I think the overwhelming majority of us would use whatever resources we had at our disposal to reduce our punishment. If you hire a good lawyer who can get you a lighter sentence than the overworked public defender, is that morally wrong? Because that is using your superior resources to mitigate your punishment.
Kennedy paid out nearly $100,000 to the family, lost his chance to ever be President (which was a good one), and has spent nearly forty years being called a murderer. I don’t think you can say he wasn’t punished; he just never went to jail.
Serious question: had the serious taboo attached to drunk driving by that point? My understanding was that it has been illegal for a long time but that it wasn’t a huge deal to drive after you’d had a few until MADD’s efforts made it so. Had that happened by then? Not that it makes things better or worse; just curious.
Good points and to answer your question, the drunk driver taboo did not become serious until later. I would say late 70s early 80s. Bush had his own non-lethal incident in the early 70s and the stories of Mickey Mantle wrecking his car and the cops just driving him home to sleep it off are fairly well known for the 50s and 60s.
Sorry I missed this earlier. Just to focus the discussion, could someone cut and paste the places where I mentioned that I was happy that Ted was sick?
Most of my posts to the thread were about the other Kennedys in and out of Congress.
Agreed, I’m seeing more of a non-reaction than a hateful or gleeful reaction. Shodan was speaking about Ted and the family in the same manner as he would have before the illness was made public.
Brain cancer is bad, certainly, but the initial prognosis is 1-5 years survival. Heck, he’s already 76 years old, you can practically give a 1-5 year survival rate based on nothing but his age and overall health. Maybe it’s unseemly to take shots at someone who has just gotten this news, but I don’t think all TK discussion now needs to be sunshine and puppydogs.
Why do you even bother? Those that wish to label and judge you have already done so despite their own shortcomings. I’m sure your more than aware of your own intentions despite others attempts to inform you of such. Just stand tall and bear it. The hyenas will skulk off once the flesh is rendered from the bone. Remember the Samurai my friend.
If Shodan feels the need to defend himself, it’s partially my fault. I should not have projected my feelings or opinions onto him with my semi-hypothetical question in my first post here. As I said later, I see no hatred, glee, or any other such emotion from him in that thread.
Shodan, I’m sorry about my own mischaracterization of what you said.
When one of your acquaintances in real life is seriously ill, do you rush to their hospital bed to let them know how rotten you think their family is? That’s how you came across in the other thread, from my point of view.
Welcome to the straight dope message board and thank you for posting that thoughtful reply. But when you mentioned a conservative writer w/ a heroin habit, who are you talking about? Though I might have an idea. Not that it matters, much. but still… wow.
About three weeks ago, my mother died of a brain tumor similar to that diagnosed in Kennedy, one that was originally diagnosed in August 2007. She had her ups and downs during her last few months, and was not in great pain during most of that time, but things were not particularly easy for her, nor for her three children (including me) who had to take care of her during that time. The last week was especially difficult: having to pick her up by myself and help her to the bathroom after falling down; changing her after she became bedridden and could no longer move, feeding her morphine drips when she was clearly in distress but could no longer speak; and, in particular, the last few hours, when some reaction related to one of her medications caused her to start spewing foam everywhere every time she breathed out. My poor sister threw up twice while trying to deal with this. It was pretty gross, frankly.
Sorry, maybe it’s just my mood, but I don’t find anything particularly funny about Kennedy’s brain tumor. And I don’t much like the guy either. But hey, if that’s what gives you the chuckles, knock yourself out.
So, in other words, with general ignorance and a gleeful tone of mocking cruelty, you despite to crack sicky jokes about his family. Please don’t insult me by pretending you didn’t intend it. Your tone and joy in his misfortune is clear. And I find it morally intolerable.
No. But then again, Ted Kennedy is not my acquaintance, and I rather doubt he reads the SDMB or ever will.
If you are suggesting that Ted Kennedy’s brain tumor means none of the rest of the public figures in his family can be criticized for their behavior, I disagree. This is especially true if they may run for public office.
No one’s talking about pretending anything, but it is basic human decency in those circumstances to keep your big yap shut. (General “you,” not your personal yap, C.A..) A report of someone’s terminal illness is the perfect opportunity to apply Thumper’s Axiom.
What? What I do to you? OK, I said your dog was ugly, but, hell, Lib a rottwieller-chihuahua blend? What were you thinking? And I may be a slut for the snarky one-liner, but are you really the one to say so? 'Cause, you know, just between us girls, you’re no better than you should be…
Since nobody with more than two brain cells to rub together would think that Kennedy murdered anybody–a point I thought you had accepted upthread, but I guess I was wrong–this comment is well beside the point.
