# NYT editorial on the movie 'Chappaquiddick' **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 7, 2018, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998 "2018-04-07T20:27:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/41 "2018-04-10T10:40:41Z")
I heard Ted Kennedy brag that he could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and he wouldn’t lose voters. Apparently he was right. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/42 "2018-04-10T11:13:31Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > For anyone who believes that Ted Kennedy was morally unfit to be president, I would remind them of another fateful night, the night of November 8, 2016, that has brought on the much broader calamity of present circumstances, the consequences of which, to borrow a quote from another US president, will live in infamy. After this, any allegations of moral or other unfitness for the presidency against virtually anyone, let alone an honored statesman like Ted Kennedy, just smacks of craven hypocrisy. I hope it won’t surprise you to hear that plenty of people are not going to buy the idea that Trump establishes some sort of moral gold standard - that any politician judged to be above this is thus exempt from criticism. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/43 "2018-04-10T11:29:56Z")
Ted Kennedy drove a woman into the water and left her there and didn’t call the authorities for ten hours. The captain of the rescue squad says that she lived for as long as three hours in an air pocket and would have lived if Kennedy had called for help. That is an objectively shitty thing to do. That shows lack of basic decency. Anyone who defends that kind of behavior needs to take a really hard look at themselves and ask why. The Kennedys have been an anchor around the neck of American liberalism for far too long. It’s why the party is still dominated by old white people, it’s why the boomers refuse to get out of the way. It’s why we got that creep Bill Clinton and his war mongering wife as “party leaders.” It’s why the party hasn’t been more active on women’s issues and why the party has taken the votes of black Americans for granted. The Kennedy’s were goldilocks liberals for white Americans: just right. Not liberal enough to, you know, actually do much of anything, but liberal enough to talk a good game at a cocktail party. Ted Kennedy was a reliable liberal vote in the senate and was a very successful legislator. He also killed a woman through his reckless and cowardly behavior. If you can’t admit as much, you really have a problem. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/44 "2018-04-10T12:20:46Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Ted Kennedy was a reliable liberal vote in the senate and was a very successful legislator. He also killed a woman through his reckless and cowardly behavior. If you can’t admit as much, you really have a problem. Who do you see not admitting it? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/45 "2018-04-10T13:14:43Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Maybe your experience is different, but in mine the history, and other ritual denunciations of the Kennedys, is always brought up BY regressives AS a _tu quoque_ in response to any criticism of any of them … Is that why the movie came out? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/46 "2018-04-10T13:40:04Z")
That was not a hit piece. The hit pieces were op-eds coming out circa 1990 when his alcoholism and the breakup of his marriage & shit had editorialists going _Seriously, dude, WTF is wrong with you? Ugh, what a sorry disgrace Ted has sunken to!_ Those days were the most negative commenting about him I’ve ever seen. To his credit he pulled himself together and kept going strong until the end and earned back more respect than ever. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/47 "2018-04-10T13:45:03Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Who do you see not admitting it? In this thread, there have been plenty of comments dismissing the severity of his actions: it was a one time mistake, she was dead, so why bother calling for help, Laura Bush killed someone with her car,etc. etc. Desperate attempts to minimize what was a repugnant act of cowardice by an incredibly weak man. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/48 "2018-04-10T14:09:59Z")
That’s an impressive goalpost shift. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/49 "2018-04-10T14:41:00Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Is that why the movie came out? During the Trump administration, you mean? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/50 "2018-04-10T17:44:38Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > I heard Ted Kennedy brag that he could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and he wouldn’t lose voters. > > Apparently he was right. You are completely wrong- That was trump: > **[Trump Said He Could Shoot Someone In Broad Daylight And Not Lose Supporters](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emaoconnor/no-man-no-problem)** > > So, what do you think he would have to do to lose supporters? ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/51 "2018-04-11T15:28:48Z")
I was watching The Crown and they depicted JFK as a dope using wife beater. Was that a hit piece? Ted Kennedy is dead. I have seen no evidence that anyone in the production of this movie had political ulterior motives. Sure, it was made to make money, as all movies are, but to suggest that some movie that came out 50 years after the event was a hit piece designed to make a dead guy or the democratic party look bad is ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/52 "2018-04-11T20:35:25Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Funny that (as a conservative) you immediately leap to the most negative conclusion rather than considering the much more likely explanation that most people don’t know or remember that Laura Bush was a teacher and librarian (as indeed I did not, although I find the “let’s compare atrocities” approach to be pointless). If so, it’s not my fault BobLibDem makes statements about what people have or have not done without bothering to look up what they actually have or have not done in order to make his typical “All Liberals are Always Right and All Conservatives are Always Wrong” statement. So your defense of BLD is that he is ignorant and doesn’t bother to do basic research to support his views? Let’s let him address that. Is that statement true BLD or do you think that teaching literacy to young kids is NOT a positive? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/53 "2018-04-12T10:10:13Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > If so, it’s not my fault BobLibDem makes statements about what people have or have not done without bothering to look up what they actually have or have not done in order to make his typical “All Liberals are Always Right and All Conservatives are Always Wrong” statement. > > So your defense of BLD is that he is ignorant and doesn’t bother to do basic research to support his views? Let’s let him address that. Is that statement true BLD or do you think that teaching literacy to young kids is NOT a positive? So your defense of your unjustified extrapolation in order to ascribe non-existent motives and views to BLD which reflect poorly on him is to do it again? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/54 "2018-04-12T17:43:25Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > You are completely wrong- > > That was trump: > [Trump Said He Could Shoot Someone In Broad Daylight And Not Lose Supporters](https://www.buzzfeed.com/emaoconnor/no-man-no-problem?utm_term=.pwz4lDNom#.jdmnYA30p) Dare I say…whoosh? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2018, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/55 "2018-04-13T23:52:47Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Dare I say…whoosh? 😉 I doubt it. He likely watches Fox news or something. He certainly didnt indicate it was a joke. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/56 "2018-07-13T22:23:59Z")
Not trying to bump a zombie, but I just watched the movie last night and I thought it was interesting. I agree that political commentary is not necessary. Teddy Kennedy has been dead for almost ten years. Pretend he was a member of the Whig Party. I was taken by the fact that the movie used a lot of license by depicting things that nobody could possibly know were true (like Kennedy in the bath tub). Further, the movie seems to imply that Kennedy did not report the accident because he made up his mind to initially lie and say that Mary Jo was driving the car. The movie then makes Teddy seem noble by admitting that he was driving the car, even though pursuing that story would have been ripped apart. So, if he changed his story (in his own mind) perhaps it was because he realized how ridiculous it would have been? In any event, have the other two guys that helped him out that night (forget their names) ever spoken about the incident? What are some proven facts that contradict the official story? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/57 "2018-07-14T09:37:38Z")
Here’s another interesting fact that I’ve not seen discussed (and if nobody wants to talk about it, I won’t bump the thread again) about the geography and the timeline. Chappaquiddick was (is?) an island that is connected to the mainland only by a ferry boat which at the time stopped running at midnight. Kennedy and the men at the “cookout” had rooms at a nice hotel in Edgartown on the mainland. The women, including Mary Jo, all had rooms at a different motel in Edgartown. The cookout was at a rented cottage on the island. Kennedy’s story, which is doubtful at best, was that Mary Jo asked for a ride to the ferry at about 11:15 pm so she could return to her motel. Kennedy said that he made a mistake and turned right instead of left and ended up going off of the bridge. (I had always believed that the bridge was to the mainland. It was not. It went to a different part of the island: the beach) Several problems with the story. As the movie points out, the main road to the ferry was the only paved road on the island and was clearly marked. Even a first time driver on the road, even if he was drunk, would not mistake the dirt road on the right as the way to the ferry. Further, a police officer saw a car stop at the intersection that matched the description of Kennedy’s car, including part of the license plate, and he said that the time was 12:45am. Also, Mary Jo’s purse and motel room key were left back at the cottage on the island. So, it seems pretty clear that Kennedy’s story was bullshit. That he and Mary Jo were heading to the beach for some alone time. Fine, I understand. But the point of this long story is to ask why nobody else decided to catch the ferry before it closed at midnight. Nobody else wanted to use the paid for rooms in Edgartown? They all had decided to crash at the cottage on the island? Nobody asked Kennedy how, if he was driving Mary Jo to the ferry at 11:15pm how everyone else was getting back? My first thought it that it was planned for everyone to stay at the cottage. Not necessarily an orgy, but an event where these married men would party with these single young girls and everyone would pass out there that night. Plus, even though this was the late 1960s, they would want some deniability, and especially with money being no object to Kennedy, they rent a bank of hotel/motel rooms in case anyone comes snooping but with the idea that nobody is going to use any of them. If that was the case, then why did Kennedy keep all of his stuff at the hotel? What was the plan for the next morning? A U.S. Senator, a bunch of married guys, and a bunch of young single girls just crawl hungover and puking to the ferry and ride over in full view of the public? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998/58 "2018-07-14T16:35:16Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Ted Kennedy is dead. I have seen no evidence that anyone in the production of this movie had political ulterior motives. Without going into details I know one of those responsible for the movie and he’s not particularly political. I don’t know if he’s affiliated with a party at all. He just liked the script. > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > During the Trump administration, you mean? Pre-production began in 2015 before anyone thought a Trump presidency was a possibility. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-editorial-on-the-movie-chappaquiddick/811998.md?page=2)