Edward M. Kennedy: Address to the People of Massachusetts on Chappaquiddick

See also: Juan Williams's comparison to Chappaquiddick could not have been dumber  "Williams's tasteless, stupid remark shows again that leftist commentators will say anything about Republican presidents."

American Rhetoric

[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio]

"My fellow citizens:

"I have requested this opportunity to talk to the people of Massachusetts about the tragedy which happened last Friday evening. This morning I entered a plea of guilty to the charge of leaving the scene of an accident. Prior to my appearance in court it would have been [im]proper for me to comment on these matters. But tonight I am free to tell you what happened and to say what it means to me.

On the weekend of July 18th, I was on Martha's Vineyard Islandparticipating with my nephew, Joe Kennedy -- as for thirty years my family has participated -- in the annual Edgartown Sailing Regatta. Only reasons of health prevented my wife from accompanying me.

"On Chappaquiddick Island, off Martha's Vineyard, I attended, on Friday evening, July 18th, a cook-out I had encouraged and helped sponsor for a devoted group of Kennedy campaign secretaries. When I left the party, around 11:15pm, I was accompanied by one of these girls, Miss Mary Jo Kopechne. Mary Jo was one of the most devoted members of the staff of Senator Robert Kennedy. She worked for him for four years and was broken up over his death. For this reason, and because she was such a gentle, kind, and idealistic person, all of us tried to help her feel that she still had a home with the Kennedy family." . . .

Full speech here...

Hat tip to Legal Insurrection which stated; "ABC obviously published this footage because the film “Chappaquiddick” is opening this weekend.

"I will write a review of the film which will be published Sunday, right here at Legal Insurrection."

NY Times Op-Ed: Chappaquiddick Film Is ‘Character Assassination’ of Ted Kennedy

You can’t assail something that he no longer has. He left any character he had in the car to slowly suffocate and die along with Mary Jo when he didn’t report the accident until after it was discovered the next morning, over nine hours later. Weasel Zippers

Free Beacon  "In a New York Times op-ed published Friday, a liberal journalist and film critic complained the new film Chappaquiddick was a "character assassination" of its central character, Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy.

" 'How ‘Chappaquiddick’ Distorts a Tragedy" wrote Neal Gabler, who is working on a biography of Kennedy.

"Gabler complained the film, released in theaters Friday, has been "heavily promoted by conservative media outlets, and reviewers across the political spectrum have praised what they deem its damning but factual approach. Damning it is; factual it is not."

"There actually was no "cover-up" of Kennedy's car accident that led to the death of an aide, he claims, adding that "no one but the most lunatic conspiracy theorists see this as anything but a tragic accident in which nothing much was covered up."

"Chappaquiddick tells the story of a car accident that occurred on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts in 1969. The accident was caused by Kennedy's negligence and resulted in the death of his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, who was trapped inside the vehicle. The screenwriters have said their efforts in making the film aren’t partisan and they aimed to tell the facts of the story. 

"Gabler doesn't actually point to any factual errors in the film (save for the fact that Joe Kennedy, confined to a wheelchair by a stroke, likely wouldn't be able to grunt one-word dialogue like he does in the film). Instead, his criticism is limited more to the depiction of Kennedy as a character." . . .

Ted Kennedy, the Borker of the Senate

To Bork someone:  "Sen.Ted Kennedy took to the Senate floor with a strong condemnation of Bork declaring:

Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is—and is often the only—protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy ...

Well, Judge Bork did indeed have some troubling positions that needed to be discussed. 

Ted Kennedy: Lion or Jackal?  "On April 6, Chappaquiddick, a movie detailing the events involving Senator Ted Kennedy on Martha's Vineyard in July 1969, will be released.  That incident demonstrated the depths to which the Kennedys were willing to go to salvage the political career of the last of the Kennedy sons.  In subsequent years, the actions of Ted Kennedy that night were forgiven by the Democrats, as were subsequent actions as noted below.

"The movie is based on a book, Senatorial Privilege: The Chappaquiddick Coverup, by Leo J. Damore, who committed suicide in 1995. 

"Well, that is the official version, at least.  The Kennedy family exerted pressure toblock the making and release of the current movie.  Similar pressure was reportedly put on Mr. Damore, which may have added to the issues that resulted in his death.

"In the history of politics in this nation, few families have equaled the Kennedys in both political power and despicability for their personal actions." . . .

Gonzo Overkill

‘Chappaquiddick’ is a long-overdue dismantling of the Kennedy myth

. . . "Ted Kennedy passed by nearby lighted homes and the local fire department as he walked back to his inn, away from the pond he’d later claim was deep and at high tide. He slept that night as Mary Jo took her last breaths.

"The next morning, Ted refused to appear at the scene when summoned, demanding that the chief of police come down to the station. There, the chief finds Kennedy behind the cop’s own desk, reading a carefully worded statement. He doesn’t mention Mary Jo by her full name because he doesn’t know how to spell “Kopechne.' ” . . .

Juan Williams's comparison to Chappaquiddick could not have been dumber . . . "Williams said he didn't know the "story" of Chappaquiddick.  You would expect that someone whose job is a paid political commentator would know the story.  Kennedy would have been the Democratic nominee for president but for Chappaquiddick.  Kennedy was lauded by the Dems and the media as the Lion of the Senate.

"It is important, therefore, to know . . .  how Kennedy acted.  It isn't that complicated.  Kennedy drove off the bridge into the pond, swam away, and left Mary Jo Kopechne in the submerged car to die.  Kennedy waited close to ten hours to report to the police.  Had he reported it immediately when he swam away to safety, Ms. Kopechne would have probably survived.  It does not take a detective to figure out that the ten-hour delay was for Kennedy to sober up and concoct a story.  The details have been known to anyone interested, at least since Leo Damore's factual, exhaustive book Senatorial Privilege, The Chappaquiddick Coverup, published in 1988.

"If not knowing about Chappaquiddick isn't bad enough for a paid political commentator, Williams then outdid himself.   He said that while the left wanted to block the Chappaquiddick movie, the "right" wanted to block the movie about President Reagan's last years while he was afflicted with Alzheimer's.  This is beyond stupidity and civility.  How could anyone compare a movie about President Reagan's Alzheimer's with Ted Kennedy leaving Mary Jo Kopechne to die in a car submerged in a pond that he put her in?" . . .  

Williams's tasteless, stupid remark shows again that leftist commentators will say anything about Republican presidents.

The #CounterResistance in California continues to grow

Legal Insurrection

"In 2015, I reported that California’s creation of new rules that permitted the issuing of driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants overwhelmed the Department of Motor Vehicles and within less than 2 months over 100,000 illegal immigrants had obtained those vital pieces of identification.

"Jumping ahead to 2018, and now over 1,000,000 “undocumented” residents now have drivers licenses…quite predictably. And equally predictable is the pride that many of our state legislators are take in this achievement.

“Immigrants are getting tested, licensed and insured and this is making our roads safer for everyone,” said [Luis] Alejo, now a Monterey County supervisor, in a prepared statement. “Today, we see the law working the way it was intended to and has dramatically improved the lives of a million immigrants and their families.”

"What has been less predictable to those outside of the Blue Zone of California is the mounting #CounterResistance to Sacramento’s illegal-immigrant-embracing policies. As I indicated last week, the City of Escondido has voted on the Sanctuary State policies, and has now formally joined the lawsuit against California." . . .

Video: California Dem Sen. Kamala Harris - Democrat from California - Jokes About Killing President Donald Trump. Did I mention she is from California?

Weasel Zippers

General Mossberg • 

This is the lefts de facto choice for 2020. Her corrupt past is being quietly swept down the memory hole and if you pay attention, watch as she gets more and more air time in the coming months. Her talking about killing Trump was deliberate designed to appeal to liberal foamers.....and done with no concern because the media is tasked with covering for her and they don’t consider it a joke, they are hoping it happens. Harris is obama on steroids, and she should re consider her position when millions of conservatives see they have nothing to lose. She is laboring under the gross misapprehension that she will be [electorially] safe. She isn’t.

LA Times political cartoonist David Horsey wrote in 2015:  Willie Brown warns Villaraigosa: 'Don't crowd Kamala!'  . . . "A week ago, Willie Brown, the former California Assembly Speaker and ex-mayor of San Francisco, suggested that former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa should sit out the race in deference to Brown’s favored candidate, state Atty. Gen. Kamala D.  Harris. This could be passed off as Willie Brown just being his old, flamboyant self, or it could be an indication that Bay Area Democratic leaders -- a group not so affectionately described by Southern Californians as “the San Francisco Mafia” -- want to hand the job to Harris right now. " . . .

Truth or Fiction somewhat denies Harris got a political advantage by sleeping with Willie Brown

But in 2012 Daily Caller claimed otherwise: At Dem convention, Kamala Harris demands ‘opportunity … open to everyone’ — but had special career help from powerful boyfriend

. . . The first big boost to her career, however, came not because of her legal prowess but because her boyfriend was California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.
San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen once called Harris “the Speaker’s new steady.” He went on to become the first black mayor of San Francisco.
As Brown’s time as speaker drew to a close in 1994, he named Harris to the California Medical Assistance Commission, a job that came with a $72,000 annual salary. Brown had previously appointed her to the state Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board.
She “was described by several people at the Capitol as Brown’s girlfriend,” the Los Angeles Times reported at the time. . . .

You’ve Been Hoodwinked. (Perhaps.)

Sharyl Attkisson

"If you watched the mash-up of Sinclair station anchors reading their national promo and were convinced it was something evil and nefarious, you’ve been hoodwinked.

Watch the Deadspin mashup of Sinclair station promos: 

"From what I can tell, this issue breaks down along ideological lines, and minds are not likely to be swayed. My friends on the far left are convinced that Sinclair anchors reading a national promo is Hitler-esque Orwellian brainwashing. My friends on the far right are happy and hopeful that Sinclair might, indeed, be pushing conservative views. Those in the middle don’t care or seem to think it’s much ado about nothing. 

"There's legitimate debate to be heard on many topics surrounding media fairness and consolidation. It’s obviously perfectly fine for you to disagree, but I find nothing to argue with in the nonpartisan, national Sinclair promos at issue. (The text is printed at the end of this article. You can decide for yourself.) In fact, I’ve heard many conservatives and liberals alike make these same points: That we have a problem with one-sided, false and biased news; that some reporters are pushing agendas; and that untrue stories are being published without proper fact checks. These assertions are pretty indisputable, wherever you sit. 

"The promos go on to say that Sinclair stations are committed to factual reporting neither “left nor right.” The anchors were even instructed not to wear blue or red, lest the colors be incorrectly interpreted as politically-charged in today’s environment. Somehow, this was portrayed by leftists as “Turning news anchors into soldiers for Trump’s war on the media.” They’re saying that the idea of news that’s fair, accurate and neither left nor right –is a right-wing idea. It’s all the more ironic considering that it was left wing interests who invented the anti-“Fake News” campaign, as I reported in my TEDx talk and The Smear. "Yet, here, the same interests oppose the notion of a stated, corporatewide commitment to fair, accurate reporting. 

"Those who disagree with this approach appear to be indicating they prefer to receive biased news. And that may be the real issue here: Many people do. " . . .

Conan O'Brien had fun with this very topic some time back:

The Sinclair Debacle Is a Big, Juicy (here comes that word!) Nothingburger
. . . "Sure, there's something unnerving about seeing local TV anchors across the country reciting a scripted message in unison.  But that's more of a testament to the power of effective video editing than anything else.  Any group chant can be painted as creepy (like when these celebrities pledged to "be a servant to" President Obama), as can any video." . . .

Mick Mulvaney says it's Elizabeth Warren's own fault he doesn't have to answer her questions

It took a bit of doing to find this as every other link on the search page was, as expected, anti Republican. TD

Washington Examiner  "Mulvaney, a conservative who was an outspoken critic of the bureau during his time as a congressman, told Warren in a letter sent Wednesday that the structure of the agency, which she helped design, shields him from accountability.

 “ 'I encourage you to consider the possibility that the frustration you are experiencing now, and that which I had a few years back, are both inevitable consequences of the fact that the Dodd-Frank... Act insulates the Bureau from virtually any accountability to the American people through their elected representatives,” Mulvaney wrote.

" He told Warren that he wouldn’t be answering any of the 105 unanswered questions she submitted to him about his management of the CFPB and handling of cases against payday lenders and others. Instead, he said he would discuss them during congressional testimony, when Warren will likely have five or 10 minutes to question him in the Banking Committee. " . . .

Poll: Plurality Think David Hogg’s Call To Boycott Ingraham’s Show Was Inappropriate

Allahpundit

" . . ."A confession of my political naivete: I thought Hogg’s own personal favorability might be (somewhat) immune from standard left-right divisions on guns. He’s been extremely nasty to gun-rights advocates at times but he is in fact a kid and a survivor of a very recent mass shooting. Does he get an allowance from the public for that? Turns out … no, not really:"

. . . 

"If Rupert Murdoch wants Ingraham on the air next week, Ingraham will be on the air next week. In lieu of an exit question, here’s a Stoneman Douglas student whom the vast, vast majority of Americans haven’t heard of. Meet Anthony Borges, who was in class on February 14 when the shooting began and concluded that the only way to keep the shooter out was to barricade the door — with his own body. The shooter did indeed try to enter that room but couldn’t get in, thanks to Borges. Borges was shot five times and needed nine surgeries, but he survived. So did the 20 other people who were in the room with him, saved by his own bravery. Here’s the GoFundMe page for his family. Savor this clip, as you’re not apt to see much more of him on cable news unless he has some hot takes about the NRA being child-killers." . . .

Pelosi: Democrats Will Repeal the GOP Tax Law When We Retake the House

Weasel Zippers

"They’re coming for your money. Just another reason to vote against them.

Via NTK:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that Democrats would indeed repeal the GOP tax law if they are successful in retaking the House of Representatives this November during a town hall on Wednesday.

The moderator of the event asked Pelosi if Democrats would re-write the tax bill from scratch or focus on reversing specific elements.

“One of our complaints about what they did with the tax bill is they did it in the dark of night with the speed of light,” Pelosi said.

Pelosi then declared that Democrats will win back the House in 2018, and after they do, they will work with Republicans to create a new tax bill.

Keep reading…

Source: Pelosi: Democrats Will Repeal the GOP Tax Law When We Retake the House  . . . "The moderator of the event asked Pelosi if Democrats would re-write the tax bill from scratch or focus on reversing specific elements.
“One of our complaints about what they did with the tax bill is they did it in the dark of night with the speed of light,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi then declared that Democrats will win back the House in 2018, and after they do, they will work with Republicans to create a new tax bill.
“We’ll sit down at the table and say … what would be a tax bill that creates growth, that creates good paying jobs as it reduces the deficit?” Pelosi said. “It’s not about chipping at this piece or that piece, it’s about a comprehensive look at what our tax policy should be for the future.' ”

Central American invasion turned back?

Don Surber . . . "This nomination does not quite qualify for the Don't-Feud-With-Donald-Or-You'll-Feel-The-Trump-Effect.
"This was better.
"The Ship of Fools who were to be a caravan of illegal immigrants headed for our southern border did not liberalize our already weak border security, but helped President Trump secure our borders.
"The Mexican government decided to call it off.
" 'A caravan of Central American migrants whose trek across Mexico infuriated President Donald Trump has decided not to travel to the US border, leaders said Tuesday," Agence France Presse reported.
"Irineo Mujica, the head of People Without Borders, told AFP, "We will wrap up our work in Mexico City.' " . . .

Donald Trump Thanks Mexico for Breaking up Immigration Caravan

. . . "Although the caravan has broken up, many of the participants still plan to make their way to the United States.
"The president spent days focused on the caravan, disturbed that the United States law allowing “catch and release” would allow many of the illegal immigrants crossing the border to stay." . . .

Thomas Lifson: How Trump beat the left at its own game with the caravan to our border  "Make no mistake: President Trump has vanquished an open borders propaganda operation and beaten the left at its own game.  With the announcement by Pueblo Sin Fronteras that the caravan it organized from Central America to the U.S. border will end in Mexico City, the humiliation is palpable.  You can tell by the denial of the obvious reality:

Fearful of the risks to children among the bedraggled and tired knot of travelers, the organizers of the annual caravan, U.S.-based advocacy group Pueblo Sin Fronteras, said it would end in the capital, not at the border as had been planned.

"It's not because of Donald Trump," said Irineo Mujica, director of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, which has staged the caravan since 2010 to draw attention to migrants' rights and help them.

Mujica said the group did not want to put children on freight trains, which are traditionally used to cover part of the journey to the border.  Nicknamed "la bestia" (the beast), the train is infamous for causing injury to migrants.

"All of a sudden, after years of annual treks, they realize that it is too hazardous, and it has nothing to do with Trump.  This is pathetic!" . . .

Hillary is Complaining Again, This Time It's About Fox News. What, exactly, IS her mental state?

Katie Pavlich
Wait! Could this be...yes, it is! It's a Nazi salute! See for yourself! TD

"Hillary Clinton is at it again and seems to have no plans to get off her world wide excuses tour.
"During an event with the women's organization "The Wing" this week in New York City, twice failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton complained about Fox News "trying to impeach her."
" 'Fox News is always trying impeach me. So, somebody needs to tell them that doesn't apply to a private citizen," Clinton said." . . .

No such thing as bad publicity, Fox.

Monica Showalter asks: Is Hillary Clinton going insane?. . . "Yes, it's disappointing to lose an election you thought you had in the bag. But what we are seeing here is someone at this late date who is unable to move on at all. She has no hobbies, no law firm to return to, no teaching posts to embrace, no office to run for. And with Bill in Little Rock with all those reputed honeys, it must be stagnant and lonely. Obviously, her entire life was about politics and when she lost the election, she was left with nothing. Now, she makes her living on making controversial statements and cheering on establishments such as the Manhattan club for women.

"This doesn't sound healthy for her."

If Fox News' Laura Ingraham Goes Down for 'Bullying,' You're Next!

Larry Elder  ". . . "Referring to Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and money contributed to him by the National Rifle Association, Hogg said: "What about the $176,000 you took for those 17 people's blood?"
"But Ingraham is a "bully"?
"Now does this "Ingraham Standard" apply to, say, CNN's Anderson Cooper? Frustrated at what he perceived as his guest's blind defense of President Donald Trump, Cooper said, "If (Trump) took a dump on his desk, you would defend him." Cooper apologized, but, then, so did Ingraham.
"What about Time Warner's "Real Time With Bill Maher" show on HBO? Here are some of Maher's greatest hits on conservative women:

Sarah Palin is a C-word — an offensive slang word for female genitalia.Sarah Palin is a "dumb t—-," using a derisive slang word for female genitalia.Sarah Palin's son, who has Down syndrome, is "retarded."Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann are "two bimbos."

"The Rev. Al Sharpton, an MSNBC host, has an exhaustive list of offensive, incendiary, anti-Semitic comments. At a rally in Harlem in 1991, Sharpton said, "If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house." A few days later, a 7-year-old black boy was accidentally hit and killed by a car driven by a Jew in the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn, New York. Immediately after the young boy's death, three days of anti-Semitic rioting ensued in Crown Heights, where two people died and almost 200 were wounded. Surrounded by a mob yelling, "Kill the Jew!" a young Talmudic scholar was stabbed to death. Many believe Sharpton's rhetoric played a role in fomenting the Crown Heights riots. A Columbia University professor called it "a modern-day pogrom.' " . . .