Senatorial Privilege

I followed the trial and read the book years later and I still wonder how any Massachusetts voter who is a critical thinker could keep reelecting Kennedy. I recall that a State Trooper named Flynn who was involved in the investigation was feeding the Kennedy camp inside information and eventually went to work for the Senator. I also remember that one of the charges of which he was found guilty called for a mandatory two year prison term that was suspended by the judge.It is stated in the book that a "mandatory sentence may not be suspended." Isn't one of the Democratic mantras "Equal justice for all

Ted Kennedy, after consuming numerous alcoholic beverages, leaves a private party with a young lady not his wife. His wife, you see, is pregnant and is at home back in Massachussetts. Sen. Kennedy is driving with a suspended license. A local peace officer wonders if Kennedy's car is lost after seeing it first go one way and then back up and start going a different way. He approaches it on foot. The car then takes off at a high rate of speed. Shortly after this, the car drives off of Chappaquiddick Bridge, flips over and lands upside down in 8 feet of water. Sen. Kennedy exits the vehicle. The young woman with him does not. For the next 9 hours, instead of simply calling the police and rescue workers, Sen. Kennedy desperately goes to work on an alibi. Kennedy confesses the accident to two people, one of whom is his cousin and lawyer, Joseph Gargan. They press him to report the accident, which he is understandably reluctant to do. The two men press Kennedy so much, he surprises them by shouting that he will report the accident and then dives into the lake and swims the harbor to the hotel where he was staying. Taking Kennedy at his word, Gargan and the other man remain on the Island. In the morning, Gargan is stunned to find Kennedy chatting with friends and getting ready to head for breakfast. Not only did Kennedy not report the accident, he also took pains to be seen by a hotel staff member late that night and madee a point of asking the man what time it was. Two fishermen discovered the upside down car next to the bridge that morning, while Kennedy was still feverishly working on his alibi. To drink and drive is a crime. To flee the scene of an accident is a crime. To fail to render aid to someone injured in an accident you caused is a crime. While sleeping around on your wife is not a crime, it does display poor judgement and a low moral character. Senator Kennedy did all these things and because he is a Kennedy, he got away with it. Had you or I gotten drunk and driven off a bridge with someone in the car with us, and we left them to die while we chose not to report the accident and instead tried to invent an alibi, you or I would go to prison. We are not Kennedys. The key merit of this book is that it demonstrates how in America today someone with power and influence can engage in criminal conduct and not only never be called to account for their crimes, but can even flourish and sit in position of moral authority over others.

There is no Kennedy bashing in this book, just the truth. How can a reporter rely too heavily on witnesses? The facts are plain. He did it, she was alive in the car as was proven in court even though the judge (the best one Kennedy money can buy) would not allow ANY testimony stating the fact she was. Only a great catch of the prosecution to the use of the word "froth" would make this possible. He lied about it, tried to cover it up, tried to get someone else to take the blame for it.. The Kennedy family bought the silence of the Kopechne family for a mere $100,000 and immediately went into the ignore it and it will go away phase. This book is a must read for America to see how the Kennedy family manipulates the truth and the facts to wiggle out of the responibilty for their CONTINUING list of transgressions. Leo Damore presents it all in a consice edition that will outrage any normal law abiding citizen. It is sickening to read how Teddy is instantly more concerned about saving his political career than the life of the girl (the one without the panties) trapped inside his car.... and he got away with it. again.

I bought this book in July of 2000, after watching an extraordinary 2-hour installment about the story on A & E's "Investigative Reports" (also available on videotape). The author here, Leo Damore, was also part of the television program. Just as the video holds up to repeated viewing, so have I found I've returned more than once to the book. Called 'the most famous traffic fatality in American politics,' it certainly remains that.'Profile in Courage' this is not. I was 15 the summer of this accident and then had only a teenager's curiosity about it. One more 'Kennedy tragedy,' but this one proves to be one that could have and should have been avoided. I distinctly remember the carried-on-all-networks 'statement' the senator gave days late, stage-managed to nth. And not very believable. What I hadn't remembered was that even without Chappaquiddick, it was hardly a slow news week; it was the same weekend we'd first landed on the moon. According to the book, the latest mishap of the Kennedy family's pushed the moon story to the bottom of page one of "The Boston Globe." I remember the cute neck brace too, which apparently didn't go on for one or two days after the accident, and after many sources in the book had noticed no incapacity in the senator. It would be a pleasure to say 'No one today could get away with the circumvention and manipulation of law enforcement and investigation that was at work here. But don't expect to hear it from someone who sat through nine 1995 months of the Simpson criminal proceedings. If Robert Blake walks too, good luck un-convincing me that the rich and famous get away with it every time.Damore relies heavily on the recollections of Joseph A. Gargan, a Kennedy insider, and one of the first people the senator confessed the accident to. After nearly two decades Gargan was ready to talk. I find him credible, but it's a messy story and no one comes up smelling like a hero. If nothing else, "Senatorial Privilege" is a study of how much of yourself you can trade away to get close to power and celebrity. Gargan is no enviable figure looking back from late middle-age, and having played sycophantic clean-up man for so much of it.But I couldn't put this book down, which I bought used, and I recommend it. (From the cellophane over the dust jacket, it was clearly once a library hardcover edition, but it was in fully satisfactory condition.) It's one of the best non-fiction works I've read in recent years. Mary Jo Kopechne would be 63 this year.

Leo Damore obviously went to great lengths to thoroughly research and write this fascinating book. After the accident, Teddy went from one lie to the next, and Damore nails him. If you want to find out why the Senator from Massachusettes should be the inmate from Massachusettes, read this book!