@naugahydeinplainsight: I've never seen this advertisement! I'm sure Volkswagen caught a shit storm about it at the time, but now we can all openly say that it's three kinds of awesome! At least, I can.
@Snarky1: Guess I should clarify: This is the product of those delightfully twisted minds at the National Lampoon, though I am sure VW caught crap as well!
You should take a peek at Sarah Palin's Facebook page, it's always good for a laugh. Like seeing people still refer to her as "Senator".
Today it's got the added edge of vile things about Ted Kennedy from people who only know about Chappaquiddick (it was an accident) and nothing else about what he accomplished.
@se7a7n7: It was an accident that was most likely helped along by his drunk driving. He should be remembered for more, but it seems a bit disingenuous to act as if it was "just" an accident.
I'm just waiting for the NY Post's tribute where they will have a big pic of him on tomorrow's cover with some weepy headline like "Tears for Teddy" and then include an editorial in which they rip him to shreds and completely shit on his life's work. Don't let me down, NY Post!
Hey, hey
Love, love
Yeah, yeah
Ah, ha
Teddy's dead
That's what I said
Let the rap a plan
Said he'd see him home
But his hope was a rope
And he should've known
It's hard to understand
That there's love in this man
I'm sure all would agree
That his misery was his
Woman and things
Now Teddy's dead
That's what I said
@Say that is cool: everybody's misused him
ripped him up and abused him
another drunkie plan
pushin' hope for the man
a terrible blow
but that's how it goes
teddy's on the corner now
if you wanna be a drunkie, wow
remember teddy's dead
Isn't Ted still a member of the Senate? Can't he still call people and discuss (as in call Republicans and tell them the STFU)? Or call Dems and say "Don't listen to that guy, I do endorse this bill."
Does Ted not have a voice to say what he's thinking? His Dem friends could go back and say, "This is what Ted says..."
"I serve with Ted Kennedy. I know Ted Kennedy. Ted Kennedy is my friend. And you, sir, do not KNOW Ted Kennedy!"
@BxgrlJeri: That's assuming he's still well enough and lucid enough to do that.
Then again, by holding on to his Senate seat and not being in the Senate, his state essentially has only one U.S. Senator, since he hasn't been voting on any legislation in some time.
He could still call his old friends and colleagues as a private citizen, while allowing his state to have two Senators, just like every other state (even the rinky dinky ones).
""We are conscious that it would be appropriate that he should be chairman of this committee when the bill is passed," - Senator Jack Reed
I know I have been less than kind to Senator Kennedy in past posts, but my opinion his past actions has nothing to do with this. I don't think that his waning health should have anything to do with the passage of an enormously important and expensive bill. Senator Reed needs to realize that what is important here is the well being of the American People and not the legacy of Senator Kennedy. I would expect that both Senators know this.
Since I have been kind of a judgmental jerk about Kennedy in the past, I would like to say that I hope that his suffering ends soon. Hopefully it will be in the form of a recovery, but if not then in a peaceful and dignified way. No one deserves cancer and this man has worked hard for our country.
Here's a thought. Do you think that maybe, just maybe, stuff of this gravity never passes because we have the same damn Senators voting on effectively the same damn thing year after year. How long has Kennedy been in there? How long has Hatch been in there? These folks have the heads of special interests lodged so deep into their asses. Look at the Sotomayor hearing - the same Republican rhetorical flourish. Really, it's fucking old.
I'm telling you - term limits is the answer, and the only answer to change the paradigm, and possible enact some meaningful damn legislation.
Hatch forgets that Kennedy was the king of compromise in a Republican-controlled Senate. Unfettered by the need for consensus, I suspect he would be pushing for a quite liberal bill.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't really see how Hatch used Kennedy's health as an excuse to oppose the bill in its current form. I think what he was saying is that, had Kennedy been healthy enough to participate in the planning/writing of the bill, it wouldn't have been "very one-sided, very liberal," thus making it an entirely different bill (and presumably one that Hatch may have supported).
Ted Kennedy understands the need to compromise to get legislation passed. But when you have the majority and the issue is possible the most important issue to you, you don't compromise just for the sake of compromise and Kennedy knows that.
Well, we can't pass single-payer, because we aren't nationally equipped to accept the idea of collective responsibility for the sick. Because in reality, we're individualist to the core and barely tolerate other races. The idea of paying for health care for poors or fats or minorities makes a lot of Americans legitimately sick.
But now it's apparent that we aren't culturally equipped to handle any big issue. When Bush had a Congress full of Republicans he couldn't privatize schools or social security. Now, Obama has a Congress full of Dems and can't pass the most basic of public health care reforms. This is because Congressmen, too, are individualist, and hate the idea of losing their careers in exchange for what they collectively endorse as social ideals.
Because we are a nation of morally bankrupt pussies.
Pareene: I actually agree with you here. Hatch should shut his trap and not bring Kennedy into this. I don't like this legislation, but I don't like Hatch using TK's decline and eventual death to provide a handy excuse to oppose it. Shameful.
@allyzay: I was unaware of the statute of limitations on making jokes at the expense of the perpetrators of homicide who get off scot-free due to their families' considerable wealth and influence.
@FormerEnglishMajor: You don't expect someone who's just been through a traumatic event to stand around in wet clothes making phone calls, do you? *snort*
@TheHonJudgeSmails: Could be like those OnStar ads "Mr. Kennedy? We have received an alert that your car has crashed with a maximum delta-V of 32.5. Do you or your presumed female companion need assistance? What's that? You'll take care of it? Oh, no, sir, you must have hit your head. I'll stay on the line until emergency services gets there. No need to thank me."
@TheHonJudgeSmails: it's just old. i mean you can get all hoity about your rights to make fun of "murderers" or what have you but shit, son, get a new joke. stale like leftover bagels from last sunday.
@allyzay: It did happen a long time ago, but will never be old because he never had to actually deal with it. Had he been punished and served out that punishment, I would agree. But he did not, so, still relevant.
@allyzay: It's no older than the attempt to excuse and plaster-over Ted's crazy "youth" (which lasted well into his 50's) and recast him as some -- yech -- "Lion of Liberalism".
@allyzay: Would it have seemed less "old" to you had it been your sister/friend/daughter who had died? And no justice was served since Kennedy was never punished?
While I appreciate Kennedy's subsequent service to his country, I still don't forget that he helped an innocent woman die, and his only concern was to cover his backside.
@MsMuffinMcGuffin: Are you serious? If it was my sister/friend/daughter who died, I sure wouldn't be making lame-ass jokes on Gawker about it.
Jeezalu, you could cut the sanctimony on this thread with a knife.
It is an "old" joke because some variant of it shows up on every single post about Ted Kennedy. The joke has put in 40 years of hard work, it deserves to rest. Put it out to pasture already.
@Cicada: So if GWB does a complete 180 in his post-presidential life and starts a charity of the same magnitude of Habitat for Humanity for 40 years, the left will no longer shout out the lists of 'crimes, travesties and general evilness' that are attributed to him?
Yea right.
Not saying this is in good taste, but it is funny.
@Cicada: Frankly, I never considered it a joke, nor did I make one - scroll up. But I'm glad his actions have not been forgotten - I don't care how many years it's been, a women died because of him.
And it's all part of his legacy no matter what Kennedy has accomplished since then.
@MsMuffinMcGuffin: A "joke" started this entire thread, scroll up. If you didn't bother reading the thread, why bother commenting? Is it some sort of knee-jerk thing when it comes to Ted Kennedy?
@momof3wildkids: Oh yes, your completely made-up hypothetical situation made me see the light. It is completely relevant to this situation, because the issue is not what is funny it is LIBERALS v. CONSERVATIVES. And not just LIBERALS v. CONSERVATIVES, but HYPOTHETICAL LIBERALS IN 40 YEARS AFTER W DOES UNSPECIFIED CHARITY WORK v. CONSERVATIVES.
Thank you, mom, for shedding light on the issue.
@Cicada: I thought you only surfaced every 17 years or so?
My point is that his more recent admirable accomplishments do not nullify the fact he did something completely horrible, evil even, and justice was never served.
@momof3wildkids: This thread started with a joke about Chappaquiddick. Every post that mentions Teddy Kennedy will have a joke about Chappaquiddick. Every future post about Ted Kennedy, someone will make a joke about Chappaquiddick. Chappaquiddick jokes are predictable and usually not that creative. I knew when I clicked on this link that someone was going to make some sort of joke about providing insurance for drowning victims, or some variant on that theme. It was predictable. And HonJudgeSmails did not disappoint. Allyzay pointed out that the joke was old and tired, and HJS proceeded to defend the joke on the basis that Teddy Kennedy did a very bad thing that we must never, ever, ever, ever, ever forget. This has nothing whatsoever to do with whether the joke is tired. That is what I thought was ridiculous. I am not defending Ted Kennedy, and I don't really care if people make unfunny jokes (I've made more than my share). I just find the defense of an unfunny joke with righteous indignation over a 40 year old incident irritating.
I think you actually did clarify things. The people defending this joke aren't defending it's funniness, they are defending their own anger at Ted Kennedy for what happened 40 years ago, which is weird because no one on the thread was defending TK on that point.
@TheHonJudgeSmails: Auditioning for a position on Jay Leno's new writing staff, are you? Make sure to include some Betty Ford gags too. That's totally Jay's speed.
@Cicada: You're right, exactly. It is a knee-jerk thing reached for by people who, feeling incredibly self righteous about an event they know jack shit about, choose to pile on because they have absolutely nothing constructive to contribute to an intelligent discussion of, well, anything.
But what amazes me is how willing these people are to impugn the integrity of a plethora of law enforcement and criminal justice officials who, were Kennedy but a Republican, would be defended as pillars of the community and above reproach.
So...power buys you some allowances with "the man." When and in what culture is this news? Most vehicular homicides don't pull jail time.
They're also the sort of people, generally, who don't care that Prescott Bush funded the Nazi Party, as well as the Wermacht, until well into 1943, while providing substandard material to US troops fighting them.
08/26/09
Too soon? (click to see full frame)
08/27/09
08/27/09
08/26/09
(Because he doesn't sound exactly "Utah")
08/26/09
Today it's got the added edge of vile things about Ted Kennedy from people who only know about Chappaquiddick (it was an accident) and nothing else about what he accomplished.
08/26/09
08/26/09
It WAS and accident, his actions following the unfortunate incident is where he fucked up.
08/26/09
08/26/09
Love, love
Yeah, yeah
Ah, ha
Teddy's dead
That's what I said
Let the rap a plan
Said he'd see him home
But his hope was a rope
And he should've known
It's hard to understand
That there's love in this man
I'm sure all would agree
That his misery was his
Woman and things
Now Teddy's dead
That's what I said
08/26/09
ripped him up and abused him
another drunkie plan
pushin' hope for the man
a terrible blow
but that's how it goes
teddy's on the corner now
if you wanna be a drunkie, wow
remember teddy's dead
08/26/09
08/26/09
08/26/09
08/26/09
08/26/09
07/17/09
Does Ted not have a voice to say what he's thinking? His Dem friends could go back and say, "This is what Ted says..."
"I serve with Ted Kennedy. I know Ted Kennedy. Ted Kennedy is my friend. And you, sir, do not KNOW Ted Kennedy!"
07/17/09
Then again, by holding on to his Senate seat and not being in the Senate, his state essentially has only one U.S. Senator, since he hasn't been voting on any legislation in some time.
He could still call his old friends and colleagues as a private citizen, while allowing his state to have two Senators, just like every other state (even the rinky dinky ones).
07/17/09
I know I have been less than kind to Senator Kennedy in past posts, but my opinion his past actions has nothing to do with this. I don't think that his waning health should have anything to do with the passage of an enormously important and expensive bill. Senator Reed needs to realize that what is important here is the well being of the American People and not the legacy of Senator Kennedy. I would expect that both Senators know this.
Since I have been kind of a judgmental jerk about Kennedy in the past, I would like to say that I hope that his suffering ends soon. Hopefully it will be in the form of a recovery, but if not then in a peaceful and dignified way. No one deserves cancer and this man has worked hard for our country.
07/17/09
I'm telling you - term limits is the answer, and the only answer to change the paradigm, and possible enact some meaningful damn legislation.
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
But now it's apparent that we aren't culturally equipped to handle any big issue. When Bush had a Congress full of Republicans he couldn't privatize schools or social security. Now, Obama has a Congress full of Dems and can't pass the most basic of public health care reforms. This is because Congressmen, too, are individualist, and hate the idea of losing their careers in exchange for what they collectively endorse as social ideals.
Because we are a nation of morally bankrupt pussies.
07/17/09
Instead, I think you'll have to agree that they're growing spectacularly every year.
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
I guess I'm just too populist for these times.
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
While I appreciate Kennedy's subsequent service to his country, I still don't forget that he helped an innocent woman die, and his only concern was to cover his backside.
07/17/09
Jeezalu, you could cut the sanctimony on this thread with a knife.
It is an "old" joke because some variant of it shows up on every single post about Ted Kennedy. The joke has put in 40 years of hard work, it deserves to rest. Put it out to pasture already.
07/17/09
07/17/09
Yea right.
Not saying this is in good taste, but it is funny.
07/17/09
And it's all part of his legacy no matter what Kennedy has accomplished since then.
07/17/09
07/17/09
07/17/09
Thank you, mom, for shedding light on the issue.
07/17/09
My point is that his more recent admirable accomplishments do not nullify the fact he did something completely horrible, evil even, and justice was never served.
07/17/09
I think you actually did clarify things. The people defending this joke aren't defending it's funniness, they are defending their own anger at Ted Kennedy for what happened 40 years ago, which is weird because no one on the thread was defending TK on that point.
07/17/09
07/18/09
But what amazes me is how willing these people are to impugn the integrity of a plethora of law enforcement and criminal justice officials who, were Kennedy but a Republican, would be defended as pillars of the community and above reproach.
So...power buys you some allowances with "the man." When and in what culture is this news? Most vehicular homicides don't pull jail time.
They're also the sort of people, generally, who don't care that Prescott Bush funded the Nazi Party, as well as the Wermacht, until well into 1943, while providing substandard material to US troops fighting them.
07/18/09