Since this column went viral over the weekend and the comment thread has been dominated by the indignati, I’d like to point out that the question at the heart of his discussion is simple:

Whatever you believe about the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident –  and no one has risen to defend Kennedy as having acted admirably — are you glad, on balance, that, despite the damage to his reputation, he was able to continue serving in the U.S. Senate  until his death last week?

Or do you think his behavior that night and the next morning ought to have cost him his subsequent political career?