The Huffington Post explains that "Melissa Lafsky is the deputy web editor at Discover magazine, where she writes the Reality Base blog. She was previously the editor of the New York Times's Freakonomics blog, and is a former associate editor at HuffPo's Eat The Press." So she's a major-media-certified pundit when she wrote about Chappaquiddick drowning victim Mary Jo Kopechne on Arianna's pages today:
Mary Jo wasn't a right-wing talking point or a negative campaign slogan. She was a dedicated civil rights activist and political talent with a bright future....We don't know how much Kennedy was affected by her death, or what she'd have thought about arguably being a catalyst for the most successful Senate career in history. What we don't know, as always, could fill a Metrodome.
Still, ignorance doesn't preclude a right to wonder. So it doesn't automatically make someone (aka, me) a Limbaugh-loving, aerial-wolf-hunting NRA troll for asking what Mary Jo Kopechne would have had to say about Ted's death, and what she'd have thought of the life and career that are being (rightfully) heralded.
Who knows -- maybe she'd feel it was worth it.
The first reaction here at the office? "This is why writing satirical fake-liberal-media quotes for April Fools is impossible." Lafsky's truly tasteless. Arianna Huffington should take this awful piece down.
How, in any way, did Chappaquiddick make Kopechne a "catalyst" for Kennedy's career? Is she the person who's supposed to be Douglas Brinkley's "martyr" for health care reform?
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Just when you thought it
August 28, 2009 - 15:58 ET by derbalJust when you thought it couldn't get any weirder.
The Twilight Zone
August 28, 2009 - 16:13 ET by jdlybrandRod Sterling himself could not come up with anything as bizarre as this.
"What a revoltin' development this is!"
Chester Riley
Tim, you're saving this, right?
August 28, 2009 - 16:25 ET by motherbeltWeird?
Try disgusting, nauseating, revolting, sickening, insulting, appalling, horrifying, shocking, and downright outrageous!!!
Tim, you are saving this, right?
It has to jump into the top three for "Quote of the Year."
IMO, it beats out the Globe's
“If she had lived, Mary Jo Kopechne would be 62 years old. Through
his tireless work as a legislator, Edward Kennedy would have brought
comfort to her in her old age,
^^^ I'll go with what MB
August 28, 2009 - 16:26 ET by nixon^^^ I'll go with what MB said . This is just so sickening to Me .
Agreed
August 28, 2009 - 22:37 ET by KC MulvilleOr is this a Friday "garbage dump" (when they think no one is paying attention)?
What a pile of crap
August 28, 2009 - 15:59 ET by FeynmanFanWhat planet are these morons from? Next they'll be channeling Buddah.
"I support the President but not his policies" - Blonde
These people are..............
August 28, 2009 - 15:59 ET by BEGRUNTSICK, SICK, SICK........she belongs in a padded cell!!!!!
"A nation can suffer it's fool's, but cannot survive the traitor"
Cicero
At times you think you've
August 28, 2009 - 16:04 ET by bigtimerAt times you think you've seen and heard it all...yet you know there is always more that will be even worse.
So...I'm sure there will be even more despicable outlandish BS to come.
Insanity for all to see with these critters.
Taking off rose-colored glasses wouldn't even begin to help these leftist loonies.
Obama's a Community Agitator, a walking, talking destroyer. ~ Rush Limbaugh
So, somebody in the afterlife asked....?
August 28, 2009 - 16:08 ET by Willis_Leon_Johnson"Mary Jo, are you pleased that you are a martyr for the bad of your Nation?"
Or perhaps, if the left nutjobs can convince people that Mar Jo is happy about it then everybody else can stick a fork in their eye and go away?
http://gjresult.com
This is just to much.There
August 28, 2009 - 16:21 ET by well99This is just to much.There seems to be a total disregard for rational thinking.Get off the acid.Your brain is fried and your on a never ending trip to self delusion..
Arianna Huffington should
August 28, 2009 - 16:27 ET by motherbeltArianna Huffington should take this awful piece down.
Are you kidding?
That's just "another day in the office" at HuffPo!
I agree. I just so glad that
August 28, 2009 - 17:43 ET by d1carterI agree. I just so glad that I can't even think like this warped people.
Next
August 28, 2009 - 16:32 ET by the mad polewe'll hear how many women would have loved to been in that car.
I went to Huff
August 28, 2009 - 16:33 ET by well99Surpriseing enough there was some people that were rational.Here are some of the comments.I was surprised.
"Who knows -- maybe she'd feel it was worth it."
Are you nuts? Huffington Post at its best I guess. It's not hard to see why Melissa Lafsky is an "Ex-lawyer". Don't flatter yourself, you're not a writer either. Writing requires that you have something coherent to say.
"Who knows -- maybe she'd feel it was worth it." Melissa Lafsky is sick in the brain
I was expecting Lafsky to say at some point in this article, "Mary Jo Kopechne had it coming anyway".
This is an amazingly sexist piece. It assumes that only a man (Ted Kennedy) could have accomplished what he did. What if Kennedy robbed us of Sen. Mary Jo Kopechne, the first female senator from MA? What if she -- an activist, an intelligent woman -- continued on her path and did greater things than Kennedy ever dreamed of? Lafsky doesn't believe so, apparently. After all, Kopechne was just a woman, an interchangeable cog in the system, a statistic, a speedbump.
Lafsky assumes that Kennedy was indispensible. As Charles de Galle once said, cemeteries are full of indispensible men. Lafsky, it seems, thinks that cemetery should only be full of women.
So murder is justified given the ends. This is THE most twisted conclusion ever. Someone gets to murder you to acheive some end. Ms Lafsky, your column is utterly devoid of morality or thought. Your thinking is that of a 2 year old. It is very scary.
That is a pretty despicable thing to write about a pretty despicable act. Henry Rollins has a better take on Mary Jo Kopechnes and Ted Kennedy:
Vile, disgusting, go away ghoul!
OK Melissa, let's imagine its July 17, 1969.
If we could go back in time and ask Mary Jo, "Would you mind drowning in the Chappaquiddick so Ted could go on and have a great career", are you seriously suggesting she'd say, "sure, it'd be worth it"? Melissa, would YOU be willing to make that trade?
Somehow I doubt it and I doubt if Mary Jo would "feel it was worth it".
And also, she of course was never given the choice, so the whole premise of the Lafsky column is so utterly childish it defies imagination
wow that is warped
August 28, 2009 - 16:36 ET by katainkentunfortunately its not atypical of work there.
___________________________________________
"Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller" Barack Obama (Dr. In Chief)
Talk about going off the
August 28, 2009 - 16:50 ET by metaphorsbwithuTalk about going off the deep end!
Ugh!
metaphorsbwithu
No it's not worth it
August 28, 2009 - 17:09 ET by wingnut55This is the kind of thinking that leads to Obama-care. Maybe Melissa Lafsky should "take the pill" and just stop writing this garbage.
Well, this was a macabre,
August 28, 2009 - 17:10 ET by ConservativeRexWell, this was a macabre, awful piece.
I suppose we've come to expect this sort of nonsense from those creatures at that site. But just once you'd think they'd surprise us.
Yes...
August 28, 2009 - 17:14 ET by FuzzlenutterMaybe Mary Jo would like to be murdered again and again and again. Heck, there are more Kennedys out there, right? Isn't there also a Kennedy rapist who got off because of his name and ill-gotten booty?
More to come, I'm sure...
Unfortunately, Mary Jo
August 28, 2009 - 17:20 ET by JeffC...Unfortunately, Mary Jo could not be reached for comment.
Sick.
Exactly JeffC... Yet they
August 28, 2009 - 17:30 ET by bigtimerExactly JeffC...
Yet they have the audacity to speak for her.
Ghoulish, sick... to put it as succinct as I can here.
These people are in complete desperation mode...speaking of the devil hard at work. ...that's what it reminds me of.
Obama's a Community Agitator, a walking, talking destroyer. ~ Rush Limbaugh
I was driving home from the store when I heard Rush mention this
August 28, 2009 - 17:40 ET by R D HelmI nearly lost control of my car and almost ran off the road.
I have seen enough insanity over the death of this drunken, traitorous scum to last three lifetimes. I'll be sooooooooo glad when they stick his pickled carcass in the ground and start shoveling in the dirt.
Now there is a shovel-ready project I can believe in.
And would someone please tell me why a man who conspired with a communist government to bring down a U.S. president is being burried among our nation's greatest heroes?
-Dave
Even when the government tries to kiss you, it is just a prelude to a good screwing. -Neal Boortz
Dave... It's beyond
August 28, 2009 - 17:44 ET by bigtimerDave...
It's beyond disgraceful in my opinion....the left can always do as they please, with constant kudos from their adoring SRM cheer-leaders.
Obama's a Community Agitator, a walking, talking destroyer. ~ Rush Limbaugh
At least we only had to endure Clinton in Arlington...
August 28, 2009 - 20:00 ET by Tailgunner...for only one day per year (Memorial Day).
Nationalized Healthcare is a DEATH SENTENCE.
Democrats are the party of killers, racists, pedophiles, bribe takers, serial sexual harassers, liars, perjurers, obstructors of justice and treasonous frauds.
Are you joking?
August 28, 2009 - 17:45 ET by StarAZThis young, dedicated woman would think it was worth it to give her life to get some rich kid into the Senate--and how did her death do that anyhow? This is just plain loathsome. These people are just babbling and gibbering now. I am tuning out.
Lemme get this
August 28, 2009 - 18:10 ET by G. MayLemme get this straight ...
Some guy gets drunk and gets a woman killed, and this is a catalyst for a liberal politician's career.
Then a liberal posits that this dead woman might think her life was worth being thrown away by this same drunkard.
And a liberal blog publishes this obscene idea.
And it's conservatives and right wingers who don't think properly or are psychologically disturbed???
Only on Barney Fwank's planet.
So Melissa Lafsky writes:
August 28, 2009 - 18:13 ET by celatorSo Melissa Lafsky writes: "We don't know how much Kennedy was affected by her death..."
Try this on for size, Melissa:
"Former Newsweek Foreign Editor: Chappaquiddick One of Ted's 'Favorite Topics of Humor'"
Now you know.
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
Aaaaaah,
August 28, 2009 - 18:35 ET by jdlybrandTo wax poetic. To be so smartsie artsie fartsie. Camelot. What could have been. Sigh, moan, pant, drool.
On second thought... naaaaaaah!
"What a revoltin' development this is!"
Chester Riley
KENNEDY CURSE...
August 28, 2009 - 22:33 ET by danybhoyTurn this line of questioning back at the Dems...How valuable were JFK & RFK in death rather then alive? Andrew Wilkow talked about this on his Sirius/XM show, How do we remember JFK, a good looking young man who was cut down before he reached his potential, or before he effed up & grew old & fat like his brother Ted. He was cut down early, so we can only imagine the greatness we never saw. Sort of like James Dean or Curt Cobane, we'll never know.
Teddy is now worth more dead then alive, they will try to exploit his death to ram the Obama/KennedyCare bill America does not want to help build a Teddy's legacy. Sorry, but you lefties need to know his legacy involves a 69 Old's & a dead woman. That will NEVER change.
"...How blind can you be, don't you see...
...that the gambler lost all he does not have..."
Nightwish
Mysoginists(sp?)
August 29, 2009 - 20:45 ET by BO STINKSTed's humor - just another example of how utterly and completely lib. men absolutely HATE and disrespect women.
"...it must be known that we are at all times ready for war." G. Washington
Judgment day
August 28, 2009 - 19:12 ET by nkviking75If we could ask her, perhaps Mary Jo would say, "Finally, after 40 years he's facing a judge who won't be intimidated by the Kennedy name!"
“Always love your country — but never trust your government!" -- Bob Novak (1931-2009)
nkv... Yep...that's it in
August 28, 2009 - 19:15 ET by bigtimernkv...
Yep...that's it in a nutshell.
Obama's a Community Agitator, a walking, talking destroyer. ~ Rush Limbaugh
I wrote this in an earlier post
August 29, 2009 - 07:23 ET by jezebelleAs Kennedy arrives at the pearly gates he finds them steadfastly locked. In the distance he sees Saint Peter chatting up a lovely young woman.
Kennedy: "Excuse me." "Hey! You! Can I get a bit of help"
Saint Peter glances over and regrettably excuses himself from his conversation.
Carrying his clipboard, Saint Peter walk to the gates. Looking curiously between the bars of the beautiful pearly gates at the man waiting for entrance says: "Ah Yes, Mr Kennedy." Glancing at his notes. "we've been expecting you. It seems we need to discuss a few things before or if we even proceed. I was just having a lovely discussion with Mary Jo. You remember Mary Jo, Don't you?"
Jez, great one
August 29, 2009 - 11:30 ET by HogTideRebelCatsGreat one. Funny and yet very accurate.
Great post tmp. Since
August 28, 2009 - 19:56 ET by EdhenryGreat post tmp.
Since liberals think they can value one life over another (more perverted arrogance from the left), maybe the question should be who should have drowned?
Didn't watch Fox tonight
August 28, 2009 - 21:19 ET by HogTideRebelCatsLet's have a show of hands, who amongst us will volunteer to be killed, in a panic drowing in a submerged car and the person you were with got out and didn't give a shit about you, just so you could be the CATALIST for his senate career? Anyone? Oh come on!
forgot to say I didn't watch Fox tonight
August 28, 2009 - 21:32 ET by HogTideRebelCatsDidn't watch Fox because of instead of O'Reilly, Hannity, and Greta, all they are showing is tributes to Mary Jo's killer. Check the viewer ratings when they are published. I guarantee 8-28-09 will be one of Fox's lowests.
Hog... No way was I going
August 28, 2009 - 21:39 ET by bigtimerHog...
No way was I going to watch those shows tonight...and that is saying quite a lot as it is a habit in some ways...I've more than had my fill, didn't even want to take the chance of wrecking a perfectly good summer evening.
I don't care who is the lowest at this point...be glad after tomorrow is over.
Obama's a Community Agitator, a walking, talking destroyer. ~ Rush Limbaugh
You 2
August 28, 2009 - 21:51 ET by general companyAre right there with us, we are listening to Rusty Humphries.
Oh and listening to the Blues
My Gov. thinks I am dangerous, so be careful
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
Absolutely right
August 28, 2009 - 21:56 ET by HogTideRebelCatsWhen Michael Jackson, the weirdo pedofile died, I knew we had to endure a frig'n week or two of glorious coverage. Now THE GREAT LIBERAL LION SENATOR has passed away, and another few weeks of fu....king coverage.
The most quotable quote to be quoted, ever:
August 28, 2009 - 22:35 ET by West Coast Minority"This is why writing satirical fake-liberal-media quotes for April Fools is impossible."
''What we don't know . . ''
August 28, 2009 - 23:08 ET by DoktorFranken''What we don't know, as always, could fill a Metrodome.''
What we DO know is enough.
I Suspect It Has More To Do With Pissing People Off...
August 28, 2009 - 23:28 ET by The7SticksIf you ask me, I think both sides are trying to capitulate on Kennedy's death, and for those who keep wanting to go back to that Chappaquiddick nonsense to paint Kennedy as a "murderer", I suspect the author of this piece did so to provoke a pissed off reaction from you.
What do I think about this? I just view it as a two-party circus for my misanthropic pleasure. As I've said before, I don't particularly have any love for either party (and I certainly wouldn't be caught dead voting for a third party candidate.), so why should I care? As far as I'm concerned, the worst thing Ted Kennedy ever did was publically vote to pull the troops out of Vietnam, leaving many innocent Cambodians and Vietnamese to be slaughtered by the Communist Vietcong in the killing fields. Even though Kennedy may have meant well, it still amounted to a chickensh*t Neville Chamberlain move. It amounted to nothing but pain, suffering and death. That's the only thing I hold against Ted Kennedy. But guess what? It's over, and I just want to get on with the weekend.
Capitulate on Kennedey's
August 29, 2009 - 02:01 ET by G. MayCapitulate on Kennedey's death? What the hell does that mean? If you meant "capitalize", then I can see how it applies to Democrats, but how are Republicans going to "capitalize"?
That bit of incoherence is a warm-up for the next bit of rambling about "Chappaquiddick nonsense" seeming to be a tool to "paint" someone into something worse than what it was. Your muddled writing could use a little clarity.
I mean, do you think it was nonsense about what happened in Chappaquiddick from the standpoint of - no responsible, grown ass man would drive drunk? And "nonsense" that that same responsible, grown ass man would not abandon a woman to her death caused by his actions? And "nonsense" that that same responsible, grown ass man would flee the scene of his accident and fail to alert authorities until the next morning instead of immediately?
Because if you meant that sort of nonsense, then I agree with you. But that begs the question: why then would you choose to paint that scenario as somehow less than murder? I might agree with you if you were to say 'negligent homicide', or maybe even 'manslaughter'. Reasonable arguments might be made for those "paintings". But this is decidedly not your tone, so I'm forced to conclude you simply regard that 'nonsensical' incident as somewhere between tragic and unfortunate. In your eyes, those who still harbor resentment at the failure of justice, especially by the party and ideologues who feel they are the champions of it, are simply being partisan hacks. Riiight.
Perhaps if a different system of justice didn't exist for the rich, the privileged, the aristocratic class of Democrats, the name of Kennedy...then perhaps he would never held an elected position. Or maybe if the people of Massachussetts hadn't kept putting this man with no moral anchor in office...then maybe this man with no moral anchor wouldn't have been in the position to have made that vote you so detest.
Considering that your concern over a drunk driving man who gets a woman killed seems to be small potatos, I'll go ahead and help ya wipe away those crocodile tears for all those millions of innocent Cambodians and Vietnamese so you can get on with your weekend.
That way you can sleep easily, just like the good people of Massachussetts, and wake up, ready to show the world just how sympathetic you are to all the down-trodden and oppressed.
G. May
August 29, 2009 - 12:19 ET by BuzzyDamm! That was good. Amen
Teddy was a butt wipe that should have been flushed down the toilet bowl years ago.
I wonder about our history had Mary Jo been the one to survive Teddy's driving.
G. May
August 30, 2009 - 14:58 ET by DoktorFranken''Capitulate on Kennedey's death? What the hell does that mean?''
I think 7 has been using Rogaine's Thesaurus.
"As far as I'm concerned,
August 29, 2009 - 03:24 ET by Carl Kolchak"As far as I'm concerned, the worst thing Ted Kennedy ever did was publically vote to pull the troops out of Vietnam, leaving many innocent Cambodians and Vietnamese to be slaughtered by the Communist Vietcong in the killing fields. Even though Kennedy may have meant well, it still amounted to a chickensh*t Neville Chamberlain move."
I agree with you, but keep in mind that the Vietcong were essentially eliminated in the Tet Offensive from 1968, so in 1975 it was primarlily the Communist NVA that were involved in taking over S. Vietnam. There were a few Vietcong involved, but it was mostly NVA. The human rights activists who wear Che shirts don't seem to care about the S. Vietnamese who suffered as a result of the Communist takeover in 1975. Also, the Khmer Rouge received guns and training from the Communists from Vietnam, another factor the human rights activists who wear Che shirts don't mention. The Killing Fields were in Cambodia.
Mary Jo as prop
August 28, 2009 - 23:45 ET by GalvanicAs I wrote on another post, Kennedy enthusiasts reduce Mary Jo Kopechne to nothing more that a prop in the Teddy melodrama. Her life only has meaning through the context of the events at Chappaquiddick.
And now this twit has taken it to a whole new level. Shameless.
This kind of bizarre,
August 28, 2009 - 23:49 ET by marvlThis kind of bizarre, psychologically sick "hero" adoration seems to be common among liberals. It's as if there is some center in their brain that is disabled, and this prevents them from performing rational or reasonable thought. And it is symptomatic of socialism in general. Look at the adoration heaped on Hitler and Mussolini. Look at the adoration heaped on Kennedy and Obama. Consider how much brighter human history would have been without the lot of them.
The only positive thing one can say about Mary Jo Kopechne's death is that it likely kept Kennedy out of the White House. Other than that, it was a tragedy that shone a bright light on the character of a morally bankrupt man, a man who was a liar, a cheat, a coward, and for all intents and purposes, a murderer.
i think i get it... maybe we
August 29, 2009 - 02:14 ET by pepsimani think i get it... maybe we can draw a parallel to mass. only living senator that has also murdered someone.. if the 15 year old unarmed fleeing teenager that brave mr. kerry shot in the back , could have grown up and seen what he has accomplished.. who knows-- maybe he'd feel it was worth it too
grandma always said never
August 29, 2009 - 02:27 ET by pepsimangrandma always said never talk bad about the dead... sorry gram ...ROT IN HELL TEDDY.. i'm so glad your dead.. i was rooting for you to go before january but i'll take it.. i hope where you are you are the one trapped in the car over and over and over for all eternity.. you wasted your whole life spending other peoples money to ease your muderous guilt and it wont help your legacy one bit cuz we will always remember you for what you were a p.o.s.
Heard this on Rush
August 29, 2009 - 02:16 ET by someloudthunderI can't believe it. I. CAN'T. BELIEVE. IT.
This is almost as shocking as when my Government decided a leftist dictator in Hondouras who tried to illegally change the constitution to be like his buddy in VNZ was alright to do and he shouldn't have been removed from office.
He's gone, she can rest in peace now
August 29, 2009 - 04:54 ET by OldJoeHe's gone and Mary Jo Kopechne can now rest in peace. Not mine, I saw that in another article.
August 29, 2009 - 09:00 ET by jessieHThey have some really sick people working at the huf-po. The man murdered her. And the citizens of Ma. ignored it. He deserves NO respect.
Another nail in the feminist coffin.
August 29, 2009 - 11:14 ET by TailgunnerWhere is NOW or the rest of the feminists on Ted Kennedy?
How many leading Democrats in good standing of today are notorious for abusing, harassing, cheating on, smearing and even killing women? And where are the 'feminazis'?
Bob Packwood kissed a few women and NOW ran him out of office.
Ted Kennedy drowned an innocent young woman and feminists say nothing as he is called the 'lion of the Senate'.
If hypocrisy was a disease, Dr Ezekiel Emanuel would have 'pulled the plug' of NOW by now.
Nationalized Healthcare is a DEATH SENTENCE.
Democrats are the party of killers, racists, pedophiles, bribe takers, serial sexual harassers, liars, perjurers, obstructors of justice and treasonous frauds.
Tailgunner - say what you
August 29, 2009 - 11:24 ET by Free StinkerTailgunner - say what you *really* feel. ;-)
And I find I must agree with your assessment. Sarah Palin gets MSM criticism about her not-quite-in-laws, but Democrats who take bribes, run brothels, lie under oath, cheat on college exams? No problem for teh MSM.
"Gov. Palin has been subjected to one of the most massive and dishonest pile-on smear attacks in the history of liberal media." -- Lowell Ponte
Mary Jo catalyst for most successful Senate career in history
August 29, 2009 - 22:47 ET by HogTideRebelCatsOk, I decided to log onto huffingtonpost.com and read the entire post from Melissa Lafsky. aka Laughsky
My heart was warmed that Mary Jo would have been so happy that she was abandoned in a submerged car left to drown in a panicky gasp in order to be the "catalist" for this Coward to have "the most successful Senate career in history".
After I lost my dinner and cleaned up the puke, I had dry heaves when I read Lafsky's final line, Mary Jo, "Who knows -- maybe she'd feel it was worth it."
More vomit to clean up.
Mary Jo the Catalist, I forgot one last comment
August 29, 2009 - 23:07 ET by HogTideRebelCatsMelissa Laughsky, so you admire Mary Jo for thinking, "she'd feel it was worth it." ?
So I suppose you would gladly trade places with Mary Jo; Mary Jo living and breathing and enjoying life, marriage, children, grandchildren, until a ripe old age . . .
. . . and you Dead at 28, drowned while gasping for breath and desperately trying to escape a submerged car, but in your last breath you would feel so Great that you were the Catalist for the Greatest Senator of all time, and that it was all worth it!
..and yet these same type
August 29, 2009 - 23:11 ET by bigtimer..and yet these same type of creatures detest water-boarding our enemies.
Hard to swallow isn't it HTRC?
Obama's a Community Agitator, a walking, talking destroyer. ~ Rush Limbaugh