Parable of Why Johnny Can't Borrow

I was in Las Vegas recently, after the November 2nd election. While having a casual dinner at the Trevi restaurant in Caesar's Palace, our waiter Ralph asked where we were from. We told him Oklahoma and he asked about our economy there and specifically the housing market. We chatted about that and then he told us he bought a house two years ago just north of the city of Las Vegas. He paid $256,000 and thought his property, usually in a hot market, would surely gain equity. Just the opposite happened, of course, and I began schooling him about Bill Clinton's Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), and Barney Frank and Chris Dodd's coddling of it. Had I had the Parable of Johnny, I would have been finished with Ralph before dessert.

Why Johnny Shouldn't Have Borrowed - Housing Crisis

Within a year, Ralph's home was worth not much more than $150,000.

So, I've talked about the reason for all of our economic woes on this blog many, many times.  Rather than go through it again, Michael Prell at The Daily Caller has a post today that simplifies the roller coaster that repeated itself over and over again, until everyone wanting a house had one, whether they could pay for it or not. This is how I should have explained it to Ralph:

The "Parable of Why Johnny Can't Borrow:"

One day, Johnny woke up and decided to buy a house. But Johnny did not have enough money to buy a house. So he went to someone who did have enough money: Mr. Capitalist.

“Mr. Capitalist,” asked Johnny, “could you please loan me the money to buy a house?”

“Do you have good credit, a down payment, or proof of income?” asked Mr. Capitalist.

“No,” replied Johnny.

The End

And the end of the Global Financial Crisis.

The good news is that rather than abandon his home, which Ralph and his wife seriously considered, they refinanced and got their monthly payment greatly reduced and are once again hoping for a rise in equity.

Prell's article, QE2 vs the Titanic is a short and pithy narrative of the meaning and importance of capitalism and what happens when the free market is under assault. Prell is a strategist for Tea Party Patriots and the author of the forthcoming book, Underdogma: How America's Enemies Use Our Love for the Underdog to Trash American Power (release date January 20, 2011)

Related and Background:
Tracking the Mess of Fannie and Freddie
Financial Crisis Timeline: Republicans Warned of Economic Crisis
Bulldog Maxine Waters and her Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee

Obama 2008 Win Sends Journolist into Ecstasy

Here's your unbiased media folks, you know, the ones who have baldly lied to you, lied to you by omission and declared war and claims of racism on anyone who did not vote for Barack Obama. Enjoy these tidbits of Journolist ecstasy, along with some hate speech. NASCAR fans, don't miss the quote on the last line of this page.

Dateline November 4th, 2008: Snippets of elitists on JournoList from The Daily Caller - Thanks to Jonathan Strong (The affiliations shown below are as of the date quoted)

Josh Bearman, LA Weekly: 11 months ago I burst into tears by myself on a plane while watching Hardball when my mind wandered to the image of President Obama being sworn in. I've been fighting it ever since. [interesting that Bearman travels by air by himself].

Michael Tomasky, The Guardian: I'm just jelly. Lord!

Harold Pollack, University of Chicago: I am awed by the responsibility we have taken on. Tomorrow a desperately ill African-American woman will present at my university hospital for care, and she will be turned away. She will expect us to live up to what we feel tonight. So we've got a lot to live up to.

Dateline November 7th, 2008:

Michael Cohen, New America Foundation: Mark Penn and Bob Shrum. Anyone who uses the expression "Real America." We should send there ass to Gitmo!

Spencer Ackerman: Let's just throw Ledeen against a wall. Or, pace Dr. Alterman, throw him through a plate glass window. I'll bet a little spot of violence would shum right the f**k up, as with most bullies.

Eric Alterman, Author, What Liberal Media: F**king NASCAR retards...

Rich Lowry on How Obama will Argue Against Arizona Immigration Law

Are you puzzled about how the U.S. Government will argue against Arizona adopting and following Federal immigration laws? I was puzzled, but I think Rich Lowry has it sorted out.

Eric Holder and Barack Obama

The Obama administration's plan of action is to execute the Federal law "carefully," meaning they use discretionary enforcement, rather than following the letter of the law, which makes enforcement mandatory.

And all that amounts to an indirect way of saying that the Obama administration is willing to tolerate the presence of millions of illegal aliens in this country, and that, as far as it’s concerned, this preference constitutes the unalloyed law of the land...

In other words, such mandatory enforcement of the law conflicts with the executive’s discretionary enforcement of the law. If Arizona’s statute is in keeping with the letter of the laws as passed by Congress, so what? The executive can selectively pick and choose which elements of those laws to honor, and then on that basis quash state statues even if they mirror the handiwork of Congress.

Will a court accept, that not following the law is a lawful stance?

As Lowry said, "if nothing else, the state of Arizona has smoked out the Obama administration," and put a spotlight on the administration's disinterest in detaining illegals.

In May 2010, I said the same thing. In an early response to Arizona's new law, John Morton the head of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said when Arizona hands over illegals picked up with the authority of the new law, he may not "accept" them, and said it is not "not good government" to criminalize the presence of illegals. I commented that "being in this country illegally hangs on the discretion of whomever is in power. Charles Krauthammer said this administration is "lawless" and indeed it is, including the Department of Justice. At one time I though the lawlessness was creeping, but with mandated health care,  the New Black Panther voter intimidation case, and now Obama's lawsuit against Arizona, the lawless leaders are in full gallop.

Listen to this excellent commentary from Charles Krauthammer



Charles Krauthammer - Lawless Administration (video)
Linked by Storm'n Norm'n

Elizabeth Edwards on Rielle Hunter That Other Woman (Video)

Elizabeth Edwards has a new chapter in the newly released paperback of her book Resilience. Talking with Matt Lauer on the Today Show, she talked of the heartbreak of realizing that she could no longer be John Edwards' wife, and she wants her children to love their father, because he may need to be there for him if her cancer takes a bad turn.

"

I have great empathy for Elizabeth Edwards: empathy that she married the guy in the first place, then that she stayed with him for 33 years, and that she is battling cancer and has had that battle for a number of years now.

Having said that, it will be a better day when scorned women can talk about their philandering husbands without talking about "that other woman." It's useless. Only the husband is accountable to his wife. Only the husband is responsible to and accountable for their children. Only the husband is bound by the sacred ties of marriage.

And having said that, she really said very little of Rielle Hunter, "that woman." And she says, "I am not just a cuckolded wife.





Elizabeth Edwards on Today Show (video)

The Alien in the White House Pegged by Dorothy Rabinowitz

Dorothy Rabinowitz, a member of the Wall Street Journal's editorial board, and a Conservative awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary,  pegs Barack Obama as "the alien in the White House."

The Alien in the White House

The Wall Street Journal:

...it was clear from the first that this president—single-minded, ever-visible, confident in his program for a reformed America saved from darkness by his arrival—was wanting in certain qualities citizens have until now taken for granted in their presidents. Namely, a tone and presence that said: This is the Americans' leader, a man of them, for them, the nation's voice and champion. Mr. Obama wasn't lacking in concern about the oil spill. What he lacked was that voice—and for good reason.

Those qualities to be expected in a president were never about rhetoric; Mr. Obama had proved himself a dab hand at that on the campaign trail. They were a matter of identification with the nation and to all that binds its people together in pride and allegiance. These are feelings held deep in American hearts, unvoiced mostly, but unmistakably there and not only on the Fourth of July.

A great part of America now understands that this president's sense of identification lies elsewhere, and is in profound ways unlike theirs. He is hard put to sound convincingly like the leader of the nation, because he is, at heart and by instinct, the voice mainly of his ideological class. He is the alien in the White House, a matter having nothing to do with delusions about his birthplace cherished by the demented fringe....

Far greater strangeness has since flowed steadily from Washington. The president's appointees, transmitters of policy, go forth with singular passion week after week, delivering the latest inversion of reality. Their work is not easy, focused as it is on a current prime preoccupation of this White House -- that is, finding ways to avoid any public mention of the indisputable Islamist identity of the enemy at war with us. No small trick that, but their efforts go forward in public spectacles matchless in their absurdity -- unnerving in what they confirm about our current guardians of law and national security.

This is just a snippet of this excellent article. I hope you will read it at the Wall Street Journal link above. Find Ms. Rabinowitz' bio here.

Others talking about The Alien in the White House:
ChicagoRay

Linked by The Wind Rose Hotel

Al Gore Tipper Gore Separate: Al and Tipper Gore Separate

After 40 years of marriage former Vice President Al Gore and wife Tipper Gore are separating.  Guess they're not Joined at the Heart after all. Guess Tipper couldn't stand the hot air. No details available at this time. Update: I heard Tipper left him for bringing copious amount of hot air into the marriage. She was forced to use an inhaler. He was cruel beyond belief, and insisted she wear green - all the time, and when she refused to let him bring the Nobel to bed with them, that did it. She filed claiming irreconcilable carbon credits.

Greta and Laura Bush in George W. Bush's Childhood Home Video

If you have missed this interview, you will love kicking back for a bit and seeing the home former George W. Bush lived in as a child, the neighborhood Laura grew up in, the homes her father built, the chapel where George and Laura were married. Laura was 31 when they married and was known as "the Old Maid of Midland [Texas]. She and George dated only a short time, and according to Mrs. Bush, it seemed like they were meant to be together. This video is full of real-life living. Laura Bush is such a class act. See the video below.

Greta Van Susteren Interviews Laura Bush in President's Childhood Home (video)

Mark Twain Autobiography: Twain Autobiography Released 100 Years After Death

Apparently Mark Twain was an unhappy and angry man at his death, or at least was unhappy and angry at something or someone. The first of a three-volume autobiography, written in the six months leading up to his death, will be released in November. Twain did not want his story released until 100 years after his death in 1910.

Krauthammer Lawless Administration: ICE May Refuse Illegals (Video)

When is an illegal alien not an illegal alien? The answer: Anytime a powerful liberal deems it so. The head of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), John Morton, says he may not accept illegals apprehended by Arizona's new illegal immigration law. The Arizona law is identical to the federal law, so Morton is essentially nullifying federal law. It should be startling, but laws mean little in this country these days.

Morton says criminalizing the presence of illegals is "not good government," and in the same article, Judge Andrew Napolitano say ICE has the legal right to ignore illegals if they choose to do so. There you have it. Being in this country illegally hangs on the discretion of whomever is in power. Charles Krauthammer says this administration is "lawless."

Charles Krauthammer

The following video found at Pundit and Pundette: What is the agrument against Krauthammer's argument? We are living in the world of Joseph K., and the mind of Franz Kafka has come to life. RedState calls for the incompetent's to be fired. I call for imprisonment for encouraging the breech of our borders.



Charles Krauthammer - Lawless Administration (video)
Related and Background:The Lonely Conservative considers illegals plundering the environmentChicagoRay has some great commentary on Morton and illegals

Jonathan Krohn Does Tea Parties Video: Neal Cavuto and Jonathan Krohn

Fifteen-year-old Jonathan Krohn is an amazing young man, but he still has some bubbles left to burst. He just hasn't lived enough life yet. For some reason Jonathan is dismissing Obama's background and training. That's okay - even though he thinks you and I are spreading "filth." It takes time to fully understand the breadth of the threat stalking this country. See a video below.

 Jonathan Krohn

This young man, now an author, has really grown since CPAC 2009.



Jonathan Krohn and Neal Cavuto at a Tea Party (video)

Rahm Emanuel Sean Hannity: Rahm Emanuel First Amendment Overrated (video)

In the video below, Rahm Emanuel tells a reporter the First Amendment is overrated. This administration is a parasite sucking the lifeblood, which is freedom, out of our Republic. So many things have happened so quickly in the past year, we can't begin to keep up, and that is the plan of the Marxist, Communist Saul Alinsky, at whose feet Barack Obama learned the tools of organizing America into a force to destruct, and reconstruct our Nation into the highest order of socialism by:

...feel[ing] so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and chance the future ~ Saul Alinsky Rules for Radicals (prologue page xix)

The disruption of the present organization is the first step toward community organization. Present arrangements [US Constitution] must be disorganized if they are to be displaced by new patterns ~ Saul Alinsky Rules for Radicals (page 116 in my trade paperback)

To make the audacious dreams of Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel come true, they have to denigrate the First Amendment, change it, "word code" it, demolish it. We must find a way to keep track of the chaos this administration is purposefully engineering. Here is another Alinsky quote that describes the puzzling behavior of the birth, death and rebirth of health care, all within one week after the election of Republican Senator Scott Brown from Massachusetts:

Keep the pressure on, with different tactics and actions, and utilize all events of the period for your purpose. ~ Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals (Page 128 in my trade paperback)

Rahm Emanuel - First Amendment Overrated (video)

Tip of the Maggie Mae to David Lemon

Quote of the Day Peggy Noonan: Voters Thought He Wasn't a Nut

Quote of the Day: Peggy Noonan

In 2008, the voters went for Mr. Obama thinking he was not a Nut but a cool and sober moderate of the center-left sort. In 2009 and 2010, they looked at his general governing attitudes as reflected in his preoccupations—health care, cap and trade—and their hidden, potential and obvious costs, and thought, "Uh-oh, he's a Nut!"

Linked by Reaganite Republican - thank you!

Martha Stewart Mariana Pasternak: Mariana Pasternak Book Dishes on Martha Stewart

The Enquirer, that source of mounds of dirty gossip which more often than not has more than a grain of truth to it, says Martha Stewart's former best friend, Mariana Pasternak will tell all about Martha's "lesbian dates," her "prison attack horror," and the "violent temper tantrums" that won't surprise anyone.

The breaking news is, this quarter-century's Queen of Mean, Martha Stewart, allegedly collapsed after hearing her former friend's allegations. I have written little about Martha Stewart, but when this egotistical, narcissistic and outrageously rude  domestic diva, who can't seem to make a single home happy, decided to talk-down about Sarah Palin and a very unsuspecting TV host, Rachel Ray, I couldn't pass it up.

The former friend, Mariana Pasternak, testified against Martha in the stock-trading-dumping trial that sent her to a federal prison. Friends say Martha never forgave Pasternak.

Martha and Mariana, 56, were close for more than 20 years. They chatted on the phone nearly every day, lived around the corner from each other in swanky Westport, Conn., and took vacations together....

"Martha has called Mariana in tears, screaming at her, 'Why would you do this to me?' She still doesn't know exactly what Mariana has written, but Mariana knows Martha's most intimate secrets, and the book is sure to spill them.

Stewart made a guest appearance on Rachel Ray's Food Network show a couple of months ago, and then immediately gave an interview saying that Ray had simply re-edited previous cookbooks to publish her latest, and oh yes...she accused Rachel of "not having a garden." It's no surprise that this shallow and affected woman can't keep a friend.

Martha Stewart told Cynthia McFadden that while Rachael Ray may be popular, her style is "not good enough" for the domestic diva.

"She professed that she cannot bake," Stewart told "Nightline" co-anchor Cynthia McFadden. "She just did a new cookbook which is just a re-edit of a lot of her old recipes. And that's not good enough for me.

Leona Helmsley may have been the original Queen of Mean but in her absence, Martha Stewart has willingly opened that door, walked through it and assumed the position. Assuming Pasternak's book is true and well-vetted, I hope she sells a lot of copies.
Cartoon courtesy of Daryl Cagle, Slate.com

CAIR Colleen Kollar-Kotelly: Dave Gaubatz Chris Gaubatz to Return Docs from Undercover Investigation

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has granted CAIR a temporary restraining order against David Gaubatz and Chris Gaubatz. David Gaubatz is a co-author of Muslim Mafia. He and his son Chris are ordered to return all documents to CAIR.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly - Muslim Mafia Undercover Investigation

You'll remember this week Rep. Sue Myrick held a press conference calling for an investigation into CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) as a result of the Gaubatzes new book Muslim Mafia. An undercover investigation into CAIR revealed a CAIR document stating that that two "fellowships" (interns) had been placed on Capitol Hill at a cost of $50,000.

The purpose of our press conference was to make public an internal CAIR memo that documented CAIR's stated goal of placing CAIR interns in the offices of members of Congress, especially the members who serve on the Homeland Security, Judiciary and Intelligence Committees.

Let me be clear here, CAIR, a group whom the FBI says is affiliated with the terrorist group HAMAS, is trying to place their interns in the offices of those members who serve on the three committees that handle national security related issues. National Security is the first responsibility of the federal government.

 CAIR immediately lashed out against Myrick with claims that she was investigating Muslims on Capitol Hill.

Chris Gaubatz, was an unpaid volunteer at CAIR and found the document, along with others, titled CAIR National 2007 Action Plan, retrieved, according to the court, under false pretenses and "without any consent or authorization."

Judge Kollar-Kotelly ordered the documents returned to CAIR by midnight November 18th and the temporary restraining order barred further use or publication of the material. How is that done when the book is already on the market?

According to WorldNetDaily, Daniel Horowitz is representing the Gaubatzes. He says to look at both sides of the judge:

"She is extremely intelligent and a strong supporter of the First Amendment," he said.

 That's one side. I don't blame Mr. Horowitz for remaining positive as he must appear in the Judge's courtroom,

So WorldNetDaily gives the other side:

She was among the judges who moved to rebuild the "wall of separation" between criminal investigators and intelligence agents cited by the 9/11 commission as a factor in the failure to detect the 9/11 plot

Remember the 9-11 Commission hearings when Jamie Gorelick, a Deputy Attorney General in the Clinton administration, admitted her nurturing of the of the "wall of separation," actually she admitted to "building" the wall, which kept criminal investigators and intelligence agents from sharing vital information. Evidently, Kollar-Kotelly was a part of that effort. Read more about the Judge at The Volokh Conspiracy.
 
I wish Horowitz had "shared" the other side of the Judge with us. David Gaubatz says some of the restraining order has already been fulfilled and some documents are in the hands of authorities. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see what happens to Muslim Mafia.

Carl Bernstein Sarah Palin: Bernstein Says Palin Ignorant (video)

Carl Bernstein is completely flummoxed that Conservatives like Sarah Palin. He says Sarah Palin is ignorant. "She's a demagogue, she's ignorant, she's a flake." See video below. Bernstein says that if Liberals picked someone as unqualified as Sarah Palin [for the second highest office in the land,] Conservatives would have run her out of town...." I'd like Bernstein to write a book about how Conservatives can run a Liberal out-of-town, because, believe me, we tried with Barack Obama. If you want to talk about "unqualified," the conversation needs to shift to Barack Obama.

"John McCain really committed an unpatriotic act by choosing Palin as his running mate."

And let us not forget this one: [Palin] is "manifestly unqualified for high office. As for Carl Bernstein, this is the face of hate. It's also about unbridled stupidity - about acting stupidly. May Sarah Palin live long and speak loudly to continue to baffle Mr. Bernstein. Carl Bernstein - Sarah Palin Video

True Compass: Ted Kennedy $1000 Book, Mary Jo Kopechne Birthday Updated

One thousand copies of "True Compass," Ted Kennedy's" $1,000.00 book, complete with digital signature will soon be for sale. For your money you get a leather cover and Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy's wisdom and memories as written in collaboration with Ron Powers, author of "Flags of Our Fathers." I'm guessing the leather-bound copy to be sold online, will not contain memories of Chappaquiddick and Mary Jo Kopechne in the book. Update: Senator Ted Kennedy died on August 25, 2009 at age 77 at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer in May 2008.

Ted Kennedy

Hardback copies for the unwashed masses, like you and me, will be released at $35.00 per book on October 6th, 2009. The initial print of the hardback will be 1-1/2 million copies. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), now in treatment for brain cancer, is the second most senior member of the Senate after Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia (D).

 About remembering Mary Jo Kopechne, which the Senator will not do, but I will. Her 69th birthday would have been July 18th, had the Senator pulled her out of the car that he drove into the Chappaquiddick, or even had he expediently brought help for her rescue to the scene. Her death occurred on July 20th 1969. She was 28 at the time. Two days later her funeral was held in Pennsylvania and she was buried there. Ms. Kopechne's body was whisked off the island and out of Massachusetts for a very quick burial.

Mary Jo Kopechne (photo)

There was no defense for Ms. Kopechne against the Kennedy clan. There was no autopsy. There was no "True Compass" for Mary Jo:

Ted Kennedy (photo)

On a humid Friday in July of 1969, as his plane took off from Boston bound for Martha's Vineyard, Senator Edward M. Kennedy seemed locked in a sure, unstoppable ascent to the White House. His longtime chauffeur Jack Crimmins had brought Kennedy's car, a black Oldsmobile, to the Vineyard on the ferry. He had also brought a supply of liquor for the weekend: vodka, Scotch, rum, a couple of cases of beer. 

Now, after a stop for fried clams, the two men headed for Chappaquiddick, a smaller, sparsely populated island separated from Edgartown by a narrow inlet. They made the quick crossing on a simple, barge-like ferry and continued on their way, through a landscape of sandy marsh and dense scrub pine and oak. 

Kennedy wanted a swim before his race. He changed clothes at the gray-shingled cottage where the party would be held that night. Then Crimmins drove him to East Beach: a half mile back toward the ferry, slowing at the sharp, L-shaped curve, then a deliberate right turn onto sandy Dike Road. 

A mile down the dirt road, the woods fell away, and the narrow, wooden Dike Bridge came into view. 

Crimmins steered carefully across the one-lane span, above the swirling tidal flow of an inlet known as Poucha Pond. At the beach, he waited in the torpid afternoon as Kennedy dove below the crashing surf. 

The six young women who gathered that weekend on the Vineyard — sisters Nance and Maryellen Lyons, Rosemary "Cricket" Keough, Mary Jo Kopechne, Esther Newberg, and Susan Tannenbaum — had come together several times already to reminisce about their days in the campaign's "boiler room." The Kennedys had hosted one such affair at Hyannis Port the previous summer. 

The women had worked in the buzzing nerve center of the campaign, housed in a windowless room for secrecy. Each was responsible for courting and tracking delegates in several states. 

Mary Jo Kopechne had known Robert Kennedy well, once staying up all night at his Virginia home to type a landmark speech on Vietnam. After he was killed, Kopechne told a former teacher she felt unable to return to Capitol Hill "because it will never be the same again." 

Being with friends who felt the same way was comforting, and the "boiler room girls" began their Vineyard weekend in good spirits. Friday morning, they swam at a beach on Chappaquiddick. Then they took a chartered boat to watch the sailing races.
Back at the cottage after the regatta, Kennedy soaked in the bathtub to sooth his aching back while Gargan [a cousin] baked frozen hors d'oeuvres and fired up the grill in the fading light outside. 

The mood was easygoing. Kennedy asked Crimmins to mix him a rum and Coke and teased his chauffeur about the level in the bottle, jokingly demanding, "Who's been drinking all the rum?" 

It was, on the surface, a Camelot-style gathering, of older married men and younger, unmarried women — but in an oddly modest, remote setting, with women who were unusually skilled and ambitious. 

Guests drifted from the cramped cottage to the mosquito-ridden front yard. Stories were told; Bobby Kennedy was a presence. Some people danced. Everyone present would later insist that the drinking was moderate. Analysis of Kopechne's blood would show her alcohol level was .09 percent — perhaps the equivalent of three to five drinks. 

According to Crimmins, it was 11:15 p.m. when Kennedy asked for the car keys. The senator said he was tired and wanted to return to his hotel on the last ferry. He said he would drive Kopechne back to Edgartown, too, because she'd had too much sun and wasn't feeling well. 

His request was unusual. The senator rarely drove himself anywhere, in Washington or Massachusetts. And his departure left behind one car for 10 people, most of them planning to return that night to rooms in Edgartown. 

But the pair's departure caused hardly a ripple. Kopechne told no one she was ill, or that she was leaving, her friends said. She left behind her purse and the key to her hotel room.
The next thing Kennedy knew was that he was going to die. 

Kennedy Car in Chappaquiddick 

He would recall being swept away by the tide, calling out Kopechne's name as he drifted. He said he recovered his footing and waded back to the car through waist-deep water, guided by the glow of the headlights underwater. 

He dove below the surface, trying to get to Kopechne. He failed, and tried again, seven or eight times in all. By then he was exhausted, barely able to hold his breath. 

Finally, he let himself float away. He crawled onto shore and lay there, coughing and gasping. Then he staggered up the bank and started back up Dike Road, "walking, trotting, jogging, stumbling, as fast as I possibly could." 

Disturbing sequence of decisions. 

It would have been a dark walk, dogged by panic and slowed by powdery sand. There was a crescent moon, but trees cocooned the road. He passed houses but did not stop for help, later saying that he saw no lights. 

Back at the cottage, spent and soaking wet, Kennedy collapsed in the car parked outside. Then he called Gargan and Markham, both lawyers, to help him. 

There was no phone in the cottage, but there were houses nearby and a volunteer fire station with an alarm. The three men never paused, though, as they raced to the pond.
Later, in court, Gargan tried to explain why. 

"I felt there was only one thing to do and that was to get into the car and as quickly as possible, because I knew if I did not there wasn't a chance in the world of saving Mary Jo," he said. 

At the bridge, Gargan and Markham said, they stripped off their clothes and dove in, but the current kept them from Kopechne. "When we failed in that . . . I didn't think that there was anything more that could be done," Gargan said. 

As they headed back up Dike Road — passing the same houses but again not stopping — Kennedy broke down, according to his friends. 

"He was sobbing," Markham said. "He said, 'This couldn't have happened.' "
Kennedy's future loomed, suddenly uncertain. "What am I going to do, what can I do?" Kennedy asked. 

It had been two hours since the accident. Gargan drove to the ferry landing — steps from a working payphone. The night was still, the narrow inlet calm as glass. 

Maybe, he thought, Kopechne had escaped. Maybe she was back at the cottage. Meanwhile, Gargan and Markham were insisting he report the accident. 

When the senator stood and gave his orders, they were simple and direct: "You take care of the girls; I will take care of the accident." 

But Kennedy went back to his room. He did not go to police. 

On Saturday morning, the cleanup began. 

Kennedy began making phone calls to lawyers. Two fishermen, meanwhile, had spotted the car in the pond. 

By the time the senator made it to the police station, about 10 a.m., Kopechne's body had already been recovered. 

Edgartown Police Chief Dominick Arena returned from the bridge to his office to find Kennedy there making phone calls. 

What would you like for me to do?" the senator asked then. "We must do what is right or we will both be criticized for it." 

Arena asked for a statement....He left out Kopechne's last name because he could not spell it. And he brushed aside the 10-hour delay in reporting the crash. 

"When I fully realized what had happened this morning," he wrote, "I immediately contacted the police." 

In spite of the gaps, Arena asked no questions. It was too late to determine how much Kennedy had been drinking. By midday, Kennedy was on his way to the airport.
More confounding, a sheriff's deputy named Huck Look had contradicted Kennedy. 

Coming home that night through the Dike Road intersection, Look said, he had seen a car like Kennedy's, with a man and woman inside and a similar plate number, at 12:45 a.m. - an hour and a half after Kennedy said the accident happened and 45 minutes after the last scheduled ferry. 

The medical examiner declared Kopechne's cause of death was drowning and saw no need for an autopsy. The district attorney kept his distance. The police chief prepared the only charge he believed he could make: leaving the scene of an accident, a misdemeanor punishable by two months in prison.

Kennedy pleaded "guilty," and then:

His lawyer asked that his sentence be suspended. Judge James Boyle consented.
"It is my understanding that he has already been, and will continue to be, punished far beyond anything this court can impose," said Boyle. 

The hearing lasted less than 10 minutes. Afterward, the police chief told reporters his investigation was closed. 

In January [1970], the Chappaquiddick inquest was held on Martha's Vineyard. Kennedy's lawyers had prevailed, and the four days of testimony were closed to the public and press, the transcript locked away until a later date. 

Within days of its decision, Judge Boyle released the 764-page inquest transcript — including his own stunning conclusion that Kennedy's negligence had contributed to Kopechne's death. 

Based on testimony at the inquest, Boyle concluded that Kennedy had lied; he "did not intend to drive to the ferry slip and his turn onto Dike Road was intentional." 

Furthermore, the judge wrote, because the bridge was a hazard to be crossed with caution, Kennedy "would at least be negligent and, possibly, reckless" when he approached it, as he testified, at 20 miles per hour. 

But under the odd, archaic rules of the inquest, Judge Boyle was not required to act on his findings, released just days before he retired. The district attorney made no move to action either. 

The Massachusetts voters were untroubled. They reelected him a few months later over his poorly funded Republican rival, Josiah Spaulding, by almost 500,000 votes.

Read the entire article and see a video of the bridge, the car, etc. - even the car under water, and hear those close to the Kennedy's concerned that Ted would never be president - at Boston.com.
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe True Compass, Ted Kennedy's $1000 book will point a true compass in the direction of Kopechne. Maybe he will reminisce about Kopechne and maybe even about Mary Jo's 69th birthday.