Orson Buggeigh Thanks, Michael. My sincere sympathy and prayers go out to the Kennedy family. Senator Kennedy has been one of the most productive senators in recent times, with friends on both sides of the aisle. He leaves an impressive legacy in the form of his successful legislation for four decades.

Jason Arvak Compare and contrast the charitable and polite response from most conservatives to the death of Senator Kennedy to the name-calling, vulgar hatred and condemnations to hell from many liberals that accompanied the death of Tony Snow. Interesting, no?

Doomed I am a conservative and I respected Ted Kennedy. I did not agree with him politically but he was a force in Shaping America in a general direction that was good for all Americans. He will be missed by his friends and families and yes even his opponents. The legacy of the Kennedy family will forever be a part of American History and Lore. Kudos to your life Ted Kennedy....you were a TRUE PATRIOT and an American of the first order.

Jim Zerga Most writers have the essential component of the Kennedy-Chappaquiddick saga wrong. The knee-jerk Kennedy haters call him a "murderer". The facts indicate otherwise. Murder ~ NO! Manslaughter ~ Maybe YES! Mary Jo Kopechne did NOT drown. She in fact suffocated. The woman perished while trapped in the submerged Oldsmobile sedan while under water in a dark tidal pond. It was long ago figured that Kopechne survived for at least an hour or more after the crash by breathing from an air pocket. No matter how it’s sliced, that has to be a tough way to die. With a little detective work it has been figured that the real Chappaquiddick story was fundamentally different from the extensive lie promoted by Kennedy himself. Facts strongly suggest that Kopechne disappeared from the party at an earlier time. She’d mentioned to more than one person that cigarette smoke and the stuffy atmosphere at the cottage were making her feel ill. It was figured that Mary Jo Kopechne after making her way outside, found the unlocked Oldsmobile 4-door sedan, laid down across the back seat and fell asleep. There was no conspiracy or plot involved. It was a matter of simple happenstance. Later that night, the routinely drunk Teddy Kennedy left the party with another woman, got behind the wheel of the Oldsmobile and aimed the car in the direction of the beach road. Kennedy, with one other person in the front and another laying down on the back seat only made it as far as the narrow Dike Bridge. With his driving skills impaired, Kennedy lost control and drove the car off the bridge and into the Chappaquiddick - Poucha tidal pond. Perhaps it was the cold ocean water that helped Kennedy sober up enough to escape along with the mystery woman front seat passenger. It is believed that Kennedy did not know that another person was in that car. Kennedy made it back on foot to some point where he was able to make contact with his political minions. Somehow, the operatives got him over to the main island of Martha’s Vineyard, where Kennedy was checked into a motel. Records later showed that numerous phone calls were made back and forth from Kennedy’s room telephone all during the night. He was later seen, in the early morning, having breakfast at the motel coffee shop while casually chatting with other guests. Meanwhile, local police had discovered in the tidal pond, the now partially exposed Oldsmobile sedan. Upon closer examination, the body of a young woman was found in a corner area near the rear window. Artificial respiration was carried out, but Mary Jo Kopechne could not be revived. Noticed at the time, was that no water could found in the woman’s lungs. Early on, it was figured that Kopechne had not drowned but instead had suffocated. Despite Massachusetts state law, no autopsy was ever performed on Mary Jo Kopechne’s body to discover the true cause of death. Kennedy’s later contrived story had him at the risk of his own life “diving repeatedly in an effort to save Miss Kopechne”. At the time, innumerable Massachusetts residents, including me, were outraged. Political stooges had taken depraved actions of the drunk miscreant Teddy Kennedy and spun the homicidal debacle into a performance of heroism. Despite all, the contemptible Teddy Kennedy was elected again and again to the United States Senate by the people of Massachusetts. To this day, I have been unable to find anybody who even admits to having voted for Kennedy. In life and now death Theodore Edward Kennedy was on every level, a despicable human being. Hopefully through the sobering light of time, the actual facts will be accurately weighed. In the meantime, the entire federal election system along with congress and senate requires a good strong enema. This nation needs to return to an operation of a true representative republic operated on actual democratic principle. Perhaps with Kennedy’s final flush through the sewer pipe of history, that much needed cleansing can now begin.