Simple Irony never had it so good, not even subliminally.

Sen. Edward ("Ted") Kennedy to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Longtime family acquaintance Mary Jo Kopechne could not be reached for comment

Washington, D.C. — Senator Edward ("Ted") Kennedy (D-MA) was selected by the Obama administration last week to receive the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is the highest civilian decoration in the United States.

The citation accompanying his medal says Senator Kennedy is recognized  for "fighting for equal opportunity, fairness and justice for all Americans."

Reporters in search of comments about Senator Kennedy's sterling citizenship being recognized by President Obama were not able to reach long-ago Kennedy acquaintance Mary Jo Kopechne for comment about her one-time driver.

She was expected to be found at an "old haunt," Chappaquiddick Island, but was not listed there as a seaside resident. It was rumored the ex-Kennedy secretary resided somewhere in Pennsylvania but a review of living citizens in the Keystone State revealed no one by that name.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) lauded Kennedy for his "steadfast commitment to the American idea of justice."

One silly wag, probably a wacky conservative, wrote the Boston Globe suggesting the award should have been instead for swimming, or perhaps diving. The Globe's ombudsman, puzzled by the remark, said he would certainly look into it.

Another facetious reader, most certainly in jest, called Obama's selection of Kennedy for the freedom medal as "payback for his support in the election." To that a minor press secretary to the President said, "That's pure nonsense. Poppycock!"

Another Kennedy critic quoted in the Globe jumped all over the Senator's opposition to energy-producing wind turbines on the Cape. To that a minor press secretary responded, suggesting the Senator's hard-nosed position was based on the "visual pollution" such turbines would create.

Besides, he added candidly, perhaps meant to be off the record, the turbines would ruin the Senator's pristine view of the ocean "and to hell with the nation's need for renewable, sustainable energy."

The citation of the freedom medal exalts Senator Kennedy as "an agent of change." It  calls him "one of the greatest lawmakers – and leaders of our time."  [Our time!]   

Another Globe reader, obviously uninformed, was hard-pressed to name any major legislative move initiated or brought to fruition by the Massachusetts Senator in his lengthy career. A minor press secretary said he'd "get back to the reader on that point."

Repeated efforts of reporters in the mainstream to find Miss Kopechne for comment about the award being given to the "lion of the Senate" all went for naught. One 40-year old reporter, with a shrug of his shoulders, said "So what? After all, he was only her driver.  What does her opinion matter, anyhow?"

And then all the youngish, myopic libreral  reporters moved on, to report on other things great and small.  Make that a big . . .

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Readers who wish to know details about the fate of Ms. Kopechne are invited to this recent post, "Death at Chappaquiddick: Mary Jo WHO?"