Was the Killing Cover Up Worth It?

It is sometimes difficult to come up with a eulogy about a beloved political leader by supporters who must also be reminded of the truth. In a funeral of an unknown person the Minister and family can easily "forget" the facts of the person's life. But how can we forget the deadly and public part of Ted Kennedy's huge lifestyle.

Well, some liberals have decided to act like Kennedy was a saint whose life mirrored Mother Teresa or St. Francis. Perhaps we shall soon see bronze memorials with him talking to the birds. But one very liberal blogger faced his obvious sins and dealt with it in a unique manner. So unique, in fact, that it backfired.

Here is what the Huffington Post had to say about the Senator.

But in all the florid or scalpel-sharp prose, there's one constant: Peeking out from the center of the story is the matter of his playing a major part in the death of a 28-year-old woman.

Mary Jo wasn't a right-wing talking point or a negative campaign slogan. She was a dedicated civil rights activist and political talent with a bright future -- granted, whenever someone dies young, people sermonize about how he had a "bright future" ahead of him -- but she actually did. She wasn't afraid to defy convention (28 and unmarried, oh the horror!) or create her own career path based on her talents. She lived in Georgetown (where I grew up) and loved the Red Sox (we'll forgive her for that). Then she got in a car driven by a 36-year-old senator with an alcohol problem and a cauldron full of demons, and wound up a controversial footnote in a dynasty.

We don't know how much Kennedy was affected by her death, or what she'd have thought about arguably being a catalyst for the most successful Senate career in history. What we don't know, as always, could fill a Metrodome.

Still, ignorance doesn't preclude a right to wonder. So it doesn't automatically make someone (aka, me) a Limbaugh-loving, aerial-wolf-hunting NRA troll for asking what Mary Jo Kopechne would have had to say about Ted's death, and what she'd have thought of the life and career that are being (rightfully) heralded.

Who knows -- maybe she'd feel it was worth it.

This post originally appeared on Opinionistas.com.


So, maybe this young woman with a tremendous future ahead of her might speak from the grave after having her life prematurely ended by a drunken rich boy and say: "My life was a worthy sacrifice to give so your fame and fortune could grow."


I am constantly amazed at how far a worshipping political group will go to laud people who do not deserve it.

Gary Sweeten