Teresa The Terror

On Monday the Boston Herald printed some choice quotes from Teresa the Terrible gleaned from a 1975 book by Myra McPherson, formerly a reporter with the Washington Post. Today the WaPo’s “Reliable Source” quoted some highlights from the highlights here.

Among the gems:

  • She railed against the “putrid politics” of the Democratic Party;
  • “I know some couples who stay together only for politics,” she said. “If Ted Kennedy holds on to that marriage (to ex-wife Joan) just for the Catholic vote, as some people say he does, then I think he’s a perfect bastard.”
  • She said she didn’t trust Nixon, but added: “Ted Kennedy I don’t trust either.”

A spokesman for Kennedy said “a 30-year-old quote dug up by the Republican attack machine made long before they became friends is irrelevant.” A spokesman for Heinz Kerry agreed that ” the quotes’ age makes them irrelevant.”

Apparently the statute of limitations has run on being an untrustworthy bastard.

Say What? (8)

  1. ThePrecinctChair July 28, 2004 at 12:29 pm | | Reply

    Your old buddy Oliver Willis has a bit to say on all this on his site. he just keeps spinnin’ and grinnin’ over there, calling those who bring this up unethical right-wing hatemongers.

    And “Mother Teresa” comes out of it all looking lijke a saint.

  2. Andrew P. Connors July 28, 2004 at 4:30 pm | | Reply

    I especially like the spin put out by the Democratic Party on Teresa Heinz Kerry’s incident with the reporter from the Pittsburg Tribune-Review.

    For those that haven’t read about it (have you been in a cave?), Mrs. Kerry gave a speech deriding the culture of partisan politics, and called for civility in political discourse. She went on to say that she was also troubled by some of the “un-American” things creeping into American politics. One has to wonder if here she was referencing a lack of civility or the ideas of her political opponents.

    A reporter from the Pittsburg Tribune Review apparently wondered that too. So he asked her what she meant by that term. Mrs. Kerry then proceeded to deny ever using the term, charging that the reporter was making things up because his paper leans to the right. She then told him to “shove it.”

    For damage control, Heinz Kerry’s handlers said stuff to the effect that she was just “stating her mind forcefully and defending herself.” Hillary Clinton went so far as to say “you go girl!”

    All the while I’m thinking, “Isn’t it a bit hypocritical for Teresa Heinz Kerry to act this way considering the speech she gave such moments before?” The problem isn’t that Heinz Kerry is uncivil, it’s that she’s unprincipled.

    All to like her husband.

  3. Steve July 28, 2004 at 8:06 pm | | Reply

    What kills me about this Theresa Heinze thing is that in her speech at the DNC she alludes to this incident by saying she has the right to voice her opinion. Nobody is denying her that. The reason it made the news is that this action is contrary to what she was saying about civility.

    It’s like she’s trying to turn this into a free speech rallying cry. Is she freakin’ kiddin’ me??!!!

    It reminds me of that scene in “The Holy Grail” – “Help! Help! I’m bring repressed!”

  4. nobody important July 29, 2004 at 8:04 am | | Reply

    Speaking of free speech. I was in a crowd waiting to catch a glimpse of the political gliterati in Boston yesterday outside a restaurant where it was rumored Hillary was inside. When Gray Davis came outside, I started yelling: “Ah-nold! Ah-nold” and “Girly-man” when a plain clothes Boston Police officer “asked” me to stop, that I had made my point. When I persisted and argued with him and another uniformed cop, I was threatened with arrest for disorderly conduct. Considering that I didn’t care that much about Gray Davis I let it go.

    On the bright side, I did get to yell some profanities at Michael Moore who showed up.

  5. ELC July 29, 2004 at 12:13 pm | | Reply

    “Apparently the statute of limitations has run on being an untrustworthy bastard.” It’s all water under the bridge. ;-)

  6. Claire July 29, 2004 at 5:49 pm | | Reply

    What bothers me about THK is how she switched from being a long-time Republican to being a Democrat just before her husband officially decided to run for President. Smacks of opportunism. Of course, she couldn’t have done anything else without torpedoing her husband’s chances. It’s a case of damned-if-you-do-and-damned-if-you-don’t.

    She does indeed come across as being behind in the times. And anyone who feels they have to continually talk about how much they’re just ‘one of the ordinary folk’ is really very much an elitist trying to convince themselves more than anyone else.

  7. Ed August 6, 2004 at 9:18 pm | | Reply

    Claire is bothered because “THK” switched from Republican to Democrat. Is she aware that Ronald Reagan switched from Democrat to Republican?

  8. Voice of Reason September 24, 2004 at 9:22 pm | | Reply

    There is something seriously wrong with Mrs. Kerry’s behavior. Watching her antics is almost as painful as watching Keith Richards careening down a sidewalk. Oh,wait. She’s done that too. She should seek professional help immediately, if not sooner.

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