# Ted Kennedy is dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 26, 2009, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746 "2009-08-26T05:39:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/41 "2009-08-26T14:40:52Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > May the souls of the faithful departed, thru the mercy of Christ, rest in peace. > > I didn’t agree with pretty much anything he said or did in his public life. Nonetheless, as Bob Dole said, he was my opponent, not my enemy. > > My condolences to his family and his constituents. > > Regards, > Shodan This, people, is class. There are people here who would do well to learn from **Shodan** ’s example. Ted Kennedy had a hand in virtually every bit of legislation since I was a teenager. He made some large mistakes in his live – who hasn’t? – and he did some good in this world. May he rest in peace! ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/42 "2009-08-26T14:42:13Z")
I am of a mixed mind, like many here. I didn’t like any single one of the Kennedys because of that “american royalty” vibe. That said, in general he, and they did have the best interests of the country (as well as themselves, but that’s how the politicos roll, nevermind their stripe) at heart. Sail on, Teddy. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/43 "2009-08-26T14:48:32Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > 1. I was confident that this would be an occasion to quietly note to myself how different conservatives are from liberals, at least on this board. I knew that after the hate-filled venom spewed at disliked conservative figures who have died, the contrast would be obvious. I think you have to give some conservatives credit for some extremely classy things they have said in this thread. I don’t want to single any out for fear of omitting others, but most conservatives here have done themselves proud today. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/44 "2009-08-26T14:57:17Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > He made some large mistakes in his live – who hasn’t? Mistakes? Leaving a young woman to drown, lying to the authorities about one’s involvement, and then _25 years later_, lying in a self-serving political statement about having apologized to the woman’s parents, these aren’t mistakes, they are crimes and character flaws which should disbar one from holding any sort of public office ever. The man is completely unworthy of any decent person’s respect, the Pecksniff of our age, a hypocrite, a liar and a coward. Today my thoughts are with Mary Jo Kopechne. Long may her memory survive to blight that of Mr Kennedy. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/45 "2009-08-26T14:58:44Z")
Would you like a napkin, dear? ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/46 "2009-08-26T15:04:01Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > 1. Senator Kennedy will be missed. I disagreed with the vast majority of his positions, but never doubted his commitment to better the world. We disagreed on the best way to do that, but he devoted his life to public service in the truest sense of the word. He was, indeed, the Lion of the Senate, and we are richer for having him here and poorer for his passing. > > 2. I was confident that this would be an occasion to quietly note to myself how different conservatives are from liberals, at least on this board. I knew that after the hate-filled venom spewed at disliked conservative figures who have died, the contrast would be obvious. > > 3. How disappointing it is to be so wrong about #2. I don’t think there are enough of you for an accurate sample. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/47 "2009-08-26T15:28:06Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Would you like a napkin, dear? To mop my fevered brow? To dry my dribbling chops? To dab a tearful eye? A quick check assures me that all are moisture-free but I thank you for the thought. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/48 "2009-08-26T15:40:45Z")
“The evil that men do lives on after them, th good is oft interred with their bones”…William Shakespeare. I thought Kennedy was a man well past his time. I shall not miss him. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/49 "2009-08-26T15:50:44Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > To mop my fevered brow? To dry my dribbling chops? To dab a tearful eye? A quick check assures me that all are moisture-free but I thank you for the thought. Actually, to clean up your little spurty mess. Mary Jo’s gettin’ a little sticky. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/50 "2009-08-26T15:51:13Z")
So, who’s going to be the conservatives’ favorite fundraising bogeyman now? The Chappaquiddick jokes served the snickerers well for forty years, and it won’t be easy for them to give them up now. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/51 "2009-08-26T16:15:56Z")
> [@CyclopticXander](#): > > Yes and i also hope aldiboronti has the same sentiment toward Laura Bush who also accidentally killed someone with a car. Did Laura Bush have the ability to save the person she killed with a car? (I really honestly don’t know the circumstances.) ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/52 "2009-08-26T16:19:21Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > 1. Senator Kennedy will be missed. I disagreed with the vast majority of his positions, but never doubted his commitment to better the world. We disagreed on the best way to do that, but he devoted his life to public service in the truest sense of the word. He was, indeed, the Lion of the Senate, and we are richer for having him here and poorer for his passing. > > 2. I was confident that this would be an occasion to quietly note to myself how different conservatives are from liberals, at least on this board. I knew that after the hate-filled venom spewed at disliked conservative figures who have died, the contrast would be obvious. > > 3. How disappointing it is to be so wrong about #2. Sadly, I remember thinking, during all the threads about Ken Lay and Jesse Helms and others in the Pit, when conservatives would dog on liberals for being happy that they died, that it would be approximately ten posts deep in a memorial thread about Ted Kennedy before someone came in and crapped all over it. I’m just as disappointed being right as you are being wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/53 "2009-08-26T16:23:22Z")
I have always thought that the Republicans should erect a monument to Mary Jo Kopechne. She singlehandedly kept Ted out of the White House. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/54 "2009-08-26T16:32:21Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > In his own self-interest, he fund raised for and actively supported those who bombed my city and others indiscriminately in the 70s and 80s. > > That’s my only experience of him. Are you referring to the Irish Republican Army? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/55 "2009-08-26T16:33:58Z")
This is a true tragedy for our nation. While I like many posters have disagreed Senator Kennedy I also have had deep respect for him as one of the giants of the Kennedy family. May God reward him and help him rest in peafce. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/56 "2009-08-26T16:34:25Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > So, who’s going to be the conservatives’ favorite fundraising bogeyman now? Obama. ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/57 "2009-08-26T16:36:57Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > I have always thought that the Republicans should erect a monument to Mary Jo Kopechne. She singlehandedly kept Ted out of the White House. And I thought it was Ted by showing who/what he really was that kept himself out of the White House :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/58 "2009-08-26T16:44:05Z")
> [@](#): > > And I thought it was Ted by showing who/what he really was that kept himself out of the White House Twas a combination. I guess you could think of MJK as the catalyst. I know I should not feel this way about someone who has died. but I just can’t help it. Since the MJK incident I’ve had such a deeply felt disgust for Ted Kennedy that everything else has been totally overshadowed. Evidently a manifestation of my basic evil personality. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/59 "2009-08-26T16:47:49Z")
If only Republicans felt as much compassion for the 43 million Americans without health insurance, the 5000+ servicemen who died in Iraq, or the million + Iraqis who died as a result of Bush’s lies as they feel for Mary Jo Kopechne. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746/60 "2009-08-26T16:48:40Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Did Laura Bush have the ability to save the person she killed with a car? (I really honestly don’t know the circumstances.) The young man in the car she hit was thrown from his car and broke his neck. He was DOA at the hospital, likely dead at the scene I would guess. It was Laura’s fault but almost certainly just a terrible accident. The only two people who know if Ted Kennedy had the ability to save Mary Jo Kopechne are Ted and Mary Jo. You can believe he tried valiantly to save her or you can believe he told her to fuck off and save her own self while he bailed. Or something in between. Point is that part of it can only be speculation (Ted said he tried to save her FWIW). We simply will never know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-kennedy-is-dead/507746.md?page=4)