Joe Kennedy ran molasses out of Canada with Vito Corleone and Hyman Roth. He also had a very public affair with Gloria Swanson and basically was a total son of a bitch. The daughter he had lobotomoized was slightly retarded, and her antics bthered him and he had the surgery done without his wife's knowledge le alone her permission. He instilled in all of his sons the notion that they were invincible and that womanizing and risk taking were "manly" things to do. We can all see where that got them.
No question Ted Kennedy got away with vehicular homicide back in the late sixties. He was most likely driving while drunk and if you follow the time line of that incident, he and the woman left the party at 11:30 and didnt get to the infamous bridge until 12:30. I don't think they were playing tiddlywinks during that hour. Once he drove into the water he basically went back to the party on foot to get help (passing several houses along the way). After that what happened is anyone's guess. Bottom line he pled out to leaving the scene of an accident , got two months in jail ...suspenda the sentence....and lost his license for a year.
This is all inexcusable, but in America the "justice system" allows rich people to get away with things they shouldn't. Dubya had a few vanishing DUI's as I recall.
Still Kennedy has had a tragic life. Brought up by an asshole, he watched al his older brothers die, and he inherited a mantle he never wanted. He has become a great senator, and has overcome his demons.
Several years ago his best friend in the Senate at the time, Orrin Hatch (R) Utah and several other people did an intervention with him about his drinking, and as I understand it he stopped after that.
He has been and always will be an easy target for wingnuts, but while he negligently killed one woman and covered it up, I can't say its worse than starting a war on false pretenses, killing 4,000 Americans, evicerating the constitution, making the USA a terrorist state by a policy adopting torture, and making the USA one of the most disrespected countries on earth. Compare that to the legacy of JFK.
When that drunken little monkey leaves office (and it can't be too soon) I hope he is struck ill so we can see how many wingnut dittoheads here post "funny" pictures of him.
