T: T is for Ted

In this country killing someone is illegal, unless you are rich, then new rules apply. The world is morning Ted Kennedy, but I am not, nor am I sure are the parents of Mary Jo Kopechne. In the summer of 1969 on Chappaquiddick, a small island connected by ferry to Martha’s Vineyard, Mary Jo, 28, was attending a party. She had worked on Robert Kennedy’s presidential campaign. At 11:15 she left with Ted Kennedy who had offered her a ride to catch the last ferry to Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard, where she was staying. Taking the keys of his car from his chauffeur, Ted Kennedy and Mary Jo left the party. In brief Ted Kennedy made a wrong turn onto an unlit dirt road. Kennedy drove over the side of the bridge with the car landing upside down and underwater. Kennedy supposedly was able to swim free of the vehicle, but Mary Jo Kopechne was not. Ted Kennedy left Mary Jo to die, spent the night in his hotel room and didn’t even report the accident to police until 10:00 am, after a fishermen found the submerged car and Mary Jo dead body. It was a little bit after 8:00 am. There was an air bubble. If divers had known, had been able to get to her, some say she would be alive today.

After the incident, Ted Kennedy entered a plea of guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident after causing injury. He was sentence to 2 months in jail but that was suspended.

This is a man who was kicked out of college for cheating. Who in 1981 accompanied his nephew William Kennedy Smith to a nightclub in Florida. Where 29-year-old Patricia Bowman, accused Smith of rape. Smith testified that the sex was consensual. Although three women were willing to testify that Smith had sexually assaulted them but had not reported to the police, their testimony was excluded Smith was acquitted of the charges. In 2004, Audra Soulias, alleged that Smith had sexually assaulted her in 1999, and brought a civil action against him. Smith denied her charges. On January 5, 2005, the court again dismissed Soulias's lawsuit. Laura Hamilton was paid a large sum of money by Smith in an out-of-court settlement for the same charges.

Ted Kennedy may have seen important laws reach fruition, but does the good outweigh the bad? That would be a weighty F.A.C.T.