Some thoughts on Teddy Kennedy

AS ALL of you are probably quite aware, I'm no fan of Ted Kennedy. I'm saddened that a family could lose a father. Being familiar with the anguish of seeing someone suffer from cancer I do hope that Kennedy's ordeal is as painless and that his family stays strong.

However, the outpouring of grief on several blogs and websites has made me baulk.

Being an admirer of his brothers and several other Democrats, I say this without any political prejudices against the man. Yet his legislative record and achievements are hardly glowing and he killed a girl.

I noticed that the Independent completely omitted the entire Chappaquiddick episode in their coverage today. A story about Ted Kennedy without mentioning Chappaquiddick is like Nixon without Watergate. I also thought I'd point out the BBC coverage:

Edward, or Teddy, as he is known, ran against sitting President Jimmy Carter in 1980, but failed, after struggling to put the infamous "Chappaquiddick incident" behind him.

He had, in 1969, crashed a car off a bridge, and while he escaped, his young female passenger drowned in the water below. He fled and did not report the incident to police for more than eight hours.

He later pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a suspended two-month sentence.

Would it be worth mentioning that he was drunk at the time as well? What about the $35 fine that Kennedy paid for his crimes? The claim that he "crashed the car off the bridge" makes it appear to be an accident - is that what we call people who are drunk at the wheel nowadays?

I also find it rather vulgar of the BBC to suggest that Kennedy "failed to put the infamous Chappaquiddick incident behind him." The fact that he ran in 1980 shows that he had put the incident behind him. Who elects the President? Ted Kennedy? Of course not. It was the Democratic Party and the American people that saw him as an electoral liability - even when compared to Jimmy Carter!

This is not a personal attack on Teddy Kennedy, a man who is revered by many and obviously deserves the love and support of his family at this moment in time. This is merely an attack on the coverage that has followed the tragic news of his illness. You can bet your mortgage (is that a risk anymore?) that if someone like Jonathon Aitken was diagnosed with cancer the coverage would all be about his shady history as a government Minister.