SitNews - Opinion/Letter: We all wish Ted Kennedy well but he is no paragon of virtue! By Mark Neckameyer

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We all wish Ted Kennedy well but he is no paragon of virtue!
By Mark Neckameyer

May 20, 2008
Tuesday

When Senator Ted Kennedy had his stroke scare Saturday morning, all the TV networks including FOX News went on the air with a glowing obituary sounding retelling of the Senator's life. They lionized the man, made him sound like combination of George Washington and Saint Peter. Fortunately Kennedy's health issue was not as serious as it first appeared but I can't help comparing the reality of his life and works with the flowery garbage we have been hearing on TV all day. Here are the facts about his "accomplishments".

Ted Kennedy did not earn his way into Harvard with good grades. He was allowed entry as a "legacy" admittee. His family had donated lots of cash to the university. He was expelled in his sophomore year for cheating. He was caught paying another student to take a Spanish test for him. Using family money and power to get things done has always been his style.

Kennedy enlisted in the Army for four years during the Korean War. He changed his mind and his father's influence got his commitment to the Army cut to two years served in safe Europe. He never rose past the rank of Private, something not easy to do. Ted was allowed back into Harvard somehow after his Army hitch, graduated with a "C" average. He played on the Harvard Rugby team and according to the coach was the only player the coach had seen thrown out of a Rugby game for fighting. Ted got into a record three fist fights in one Rugby game in 1954. After Harvard Ted went to law school where the other students called him "Cadillac Eddy". He had numerous driving citations, many reckless driving tickets, was caught driving ninety miles an hour with his lights off, etc. He never lost his license. I wonder why? At the minimum for the office age of thirty, Ted was appointed to fill out Jack Kennedy's vacant Massachusetts US senate seat by the governor, a family friend. The voters of that stare are apparently in love with the Kennedy name and have kept re-electing him through the drowning of his obvious girlfriend at Chappaquiddick, his alcohol problems, his public marriage scandals and even his connection to the alcohol related rape charge against his nephew.

I am glad Ted Kennedy will recover from today's health scare but for the life of me I can't figure out why Massachusetts has re-elected him eight times. On TV today he was called the "Lion of Liberalism". This makes me glad I am not a Liberal!

Mark Neckameyer
Irvine, CA

Received May 17, 2008 - Published May 20, 2008