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"Chappaquiddick" the Movie
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Many are too young to recall the misadventures of the then-young United States Senator from Massachusetts, Mr. Ted Kennedy. But one such misadventure -- among a sorry series of them taking place in his life -- stands out above all the rest.

ccurring in mid-July 1969, Ted Kennedy's negligence in driving, probably while intoxicated, resulted in the death of one Mary Jo Kopechne, a 28-year-old who had been riding in the car being piloted by Senator Kennedy when he ran it off a one-lane bridge and into the Chappaquiddick Island, MA waters below. From all evidence, Kennedy left Kopechne in the car to die while saving himself. That he didn't report the incident for some hours further adds to the bill of particulars against him.

Ted Kennedy got away with involuntary manslaughter, at minimum. But the Kennedy power and mystique was so strong back then that he basically skated and continued his long career in the U.S. Senate, even gaining the informal title "Lion of the Senate" for all his supposed good deeds. In truth, he was a lech and a creep and serial predator of women, none of whom could refuse the advances of such a powerful man. And he took advantage of his power and prestige at every turn, not only to enrich himself but others within his orbit.


What Are Critics Saying About Kennedy in 'Chappaquiddick?' - Hollywood in Toto

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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It sounds like this is a lesson on how you make a movie about a horrendous action where the person wasn't convicted of what they probably are guilty of and you don't want to get sued.

I'm not sure you could make an interesting movie in that situation.

I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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big kahuna wrote:
In truth, he was a lech and a creep and serial predator of women, none of whom could refuse the advances of such a powerful man. And he took advantage of his power and prestige at every turn, not only to enrich himself but others within his orbit.

My mother can attest to this. She was at a parents weekend social at the school Teddy's son Patrick an I attended, where a drunk Teddy kept trying to pick up my mother. Lucky for Teddy, my mother only has had eyes for my father (51+ years and going).
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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"Chappaquiddick" the Movie" Whoa! Too soon!
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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The book "Senatorial Privilege" is an excellent recap of what happened, the cover-up and subsequent trial. If it were anyone else besides him driving (and he tried to convince his own cousin Ted Gargan to tell police he was the driver), they'd have been behind bars.



"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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big kahuna wrote:
In truth, he was a lech and a creep and serial predator of women, none of whom could refuse the advances of such a powerful man. And he took advantage of his power and prestige at every turn, not only to enrich himself but others within his orbit.



"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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Hey, at least he gave us the phrase "in the words of Ted Kennedy, I'll drive off that bridge when I come to it".

I miss YaHey
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [justgeorge] [ In reply to ]
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justgeorge wrote:
Hey, at least he gave us the phrase "in the words of Ted Kennedy, I'll drive off that bridge when I come to it".

and "he's a fine chap, not a quitter."
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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Someone (Mass resident) was asking if Warren was a good senator. I said, at least she hasn't killed anyone.

People immediately assumed I was a Breitbart reader and was equating her with Hillary! As a state, we kept someone whose actions directly led to someone's death AND they could have saved her in office for 40 years, and they jumped on the Clintons-are-murders bandwagon.

I'd be worried about what that says about our country, but we're already in a hand basket.
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [scorpio516] [ In reply to ]
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scorpio516 wrote:
Someone (Mass resident) was asking if Warren was a good senator. I said, at least she hasn't killed anyone.

People immediately assumed I was a Breitbart reader and was equating her with Hillary! As a state, we kept someone whose actions directly led to someone's death AND they could have saved her in office for 40 years, and they jumped on the Clintons-are-murders bandwagon.

I'd be worried about what that says about our country, but we're already in a hand basket.

I think a fair assessment was that unless Teddy could have saved her she wasn't going to be saved. I think by the time emergency help got there it was going to be too late. No idea how much effort he put into it or if he could have done it.

None of that changes his level of responsibility. I just don't think the fire department was going to get there in time.

I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [RandMart] [ In reply to ]
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RandMart wrote:
big kahuna wrote:
In truth, he was a lech and a creep and serial predator of women, none of whom could refuse the advances of such a powerful man. And he took advantage of his power and prestige at every turn, not only to enrich himself but others within his orbit.



LOL!

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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Met ted at a Mass Bar Assoc event about 10 years ago. Very charismatic guy. Housed two glasses of Cabernet faster than a frat boy doing a keg stand.

Related note, took my son on the 'ferry' to Chappy the last time we were on island. Costs a couple bucks, basically an open skiff that holds 2 cars to cross the 100 yds or so of water. The boy loved it.
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [j p o] [ In reply to ]
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That's not quite how it happened. After crashing the car into the water he escaped. Instead of asking for help at the near by houses-I think it was Dr Look's house at the time-he went back to rented party house. From there he got a ride to where in the ON-TIME ferry docks. Then, he swims across the to the other dock-about 100 meters, swift currents-I believe he ends up renting a room or something like that.
It's really incredible-makes a great movie-don't ya think?
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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I'm looking forward to the movie. Always have suspected he was guilty.
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [cerveloguy] [ In reply to ]
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Her family always knew he was guilty. couple good books out there regarding this..
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [dvfmfidc] [ In reply to ]
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dvfmfidc wrote:
Her family always knew he was guilty. couple good books out there regarding this..

Guiltier than sin. And they were "good" Catholics. I'm part Irish mick also, so I can say that. :-)
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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You need to have a meeting with you sponsor and restart your sobriety

________
It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [H-] [ In reply to ]
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H- wrote:
You need to have a meeting with you sponsor and restart your sobriety

Why so? This stuff is historical, not political. Have I used the movie -- or the discussion about it on this thread -- to impugn or tar collectively any political party to which the late-Senator Kennedy may have been associated? That would be asinine if I did. But I didn't. So my saintliness (I mean, "sobriety") remains undisturbed. ;-)

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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Let's talk about what matters most here... are there any black actors in this movie?
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [Old Hickory] [ In reply to ]
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Old Hickory wrote:
Let's talk about what matters most here... are there any black actors in this movie?

Wasn't Ted Kennedy black? ;-)

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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All you haters, he is no more guilty than OJ was.
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [Brian in MA] [ In reply to ]
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Brian in MA wrote:
The book "Senatorial Privilege" is an excellent recap of what happened, the cover-up and subsequent trial. If it were anyone else besides him driving (and he tried to convince his own cousin Ted Gargan to tell police he was the driver), they'd have been behind bars.


What was he charged with? Was it in relation to the accident itself or not trying to save the girl in the car?

Seems like back then "accidental" deaths of this sort were often treated much lighter than today. IIRC didn't Bush the younger's wife kill someone in a car accident too (running a stop sign) or do I have that wrong?
Last edited by: ThisIsIt: Sep 13, 17 10:08
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [ThisIsIt] [ In reply to ]
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He pleaded guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident a week after it had occurred; subsequent grand jury inquest the following January found that although the was probable cause that he had operated the vehicle negligently and that his actions likely contributed to her death, the DA at the time chose not to pursue manslaughter charges. The diver who retrieved the body said that given the way she was positioned in a small air pocket, she could have lived for about two hours; he also estimated that if the accident had been reported immediately, he could have rescued her in about 25 minutes.

The book goes into detail about the inquest and the DA's decision, also focuses on the State Police detective assigned to the case, who admired the Kennedy's and even though he didn't squelch the investigation, he didn't go out of his way to hide his feelings either. There's a picture in the book of Kennedy entering the courthouse and turning to face reporters, and in the background the detective waiting and holding the door open as if he were his valet. Another picture in the book of the two of them years later at a fundraiser arm in arm smiling broadly for the camera.



"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [Brian in MA] [ In reply to ]
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Brian in MA wrote:
He pleaded guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident a week after it had occurred; subsequent grand jury inquest the following January found that although the was probable cause that he had operated the vehicle negligently and that his actions likely contributed to her death, the DA at the time chose not to pursue manslaughter charges. The diver who retrieved the body said that given the way she was positioned in a small air pocket, she could have lived for about two hours; he also estimated that if the accident had been reported immediately, he could have rescued her in about 25 minutes.

The book goes into detail about the inquest and the DA's decision, also focuses on the State Police detective assigned to the case, who admired the Kennedy's and even though he didn't squelch the investigation, he didn't go out of his way to hide his feelings either. There's a picture in the book of Kennedy entering the courthouse and turning to face reporters, and in the background the detective waiting and holding the door open as if he were his valet. Another picture in the book of the two of them years later at a fundraiser arm in arm smiling broadly for the camera.


I guess I don't get what is contentious about whether he was guilty or not? What would have made him not guilty? The accident being unavoidable or something?

I looked it up and Laura Bush did kill (a classmate no less) by running a stop sign. She was never charged either. I get Teddy's is more egregious because there was a chance he could have saved her, but killing someone due to negligence in a car crash back in the 60's doesn't seemed to have always got one charged with a crime.

Nowadays more so. I remember recently a local high school girl ran off the road (no drugs or anything) and hit a tree which killed a friend in the car and she was charged with crimes, IIRC even against the wishes of the dead friend's parents.
Last edited by: ThisIsIt: Sep 13, 17 10:54
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [ThisIsIt] [ In reply to ]
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Seems like back then "accidental" deaths of this sort were often treated much lighter than today. //

Is it an accident if you are blind drunk at the time? All his evasion of course kept that test from ever being performed, but suffice it to say it was at least double, probably triple what we allow today, dude was a lush..
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [ThisIsIt] [ In reply to ]
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ThisIsIt wrote:
Brian in MA wrote:
He pleaded guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident a week after it had occurred; subsequent grand jury inquest the following January found that although the was probable cause that he had operated the vehicle negligently and that his actions likely contributed to her death, the DA at the time chose not to pursue manslaughter charges. The diver who retrieved the body said that given the way she was positioned in a small air pocket, she could have lived for about two hours; he also estimated that if the accident had been reported immediately, he could have rescued her in about 25 minutes.

The book goes into detail about the inquest and the DA's decision, also focuses on the State Police detective assigned to the case, who admired the Kennedy's and even though he didn't squelch the investigation, he didn't go out of his way to hide his feelings either. There's a picture in the book of Kennedy entering the courthouse and turning to face reporters, and in the background the detective waiting and holding the door open as if he were his valet. Another picture in the book of the two of them years later at a fundraiser arm in arm smiling broadly for the camera.


I guess I don't get what is contentious about whether he was guilty or not? What would have made him not guilty? The accident being unavoidable or something?

I looked it up and Laura Bush did kill (a classmate no less) by running a stop sign. She was never charged either. I get Teddy's is more egregious because there was a chance he could have saved her, but killing someone due to negligence in a car crash back in the 60's doesn't seemed to have always got one charged with a crime.

Nowadays more so. I remember recently a local high school girl ran off the road (no drugs or anything) and hit a tree which killed a friend in the car and she was charged with crimes, IIRC even against the wishes of the dead friend's parents.


In my mind, his crime is not the accident itself (mainly) or that he was (or might have been) drinking. It was because he left the scene of the accident and did not get help/get assistance. This matters because there is evidence that suggests had he tried to save her, or gone for help, that she might have been able to be saved. This was his crime.

I agree, the 60's had a different litmus test for actual accidents. Drinking and driving was not as much of a deal, if cars had any seatbelts at all, they were of the waist only variety, no air bags, child car seats did not exist, not to mention that even if you had a waist seat belt, people rarely used them except for long "special trips" on the big highways.

I also don't think, even by today's standards, someone should not necessarily be brought up on manslaughter charges for running a stop sign and killing someone....barring other circumstances, like alcohol, etc... Accidents do happen and sometimes they are horrible. I'm not sure society is better served by throwing them in jail.


.
Last edited by: Endo: Sep 13, 17 11:17
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [Endo] [ In reply to ]
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Endo wrote:
I also don't think, even by today's standards, someone should not necessarily be brought up on manslaughter charges for running a stop sign and killing someone....barring other circumstances, like alcohol, etc... Accidents do happen and sometimes they are horrible. I'm not sure society is better served by throwing them in jail.

I agree. In the case I'm recalling the driver's negligence was just going around a corner too fast and/or not being a competent driver, put the wheels off into a soft shoulder and ended up clipping a tree. I can't recall seeing what eventually happened to her. I'd be surprised if she got prison time but I know she was charged.
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [ThisIsIt] [ In reply to ]
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Fair point in how incidents like that were treated back then compared to now, but his actions that night as well as the following morning also led to the contentiousness of the case since then. He testified that he was heading back to the ferry, yet was driving in the opposite direction towards the bridge. He didn't report the accident until some 10 hours later, during which time he went back to his hotel and changed clothes, also had a conversation with the hotel manager and never mentioned it. Had another conversation with the winner of a local regatta the next morning without saying what had happened, and then met with his cousin Joe Gargan (I misidentified him earlier in the thread) and another aide where they debated what to do. Gargan later testified that Ted asked him to say he was driving, and worried aloud about his legacy before they finally convinced him to go to police, who by now had already found the car and the body and identified the license plate as his.



"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [eb] [ In reply to ]
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eb wrote:
justgeorge wrote:
Hey, at least he gave us the phrase "in the words of Ted Kennedy, I'll drive off that bridge when I come to it".


and "he's a fine chap, not a quitter."

I recall folks back then talking about the "Date 'em, dick 'em and dunk 'em" club.

Live long and surf!
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Re: "Chappaquiddick" the Movie [Giant Steps] [ In reply to ]
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Giant Steps wrote:
eb wrote:
justgeorge wrote:
Hey, at least he gave us the phrase "in the words of Ted Kennedy, I'll drive off that bridge when I come to it".


and "he's a fine chap, not a quitter."


I recall folks back then talking about the "Date 'em, dick 'em and dunk 'em" club.


I don't know about that. I do know he was great friends with fellow New England senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut. The two had quite a reputation for lecherous behavior, according to stories that circulated in D.C. for years.

At any rate, the below 1989 essay in GQ is a pretty unvarnished look at Ted Kennedy -- in full as a 'man of parts' (some of which were laudatory in his push for Great Society era social programs -- when he was 57 years old. It's by Michael Kelly, a longtime journalist who was killed in an accident in Iraq during the 2003 invasion (his book "Things Worth Fighting For" is also an excellent read). Kelly was no rightwing journalist in the least but he also wasn't a strident partisan. He was an actual journalist, in other words.

Reading the essay, one can't help but come to the conclusion that Kennedy was a fairly disgusting creature whom the press pretty much covered up for for most of career.

Ted Kennedy on the Rocks | GQ

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
Last edited by: big kahuna: Sep 17, 17 8:39
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