"A Death Threat Magnet"
June 14, 2010 12:06 PM   Subscribe

The FBI has released their extensive files on US Senator Edward M. Kennedy to the public, covering their relationship with him between 1961 and 1985. The seven files, totaling more than 2,200 pages of documents reveal (among other things,) the perhaps unsurprising news that the late Senator received "scores" of death threats from radical groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, “Minutemen” organizations, and the National Socialist White People’s Party. The release was initiated by a Freedom of Information Act Request from Judicial Watch on May 3, 2010, (Complaint pdf) but the FBI gave the Senator's family the "rare opportunity" to raise objections before releasing the file.
posted by zarq (19 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Since it does not appear in the "Related Posts" section at the bottom of this page, here is Senator Ted Kennedy's obituary thread on Metafilter: Goodbye Teddy.
posted by zarq at 12:09 PM on June 14, 2010


Funny how all these terrorist groups haven't been declared enemy combatants and detained already.
posted by yeloson at 12:12 PM on June 14, 2010 [6 favorites]


Funny how all these terrorist groups haven't been declared enemy combatants and detained already.

We have a double standard.
posted by zarq at 12:15 PM on June 14, 2010


A most interesting revelations was that William F. Buckley tipped off the FBI about one of the death threats against Kennedy.
posted by bearwife at 12:20 PM on June 14, 2010


It's because white and terrorist are polar opposites. Obviously. I mean, the guy supported the IRA for years and since US Senators don't support terrorists, the IRA aren't terrorists. QED.
posted by GuyZero at 12:20 PM on June 14, 2010 [2 favorites]


The period July 1961 onwards is a treasure trove of J Edgar Hoover's cold war FBI.

Scroll down about 1/4 through the file to Nov. 1964 and read Hoover's Essay about Joe Kennedy. That Joe and J. Edgar were friends says pretty much all you need to know about both.
posted by three blind mice at 12:28 PM on June 14, 2010


Are you surprised? The nutball right in this country, which is, of course, officially not a threat, has always hated Teddy with every cell of their bodies. Some tea baggers I know were gleeful when he died. They were just vicious.
posted by QIbHom at 12:30 PM on June 14, 2010


Some of that viciousness might be explained by resentment of the privilege represented by the aforementioned "rare opportunity".
posted by Joe Beese at 12:55 PM on June 14, 2010


Shortly after his death, the New Yorker ran a photo of Kennedy from shortly after his first election to the U.S. Senate in 1962. He was 30 years old at the time. I was struck by the fact that he didn't have a giant head at that time.
posted by neuron at 12:57 PM on June 14, 2010 [1 favorite]


Some of that viciousness might be explained by resentment of the privilege represented by the aforementioned "rare opportunity".

Given the Tea Party's disinterest in the similar privilege their favorite enjoys, that's obviously not the reason.
posted by clarknova at 1:07 PM on June 14, 2010 [2 favorites]


the FBI gave the Senator's family the "rare opportunity" to raise objections before releasing the file.

All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:15 PM on June 14, 2010 [1 favorite]


Some tea baggers I know were gleeful when he died. They were just vicious.

Sadly, this is a problem not restricted to any portion of the political spectrum.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:22 PM on June 14, 2010 [2 favorites]


Given the Tea Party's disinterest in the similar privilege their favorite enjoys, that's obviously not the reason.

No, that just means they're hypocrites.

Like people who rightly sneered at W's coasting into an Ivy League school and using family connections to avoid dangerous military service, but would never do so to a Democratic poster boy like Ted Kennedy - despite his having done exactly the same thing.
posted by Joe Beese at 1:30 PM on June 14, 2010


Speaking of which, remind me to go live in the woods for a month after W dies.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:33 PM on June 14, 2010 [1 favorite]


Joe: True and granted. But it still stands; if someone is hypocritical about their given motivation, it's not their real motivation.
posted by clarknova at 1:43 PM on June 14, 2010


Some of that viciousness might be explained by resentment of the privilege represented by the aforementioned "rare opportunity".

Which would explain their equally vehement hatred for the Bush family. Wait...what?
posted by Mental Wimp at 3:23 PM on June 14, 2010


Like people who rightly sneered at W's coasting into an Ivy League school and using family connections to avoid dangerous military service, but would never do so to a Democratic poster boy like Ted Kennedy - despite his having done exactly the same thing.

When that same W guy wants to deny affirmative action for historic racial discrimination on the grounds that everyone should have a level playing field and goes all rah-rah for sending boys to war, well, it puts a slightly different spin on things, dontcha think?
posted by Mental Wimp at 3:26 PM on June 14, 2010 [1 favorite]


The first thing I noticed when I opened the first link was in the second sentence: He was a long-time leader in the Democrat Party and candidate for that party’s presidential nomination.

I used to think that was a sure sign of a Republican, or at least a hater of the Democratic party, but the rest of the summary of the files on that page convinced me it was just badly written by someone trying for lawyerese instead of necessarily demonstrating hostility to Kennedy/the Democratic Party on a partisan basis. I never expected to see that particular error on a nonpartisan federal government/executive branch web site, though.
posted by immlass at 4:37 PM on June 14, 2010


Like people who rightly sneered at W's coasting into an Ivy League school and using family connections to avoid dangerous military service, but would never do so to a Democratic poster boy like Ted Kennedy - despite his having done exactly the same thing.

Well, let's see how often Kennedy brought up his own service, as opposed to Bush. Who showed up on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit, touting his bellicosity and military strength, and who was a tireless fighter for health care and civil rights.
posted by grubi at 5:43 PM on June 14, 2010


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