Thursday, August 27, 2009

Try the decaf

You'll get differing opinions about the propriety of speaking ill of the dead. In the case of the recently departed senator from Massachusetts, it's especially problematic. I do know this much: what my friend Leo Pusateri posted on his blog was hardly vicious. The reaction he got? Well, it seems a little over the top (note: link NSFW).

I am amused that a guy who blogs at a site that has trouble getting through a post without letting an F-bomb fly would attempt to use the Joseph Welch quote as a truncheon against Leo, though.

12 comments:

W.B. Picklesworth said...

It made me laugh out loud when, at a post on his own blog, Jonathan used "moral high ground" and "Ted Kennedy" in the same sentence. I suppose that's possible when you don't have "Mary Jo Kopechne" in your vocabulary.

Mr. D said...

He does seem to have a little cognitive dissonance goin' there, doesn't he? And did you catch the name of the blog? Nice stuff.

Leo Pusateri said...

I'm out of town & posting this from my phone,. So I don't know if this'll work. I merely meant that there was no justice in this world regarding TK's role in the demise of MJK. Now that TK is meeting his Maker,. MJK is finally receiving justice (whatever that may be).

I was accused of being a 'heartless bastards maybe I am,. but in my opinion, MJK deserves as much deference in her demiose as TK does with his.

Mr. D said...

I was accused of being a 'heartless bastards maybe I am,.

You're not, of course, which is why I wrote this piece, good sir.

but in my opinion, MJK deserves as much deference in her demiose as TK does with his.

And you are 100% correct about that.

None of us are in the position to know the state of Edward M. Kennedy's soul. Only God knows that. What I do know is that Mary Jo Kopechne's death has been minimized for 40 years now. And it's entirely fitting and proper that we remember her, too. And if that makes some people uncomfortable, so be it.

Gino said...

i've noticed 'jonathan' is closing comments for the weekend, out of respect for ted.

i think he means: so nobody can disrespect Ted, because well, you know, we shouldnt be dissing sacred icons...
ok, maybe Christ and Mary can be dissed, but nobody else.

Gino said...

oh, yeah...
i may be going after him starting monday.

and i can curse better than he can.

my name is Amanda said...

I'm comfortable with people acknowledging MJK's death, for the record.

What I'm not comfortable with are santimonious comments that imply nothing in Kennedy's life mattered but the fact that he was involved in a horrific, traumatizing accident that resulted in someone's death.

The fact that mourners aren't going "wait a minute, we're not supposed to feel bad, because he did something that got a person killed" doesn't mean her death is being minimized. It did severely damage his reputation, for a long time, and for the rest of his life with many people. (It was 10 years before I was born, but my mother still told me about it, I remember.) It was also 40 years ago. Give the mourners a break.

Mr. D said...

What I'm not comfortable with are santimonious comments that imply nothing in Kennedy's life mattered but the fact that he was involved in a horrific, traumatizing accident that resulted in someone's death.

I'd agree with that. Ted Kennedy was a very complicated figure whose legacy is rather a lot larger than that one horrible incident. He was a prime mover behind two pieces of legislation that I support without hesitation: deregulation of the airlines and interstate trucking.

Anonymous said...

Amanda, for the record, he did something that got someone killed is not accurate portrayal of what happened. He did something that got someone killed to save his own but. He showed no regard or human decency towards another human being.

His reputation being "hurt" wasn't enough. If wasn't a Kennedy, he'd have gone to jail. Of course he is a Kennedy, so he went to the Senate instead.

Bike Bubba said...

Amanda is right. Kennedy's work to sustain and increase the welfare state and put activist judges on the bench is also responsible in part for the cold blooded murder of over one million pre-born babies each year, and a large portion of the murders in the United States. If you correlate crime rates and welfare payments, you will find an amazing match. Kennedy played a big role in that.

Gino said...

and next time you get sick of the circus surrounding a judicial appointemnt, thank ted.

he started what curently goes on with a list of vicious lies about a nominee back in the 80's, foreveer changing the game.

i'm not going to rejoice in another's death.
but i do know a good thing when i see one.

Mr. Brown said...

Wow.
You like me, you really like me!

First off - I didn't create Banned & Dangerous, that would be Count Istvan. I am only a contributor.

Second - on Leo's blog, W.B. Picklesworth said the following:


Do you deny that he left her to die to save his own skin? Does such a man deserve our eulogies?
W.B. Picklesworth | Homepage | 08.27.09 - 6:43 pm | #


Actually, contrary to popular belief, Kennedy made several attempts to save Mary Jo's life.

According to Kennedy's testimony, Gargan and party co-host Paul Markham then returned to the pond with Kennedy to try to rescue Kopechne. Both of the other men also tried to dive into the water and rescue Kopechne multiple times.[1] When their efforts to rescue Kopechne failed, Kennedy testified, Gargan and Markham drove with Kennedy to the ferry landing, both insisting multiple times that the accident had to be reported to the authorities.[10] According to Markham's testimony Kennedy was sobbing and on the verge of breaking down.[11] Kennedy went on to testify that "[I] had full intention of reporting it. And I mentioned to Gargan and Markham something like, 'You take care of the other girls; I will take care of the accident!'—that is what I said and I dove into the water".[10] Kennedy had already told Gargan and Markham not to tell the other women anything about the incident "[b]ecause I felt strongly that if these girls were notified that an accident had taken place and Mary Jo had, in fact, drowned, that it would only be a matter of seconds before all of those girls, who were long and dear friends of Mary Jo's, would go to the scene of the accident and enter the water with, I felt, a good chance that some serious mishap might have occurred to any one of them".[12] Gargan and Markam would testify that they assumed that Kennedy was going to inform the authorities once he got back to Edgartown, and thus did not do so themselves.[2]

Mind you, it still doesn't excuse the fact that Ted Kennedy didn't report the crash to the police immediately, but to say that he let Mary Jo die to save his own skin is BS.

Third - to Gino: bring it.