The differences:

1) Laura Bush was about half Kennedy’s age.

B) Laura never tried to evade her responsibility.

III) Laura’s crash was fully investigated by police.

d) Laura’s post-crash conduct did not endanger anyone.

iiiii) Laura was a private citizen at the time of her crash.

Other than that, Duros, it’s a perfect match…

J.

Should Laura Bush have done time?

Jeez, glad I left this thread when I did. didn’t know it was a time warp.

When are you going to program a keyboard shortcut for that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chappaquiddick_incident#Discovery_of_the_body

J.

The coroner? How ’bout some backup for that one, Mr. Tea?

You’re mistaken.

You asked whether I could think of a reason why Mr. Kennedy should not have “done time” and later amended the question to whether I think he should have been “punished,” which I take to mean punished by the state.

I am answering the question you put before me. Conviction must preceed punishment. Do you disagree?

2) After the crash, Ted Kennedy swam to shore, went to his hotel, chatted with the clerk (as if to establish an alibi), went to bed, and only called the police to report the crash about 12 hours after the crash — and after the crash had already been spotted and reported by a fisherman.

3) Ted Kennedy never served time for vehicular homicide because he was never charged — like pretty much anyone else not named “Kennedy” would have been in Massachusetts. He caused a crash, left it, and passed up numerous opportunities to report it when it might have saved his passenger’s life.

And most tragically, it seems that he was the one to teach his son Patrick (several crashes while under the influence) and Joseph II (rolled a Jeep and left a young woman paralyzed) to drive as well…

I’ll repeat it: I’d feel safer hunting with Dick Cheney than riding with anyone named “Kennedy.”

J.

No. There could have been any number of reasons for the accident. You can’t just say, ‘We’ve eliminated one reason, therefore it must have been negligence.

“I realize you are just being argumentative basically for sport…”

Your head should explode with that outburst of projection.

I realize you are just being argumentative basically for sport but you seem quite willing to let this hero of the liberal left completely slide for his act of cowardice.

Do you think Ted Kennedy deserved to be punished…?

I assume you mean “punished by the criminal justice system of the state of Massachusetts”. And the only answer I can give to that question is, “Not until he’s convicted of a crime, and then only to the degree that the law allows.”

Can you describe the elements that have to be proved to win a conviction on vehicular homicide charges or do you just like the sound of it?

Just one, and

Well can we agree that he put the car in the pond?

I believe Mr. Kennedy has stipulated as much.

Can we agree that the girl was left to die trapped in the car?

If there was a determination of the time of Ms. Kopechne’s death, that she survived the initial crash, or that Mr. Kennedy knew her condition after the crash, I’m not aware of it. That he left is a given. The rest is speculation, as far as I know.

Can we agree that he didn’t summon any help although he passed several houses on the way to the beach?

Again, I believe Mr. Kennedy has stipulated that this is correct.

Can we agree that he swam off the island?

It would appear to be so.

You do remember the news footage of him returning by ferry from the mainland sporting a neckbrace don’t you?

I’m not certain why this is relevant.

So given all this, what charges would you bring, Mr. District Attorney?

Can we agree that the girl was left to die trapped in the car?

Can we agree that he didn’t summon any help although he passed several houses on the way to the beach?

Can we agree that he swam off the island? You do remember the news footage of him returning by ferry from the mainland sporting a neckbrace don’t you?

I think that would make a pretty strong case. But please which of those 4 points do you dispute?

It’s almost as if you were there, AO. Such vivid detail.

I won’t bother to set aside each instance of speculation and mind-reading in your formulation. I’ll just note that you’re spinning a yarn.

All that aside, I suspect there was not enough evidence to run him up on charges of violating the letter of any law on the books with the possible exception of failure to report an accident. After all, no one was there–except maybe for you.

Legally, I doubt there was any way to convict him of a crime carrying meaningful jail time.

Indeed I do.

Clenis? Impeached (does that count?)

Nope. Not convicted.

Do you have a different answer for AO’s question, Peedro? If you do, let’s have it. Are you suggesting that folks who have not been tried and convicted (or who have been tried and not convicted) should be tossed in jail anyway?

Who gets to decide? Some “activist” judge?

Do you suspect that having a surname like Kennedy might help keep one out of the courthouse in the first place, thereby avoiding messy trials?

You of all people should be sensitive to the abuses of power the powerful of this country rain upon us hoi polloi.

So Nixon? Never convicted!
Clenis? Impeached (does that count?)