just turned in his grave. I wish he wasn’t buried there. He technically meets the requirements, but he only enlisted in the Army after being kicked out of Harvard for cheating on a Spanish test because he was a mediocre student trying to preserve his eligibility to play football, and even then, the military intelligence community didn’t want him, his political connections kept him out of having to serve in the current conflict of the time, the Korean War, and while he was obviously discharged honorably, he attained only the rank of PFC in his 2+ years of service, so he was a mediocre soldier, too. I think his internment there dishonors genuine soldiers and war dead. JFK deserves to be buried there for his WWII actions. Ted does not. Sorry to derail the thread, but it bugs the crap out of me. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/222 "2010-01-20T03:29:02Z")
You really had to interrupt the thread to piss on Ted Kennedy’s grave? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/223 "2010-01-20T03:30:30Z")
You want somebody to carve an asterisk on his gravestone? ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/224 "2010-01-20T03:33:57Z")
It’s a hell of a thing to spite a dead guy for the ground they put him in. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/225 "2010-01-20T03:34:58Z")
Holy shit! Is that a leprechaun? ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/226 "2010-01-20T03:36:13Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I think his internment there dishonors genuine soldiers and war dead. You’d prefer to see his **internment** at Gitmo, I suppose? Too late for that, he’s already seen his **interment** at Arlington. ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/227 "2010-01-20T03:36:55Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Good luck Scott Brown. Massachusetts obviously has extreme faith in you or this never would have happened in one of the most blue states in America with a gigantic Kennedy legacy. I know you will do well. Considering that a rock with the words “filibuster buster” could have won this election, I doubt any faith in Scott Browns abilities are even on the table. Make no mistake. The reason Brown was elected was because he represents the vote needed to prevent the Dems from breaking a filibuster. Little commentary has been seen on Brown’s actual qualifications or what he can bring to the office. Brown ran a good campaign and Coakley did everything she could to lose it. We’ll see what happens in 2012 when the Dems will be more prepared for the fight. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/228 "2010-01-20T03:36:58Z")
Brown is currently saying some very nice words about Ted Kennedy- “I will do my very best to be a worthy successor to Ted Kennedy”. There are Republican heads asploding all over the world to-night. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/229 "2010-01-20T03:37:22Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > You really had to interrupt the thread to piss on Ted Kennedy’s grave? > [@elucidator](#): > > You want somebody to carve an asterisk on his gravestone? Yeah Dio, its such an interruption. :rolleyes: I’m not pissing on his grave, I just expressed a wish that it weren’t where it is. That is all. Luci…no. There’s nothing that can be done about it now short of disinternment. I have three grandparents buried there, the two males WWII and Korea war veterans, and career Army and Air Force officers. I simply happen to hold the belief that Mr Kennedy shouldn’t be buried amongst the rest. Anyway, sorry I even said anything, its not all that pertinent to the thread. Its not political. Its military. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/230 "2010-01-20T03:37:59Z")
Wait until they find out he’s pro-choice. ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/231 "2010-01-20T03:39:24Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I wish he wasn’t buried there. He technically meets the requirements, but he only enlisted in the Army after being kicked out of Harvard for cheating on a Spanish test because he was a mediocre student trying to preserve his eligibility to play football, and even then, the military intelligence community didn’t want him, his political connections kept him out of having to serve in the current conflict of the time, the Korean War, and while he was obviously discharged honorably, he attained only the rank of PFC in his 2+ years of service, so he was a mediocre soldier, too.. Please. He’s not “technically” eligible, he IS eligible. And he’s buried with his brothers, which is entirely appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/232 "2010-01-20T03:40:48Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > There’s nothing that can be done about it now short of **disinternment**. I have three grandparents buried there, the two males WWII and Korea war veterans, and career Army and Air Force officers. You can honor their memories by using correct English. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/233 "2010-01-20T03:42:13Z")
This guy is pretty good, I like him despite myself. It’s Huckabee-esque. I’ve had enough of the truck thing already, though. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/234 "2010-01-20T03:42:25Z")
> [@stolichnaya](#): > > It’s a hell of a thing to spite a dead guy for the ground they put him in. I’m not spiting him personally (or even politically), I just don’t think he qualifies under the guidelines for internment there except for a technicality, when others have had to sacrifice so much more for the privilege of being buried there. > [@Koxinga](#): > > You’d prefer to see his **internment** at Gitmo, I suppose? Too late for that, he’s already seen his **interment** at Arlington. Um…no? I would like to see Gitmo closed and the alleged terrorists slam-dunked when tried and convicted if guilty by our justice system and put into American prisons, with their American…friends. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/235 "2010-01-20T03:42:30Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Yeah Dio, its such an interruption. > :rolleyes: > I’m not pissing on his grave, I just expressed a wish that it weren’t where it is. That is all. > > Luci…no. There’s nothing that can be done about it now short of disinternment. I have three grandparents buried there, the two males WWII and Korea war veterans, and career Army and Air Force officers. I simply happen to hold the belief that Mr Kennedy shouldn’t be buried amongst the rest. > > Anyway, sorry I even said anything, its not all that pertinent to the thread. Its not political. Its military. He has the right to be buried there. The end. It doesn’t harm your dead grandparents. It’s a piece of fucking dirt, anyway. What difference does it make? Who’s hurt by it? Teddy doesn’t exist anymore. Neither does anyone else whose corpses are buried at Arlington. It’s all the same wormfood. Yoiu’re coming off a little self-righteous about something that doesn’t matter at all. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/236 "2010-01-20T03:43:02Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Just kidding. I have no idea at all of the history of this law. You’re telling me it was ignored to seat Teddy? Yep. Kennedy was elected November 6, 1962 and seated the next day. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/237 "2010-01-20T03:44:22Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I’m not spiting him personally (or even politically), I just don’t think he qualifies under the guidelines for internment there except for a technicality, when others have had to sacrifice so much more for the privilege of being buried there. > > Um…no? I would like to see Gitmo closed and the alleged terrorists slam-dunked when tried and convicted if guilty by our justice system and put into American prisons, with their American…friends. Inter **n** ment, with an n, means imprisonment. interment, without an n, means burial. Teddy is not interned at Arlington, he’s interred there. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/238 "2010-01-20T03:45:13Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Wait until they find out he’s pro-choice. “They” who? The independents in MA who determined the final outcome? I have a feeling many, if not most, are OK with that. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/239 "2010-01-20T03:45:53Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Inter **n** ment, with an n, means imprisonment. > > interment, without an n, means burial. > > Teddy is not interned at Arlington, he’s interred there. :rolleyes: You had to bring up another Senate intern scandal, didn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114/240 "2010-01-20T03:48:42Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Yep. Kennedy was elected November 6, 1962 and seated the next day. Cite for Mass. law being the same then? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brown-really-beat-coakley-for-the-ma-senate-seat/525114.md?page=13)