Mark Steyn has a great piece on how the mainstream media leaves “Chappaquiddick” and details of the death of Mary Jo Kopechne out of their eulogies of the “liberal lion.” Of course, as Steyn says, one doesn’t want to speak ill of the dead, but it is bizarre how many are willing to overlook such a profound chapter of Senator Kennedy’s life. Women’s groups seem particularly remiss. NOW put out a gushing press release, quote NOW’s president Terry O’Neill: “We lost a true legislative hero in Ted Kennedy — a defender of women, children and all those who are discriminated against and underserved in this country.”
Defender of women? Really? She obviously isn’t talking about actual women, like the one he let drowned in 1969, but woman-kind more generally. Like with Clinton — who could pay off interns who service him sexually with high paying government jobs and never hear NOW use the word “sexual harassment — Kennedy was given a pass by feminist groups for his personal failings (to put it mildly) because of his support for big government.
I hardly imagine that Mary Jo Kopechne’s family feel that his “legislative record” makes up for their loss.