Cheney Accident vs Kennedy Accident
By Doug Edelman (02/14/06)
Much chatter is filling the pages and airwaves of the Mainstream Press today concerning the 18 hour delay between the shooting accident involving Vice President Cheney and Mr. Whittington, and the incident being announced publicly.
But the MSM, in its haste to make political hay out of the accident, has once again failed to consider historically analogous circumstances which are detrimental to their case. The poster child for a life lived to serve as a bad example… Ted Kennedy!
While Cheney is being vilified for the delay in informing the all-important press of the accident – Kennedy has gotten a 40 year pass on his failure to inform authorities of the accident which took the life of Mary Jo Kopechne!
Some important comparisons and contrasts:
Cheney was hunting birds. Kennedy was hunting chicks.
Cheney was sober.
Cheney's first actions were to attend to the victim.
Kennedy's first actions were to leave the scene of the accident! He swam to shore and walked back to the party -- passing several houses and a fire station -- and two friends returned with him to the scene of the accident. According to their later testimony, they told him what he already knew, that he was required by law to immediately report the accident to the authorities. Instead Kennedy made his way to his hotel, called his lawyer, and went to sleep.
Kennedy called the police the next morning. By then the wreck had already been discovered. Before dying, Kopechne had scratched at the upholstered floor above her head in the upside-down car. The Kennedy family began pulling strings, ensuring that any inquiry would be contained. Her corpse was whisked out-of-state to her family, before an autopsy could be conducted.
Cheney's victim will survive the incident and be able to talk about it. His recounting will doubtless include Cheney's concern and efforts to assist him.
Kennedy's victim is dead and buried, and he has spent 40 years trying to bury the story of how he was more concerned with his own posterior than saving a young woman from a horrific death.
Copyright © 2005 by Doug Edelman
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