Teddy Kennedy talks about Teddy on HBO special

Tonight Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) stars in a biographical documentary about himself. According to the description at TV Guide, Kennedy will narrate his life story. The special follows Bill Maher’s program and precedes ‘Aliens vs. Predator.’ It seems fitting Kennedy is sandwiched between an entertainment pundit who’d be aptly classified as a left wing extremist and a film depicting a predator battling an “infestation of aliens,” that latter term of course applying to extraterrestrials. The film is not surprisingly named, 'Teddy: In his Own Words.'

Seeing notice of the Kennedy film evoked a memory sliver—Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) calling Kennedy the ‘Lion of the Senate’ during the campaign after Kennedy’s latest physical ailments were disclosed to the public. That is one McCain moment among many I would like to forget.

Kennedy has exerted influence over US politics for longer than I care to remember. In the US, he joins others like former Dem vice-president Al Gore and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) who came to politics from the cradle—part of the political royalty controlling the country at present.

The Hill said, “The autobiography is based on a personal journal that Kennedy began keeping in 1960, at the start of his brother’s presidential campaign.” I’d make a wager there was lots of red-lining during the process of bringing the book to the screen. The Hill also said the book makes a hero of Kennedy’s wife, painting her as a savior to the senator many perceived as a libertine. That assessment may point the way to the senator’s wife acquiring his seat since the senator is reportedly suffering a terminal illness.

A defining moment in Kennedy’s life was the 1969 incident at Chappaquiddick. The incident is recounted in public files at the FBI website in a file known as Chappaquiddick, also known as the Mary Jo Kopechne investigation. The FBI said, “[A]n overturned car was found at Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, in the water and Ms. Kopechne's body was in the car. Ms. Kopechne was a former secretary to late Senator, Robert F. Kennedy. It was determined the driver of the automobile was Senator Edward M. Kennedy. It was alleged he was on the wrong road and drove off Dike's Bridge, with the automobile overturning in the water. Senator Kennedy managed to get out of the car, but Ms. Kopechne did not make it out of the car and drowned.”

The file indicates the power the Kennedy clan held and continues to hold. On page 2, the report said, “Stated fact Senator Kennedy was driver is not being revealed to anyone.”

The Hill review of the bio-doc suggests Kennedy changed his life after Chappaquiddick. Read the FBI files to see why this young woman’s death is still relevant today.

If you want a true well-sourced accounting of Camelot and the Kennedys, read ‘The Dark Side of Camelot’ by Seymour Hersh. Media and smart Dem strategists created the Camelot illusion, in a manner similar to the adulation Democrats currently receive from media.

I realize Sen. Kennedy has his fans. Obviously I am not one of them. Camelot never was and never should be. Making a myth of a modern president poses a great danger to freedom.

Teddy Kennedy talks about Teddy on HBO special
by Kay B. Day
The US Report (Jul. 13, 2009)