Edward Kennedy RIP (?)

Edward Kennedy is being lionised in death with barely a mention of Chappaquiddick which resulted in the death of his female passenger and no mention at all of his support for IRA Republicanism during their overt terrorist phase.

Last week Edward Kennedy was one of the US senators who wrote a letter to the Scottish Justice Secretary urging not to release al-Megrahi. My "tribute" to Edward Kennedy are the words that I ended that article with:

"Is this the same Edward "Ted" Kennedy that gave support to the terrorist IRA during the 1980s and 1990s?

Is this the same Ted Kennedy who routinely greeted the supporters and masterminds of IRA terrorism on St Patrick's Day in the USA?

Is this the same Edward Kennedy who in 1971 compared the British military presence in Northern Ireland to America's unpopular involvement in Vietnam, a slight difference being that Vietnam was not part of America whilst Northern Ireland is part of the UK and the majority population want to remain that way.

Is this the same Edward Kennedy who called for the immediate withdrawal of the British army from Northern Ireland claiming that Protestants who could not accept a united Ireland "should be given a decent opportunity to go back to Britain", even though they were born and raised in Northern Ireland?

I could go on and I could bring up Chappaquiddick and wonder why Ted Kennedy gets a free pass on his involvement in the death of an innocent woman whilst a conservative US politician in a similar scandal would never be allowed back into public life, but I won't. I will just point out that the day anyone should take seriously the words of Edward Kennedy on any matter of terrorism or of safe driving has not yet come. "