HuffPo shamelessly conjures MaryJo Kopechne in strange Ted Kennedy tribute

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When someone dies, suddenly we find more forgiveness for their faults then we ever imagined we could during their lives. When political combatants lose their worthy opponents, they also sing their praises. So this discussion is not about Ted Kennedy's faults or personal problems. There's time for that and I wouldn't talk badly about him at this sensitive time for those who care for him and admired him. But admiration must also have its limits. This post by Melissa Lafsky on the Huffington Post goes a bit too far in my opinion, when it suggests that the death of MaryJo Kopechne was all worth it - if it meant Ted Kennedy having a glorious career in the Senate. This is from the post by Melissa Lafsky: "But in all the florid or scalpel-sharp prose, there's one constant: Peeking out from the center of the story is the matter of his playing a major part in the death of a 28-year-old woman. Mary Jo wasn't a right-wing talking point or a negative campaign slogan. She was a dedicated civil rights activist and political talent with a bright future -- granted, whenever someone dies young, people sermonize about how he had a "bright future" ahead of him -- but she actually did. She wasn't afraid to defy convention (28 and unmarried, oh the horror!) or create her own career path based on her talents. She lived in Georgetown (where I grew up) and loved the Red Sox (we'll forgive her for that). Then she got in a car driven by a 36-year-old senator with an alcohol problem and a cauldron full of demons, and wound up a controversial footnote in a dynasty. We don't know how much Kennedy was affected by her death, or what she'd have thought about arguably being a catalyst for the most successful Senate career in history. What we don't know, as always, could fill a Metrodome. Still, ignorance doesn't preclude a right to wonder. So it doesn't automatically make someone (aka, me) a Limbaugh-loving, aerial-wolf-hunting NRA troll for asking what Mary Jo Kopechne would have had to say about Ted's death, and what she'd have thought of the life and career that are being (rightfully) heralded. Who knows -- maybe she'd feel it was worth it. " -- First of all, how did MaryJo Kopechne's death serve as a "catalyst" for Ted Kennedy's Senate career? If anything, the incident at Chappaquiddick could have ended his political career and if he were anyone else, it could have ended in an indictment. The occasions of Ted's death and the days following are not the time to bring up things like Chappaquiddick or any other personal scandal from his life and I think that most of his political adversaries have been considerate of his family by not delving deeply into any of them. But for someone to go this far to excuse them is absolutely unconscionable. As MaryJo clawed at the upholstery of the back seat of that car, struggling for the last few breaths from the shrinking air pocket, probably hoping against hope that someone would arrive to save her, I really doubt that had she been asked if it was worth this suffering and her death if it meant that Ted Kennedy would enjoy a long Senate career that she would have contentedly said "yes". This post beyond belief, and the only good thing I can say about it is thankfully, MaryJo's parents are both dead and they won't have to see such tripe.