Or is there one system for the average citizen
and another for the high and mighty?"
- Senator Ted Kennedy, 1973 -
Saturday, September 1, 2007 Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) resigned from the United States Senate effective September 30. He did so after it was revealed that he had plead guilty to a charge of "disorderly conduct" in a public restroom at the Minneapolis airport.
In his statement announcing his resignation he said:
Statement of Senator CraigReports are numerous that Senator Craig reached his decision after GOP leaders informed him that they could no longer support his bid for re-election in 2008.
Senator's Official Web site
September 1, 2007
...To the Idahoans I represent, to my staff, my Senate colleagues and, most importantly, my wife and our family, I apologize for what I have caused.
I am deeply sorry.
...
These are serious times of war and conflict - times that deserve the Senate and our full nation's attention. There are many challenges facing Idaho that I'm currently engaged in, and the people of Idaho deserve a Senator who can devote 100 percent of his time and effort to critical state and national issues.
Therefore, it is with sadness and deep regret that I announce that it is my intent to resign from the Senate, effective September 30. In doing so, I hope to allow for a smooth and orderly transition for my loyal staff, and for the person appointed to take my place at William Borah's desk. I have full confidence that Governor Otter will appoint a successor who will serve Idaho with distinction.
I apologize to the people of our great state for being unable to serve out the term to which you have elected me. I hope you understand my decision to step aside.
Like Mark Foley and other Republicans shown to be an embarrassment to those who voted for them, Republicans take seriously their responsibility to uphold a higher standard of conduct in office.
Contrast with Chappaquiddick
At 11:15 PM at a party on July 18, 1969, after a day of heavy drinking in and around Chappaquiddick Island off nearby Martha's Vineyard, Senator Edward Kennedy demanded the keys to his car from his chauffeur ostensibly to give a ride to Mary Jo Kopechne, a young woman who had worked for his late brother Robert Kennedy. Ms. Kopechne, curiously left her purse behind when the pair exited without telling the host or guests they were leaving.
Kennedy took Ms. Kopechne on an unpaved road in the opposite direction of the Edgartown Ferry, which he later claimed was his destination (police diagram here). The Senator's car was spotted parked in a private dirt driveway by Deputy Sheriff Huck Look at approximately 12:40 before it sped off down the dirt road, again away from the paved road to the Ferry.
It was in the dark on that road that Senator Kennedy's car struck the side of Dike Bridge, an old wooden structure with no guard rails, flipped over and landed in approximately six feet of water.
Kennedy claimed he made repeated attempts to rescue Mary Jo, eventually giving up and returning to the house where the party he attended was held to summon help. Along the way he past a number of occupied homes, with lights on, where he could have summoned help. The station for the Volunteer Fire Department was also nearby but Kennedy sought instead two lawyers from the house, one his cousin Joe Gargan and Paul Markham, a former US Attorney. Without calling the police, rescue services or informing anyone else at the party the three men returned to the scene of the crime.
The three men remained at the scene, never once summoning help, and left approximately an hour later. Meanwhile, in all probability Mary Jo Kopechne was still alive, trapped in the back of the car with a shrinking supply of air.
Inquest Exhibit #14 showing diver's recollection of the bodies position:
The two lawyers then drove Kennedy to the Ferry terminal and while waiting for the Ferry and discussing what to do Kennedy suddenly leapt from the car and swam back to Edgartown across the channel. Curiously, the two lawyers assumed Kennedy would report the accident in Edgartown, even though a public phone was at the Ferry Terminal. Instead, Kennedy returned to his hotel and remained there until the next morning greeting people as if nothing had happened.
Kennedy finally reported the accident when it became clear that no one was going to swallow the lie Kennedy proposed saying that Mary Jo had borrowed the car. This occurred as police and rescue personnel were summoned to the bridge after a report came in that the car had been found. Meanwhile, Kennedy had placed at least 17 long distance calls on his credit card. At one point he even called an old girlfriend, Helga Wagner, a former German airline stewardess.
Kennedy "Trial" An Open/Shut Coverup
Senator Kennedy issued a written statement to police, but refused to answer any further questions. The cottage in which the party was held was swept clean with all evidence of the party removed. The other girls who were at the party were sent home.
Later higher powers of the Democrat Party, including many former officials from the Administration of John F. Kennedy, descended on the Kennedy compound in Hyanisport to handle the situation. The team included: Former secretary of defense Robert McNamara, White House Speechwriter Ted Sorensen and Arthur Schlesinger Jr. Kenneth Galbraith (Jonh Kennedy's Ambassador to India) gave advice by phone.
Kennedy's Driver's License, which had expired five months previously was magically renewed and backdated. Both witnesses Gargan and Markham were informed that they were now bound to say nothing because of lawyer-client privilege, even though neither of them had been officially acting in that capacity.
At the trial, which lasted all of seven minutes, Kennedy plead guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident, which required a mandatory minium of 20 days in jail. However, the judge, who was misinformed that Senator Kennedy had an otherwise clean driving record (oh really?) suspended the sentence. No further questions about his conduct were asked.
Explaining the suspended sentence and the speedy trial his local attorney said: "I believe his character is well-known to the world."
Later that evening, Kennedy was given an unprecedented 15 minutes of airtime nationwide on all three television networks to make a statement which included the following:
The definitive online source of all things Chappaquiddick, Y Ted K.com describes the speech this way:Senator Edward Kennedy's Statement to the Nation
July 25, 1969
...These events and the publicity and inuendo and whispers which have surrounded them, and my admission of guilt this morning, raises raises the question in my mind of whether my standing among the people of my state has been so impaired that I should resign my seat in the United States Senate. If at any time the citizens of Massachusetts should lack confidence in their Senator's character or his ability, with or without justification, he could not, in my opinion, adequately perform his duties, and should not continue in office.The people of this state - the state which sent John Quincy Adams, Danial Webster, Charles Sumner, Henry Cabot Lodge, and John F. Kennedy to the United States Senate - are entitled to representation in that body by men who inspire their utmost confidence. For this reason I would understand full well why some might think it right for me to resign.
This would be a difficult decision to make. It has been seven years since my first election to the Senate. You and I share many memories. Some of them have been glorious, some have been very sad. The opportunity to work with you and serve our state has been much of what has made my life worthwhile.
And so I ask you tonight, the people of Massachusetts, to think this through with me. In facing this decision, I seek your advice and opinion. In making it, I seek your prayers. For this is a decision that I will have finally to make on my own.
...
I pray that I can have the courage to make the right decision. Whatever is decided, whatever the future holds for me, I hope I shall be able to put this most recent tragedy behind me and make some future contribution to our state and mankind whether it be in public or private life. Thank you and good night.
- The speech ended with a passage taken verbatim from his brother Jack's Profiles in Courage, an effort to elevate the episode into a heroic mold more suitable to the Kennedy image.Senator Kennedy used the power of his office and the nation's reverence for his fallen brothers to cover up and excuse his own behavior which resulted in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne. He was aided in that effort by senior Democrat Party leaders.
- As Time later observed: "There was nothing heroic about fencing with half-truths, falsehoods, omissions, rumors and insinuations of cowardice. And above all, Kennedy wanted it both ways: he asked to shoulder the blame for what happened, while at the same time he was obviously begging to be excused."
- Ted Kennedy said he was accepting responsibility for the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, but what he wasn't willing to accept were the consequences.
- No organized poll had been established wherby Massachusetts voters could register their opinion. There was only one candidate in this election, and his staff was going to count the votes.
- Kennedy's press secretary reported that the response "was overwhelmingly favorable."
- An NBC spokesman, however, revealed that the reaction to the speech had been, "Unanimously anti-Kennedy."
Kennedy Just One of Many Examples
I could go on and on with examples of Democrats whose conduct was much worse than anything Senator Larry Craig of Idaho has been accused. Readers will certainly recall Bill Clinton wagging that finger in the nation's face on our television screens "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky. I never told anyone to lie. Not a single time" (video here).
There's also the FBI sting video of Congressman Jack Murtha (D-PA) discussing how bribes from Arabs might be arranged in future. There's also the history of Senator Robert Byrd. The only sitting U.S. Senator to be elected as Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan.
And who can forget two other Massachusetts politicians: Congressman Gerry Studds, who defied censure for having a relationship with a male Page and Congressman Barney Frank, who used the power of his office to fix parking tickets for his boyfriend who was operating a prostitution ring out of Frank's apartment.
Another Democrat, the late governor and U.S. senator Huey Long of Louisiana said it best: "The only way I can lose is if they find me in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
But perhaps that's no longer true; especially in Massachusetts where a dead girl in the car or a prostitute boyfriend are no longer disqualifications for office. Of course that only applies if the offender is a Democrat!
No comments:
Post a Comment