Legacy: Considering the Kennedy-Andropov gambit
Much worse than Chappaquiddick.
(By Ed Morrissey, Hot Air) - Now that Ted Kennedy has been eulogized and buried, no one can complain about the examination of his life in the public sphere as inappropriate. From the beginning, Kennedy’s critics have discussed his failures and cowardice at Chappaquiddick, and that certainly belongs in any discussion of Kennedy’s life. However, another episode relates much more directly to Kennedy’s public career and should get a great deal more examination now — his effort to enlist Yuri Andropov as an ally of the Democratic Party against Ronald Reagan in 1983. Peter Robinson reviews the incident for Forbes:
“On 9-10 May of this year,” the May 14 memorandum explained, “Sen. Edward Kennedy’s close friend and trusted confidant [John] Tunney was in Moscow.” (Tunney was Kennedy’s law school roommate and a former Democratic senator from California.) “The senator charged Tunney to convey the following message, through confidential contacts, to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Y. Andropov.”
Kennedy’s message was simple. He proposed an unabashed quid pro quo. Kennedy would lend Andropov a hand in dealing with President Reagan. In return, the Soviet leader would lend the Democratic Party a hand in challenging Reagan in the 1984 presidential election. “The only real potential threats to Reagan are problems of war and peace and Soviet-American relations,” the memorandum stated. “These issues, according to the senator, will without a doubt become the most important of the election campaign.” …
Kennedy’s motives? “Like other rational people,” the memorandum explained, “[Kennedy] is very troubled by the current state of Soviet-American relations.” But that high-minded concern represented only one of Kennedy’s motives.
“Tunney remarked that the senator wants to run for president in 1988,” the memorandum continued. “Kennedy does not discount that during the 1984 campaign, the Democratic Party may officially turn to him to lead the fight against the Republicans and elect their candidate president.”
posted by BP News Bureau | 3:00 PM
5 Comments:
I consider myself neutral, but I did research the source of this information and discovered it is single sourced from Forbes.com. Forbes is not noted as having investigative journalism skills and the report was released to the world on Aug 28 (after Kennedy's death). Since neither of the protagonists in the alleged letter are alive to speak to the validity, it remains as a non-validated report. I find it interesting how people who want to believe something will latch on to this kind of news without checking validity or the source of the information. Case in point, look what happened to Dan Rather when he reported on information from a (supposed) reliable source in 2004 about Geo Bush's draft dodging escapades. I suppose, though, there are thousands of people who want to believe the worse of Ted Kennedy and will use any excuse to further their bias.
Steve Bisel
Actually, Steve, this report was first reported on February 2, 1992 in an article in the London Times titled "Teddy, the KGB and the top secret file." The document was discovered in the Central Committee archives after the fall of the Soviet Union. The full letter was published in the 2006 book, The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism. The media knew about it, but in typical media fashion with regard to the Kennedys, they didn't bother covering the story. Thanks for reading...
Well, Andy, I went to the London Times web site and performed a search using various key words and did not come up with the reference that you cite. Do you have a URL link that we all could link to at London Times where we could all see the report you mention.
Regarding Paul Kengor's book about President Reagan ... his citation in that book did not have the credibility to warrant further investigation as it was hearsay and was never validated. It seems the allegation that Mr. Kengor made in his book was resurrected on Aug 28th with the same lack of verification by Forbes.com. I have to add, the Mr. Kengor's writings are strongly conservative and he is not a journalist ... rather, he is an professor of political science at the University of Pittsburgh and his books, well written as they are, are based on following historical trends and correlating those trends with forming policy and government. I would not cite his work as good investigative journalism that is required when one makes serious allegations.
Although you can criticize the "media" for not championing the causes that you hold dear, I find it incredible that the allegation that Ted Kennedy committed the acts of treason would not have been picked up by some organization if there were any credibility. Ted Kennedy had plenty of enemies and to say that "media" knew of it but in typical fashion disregarded it because of a love affair with the Kennedy's is, in my opinion, merely copping out because you want to believe the worse and find fault with the "liberal media" when that media fails to champion your cause.
Contact the London Times directly and ask about the article. Again, the article is titled "Teddy, the KGB and the top secret file", published on February 2, 1992, written by a reporter named Tim Sebastian.
Paul Kengor did more than just issue a citation in his book, he published the entire letter in his book. He even has a pdf file of the original Russian document. The letter itself was validated by Ted Kennedy's office, but they said it was interpreted wrong.
I didn't criticize the "media" for "not championing the causes [I] hold dear...", I criticized them for putting their love of anything Kennedy first, their jobs as journalists second.
I find it hard to believe for somebody who claims in your first comment, "I consider myself neutral...", that you're anything but neutral. Thanks for reading...
Andy, your info seems valid. I still take the opinion thought that there is some question about how valid the letter is, were there other factors to take into considerations, the KGB is involved and one can question how it was released to the world, etc. As no one took up the investigation (and God knows there should have been people who had reason to do so), I am of the opinion that the letter is not worthy to be considered damning evidence that Kennedy committed treason. Take care. Steve.
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