Inside Ethel Kennedy’s cruel neglect of her troubled kids

NY Post ^ | 14 Sep 2015 | Maureen Callahan

[Rummyfan]

Since Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination on June 6, 1968, his widow, Ethel, has been his torchbearer. Unlike her late sister-in-law, Jackie, she never remarried, never sought a path or identity that was hers alone. She held herself up as the martyr, the good Catholic widow left to raise 11 children alone, the empress of Hickory Hill.

She was content to be the other Kennedy widow, the domesticated antidote to the glamorous, globe-trotting Jackie.

Today, Ethel Kennedy is 87, the clan’s de facto matriarch — a dubious position given the neglect shown toward her own children.

In his new book, “RFK Jr: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream,” author Jerry Oppenheimer delves into Bobby’s upbringing — or lack thereof — to understand why the scion of our greatest political family has never accomplished much. Oppenheimer contrasts Bobby’s upbringing to that of John F. Kennedy Jr.

“John, after his father’s death, was brought up by a controlling and domineering mother, but one who obsessively looked out for his care and well-being,” he writes. “Bobby, after his father’s death, was essentially given up by his angry, widowed mother.”

[KC_Conspirator]

Thats correct. Add in the colossal effort to revise history from liberal academia and the national ruse is complete.

[Ditto]

I meet a bartender at an upscale place in New England one time. He had worked at a lot of different high end restaurants in the area. He told me he had served the Kennedy’s and their hanger-ons a number of times. He said when they came in, the first thing you do is get a credit card because otherwise they will walk on the check. He also said they never left a tip.

[Rummyfan]

I agree.

[Rummyfan]

I agree.

[Mercat]

I do blame her. She had almost unlimited money in those days and could have had the best nannies, one for each kid and a housekeeper. She chose instead to be bat-sh*t crazy. I recognize a lot of her disorder but there was help available. I also blame her husband. Recognizing her insanity he should have quit breeding her and stayed home with the kids who were already born. Totally messed up family.

[napscoordinator]

Yeah this story is just nasty. How would most raise 11 kids as a single mother? She probably was in robot mode for the next 5 years after seeing her husband murdered in front of her. I just think this is in bad taste especially since he is still alive.

[SamAdams76]

Years ago, in my younger more innocent days, when I thought the Kennedys was a family to emulate, I went through a phase where I read every Kennedy book I could get my hands on. Not the puff-piece paperbacks that the housewives would pickup with their tabloids at the CVS but the in-depth books that left no stone unturned. Most of them buried in the stacks at the public libraries. I came away from that reading session with a whole different view about the Kennedys. What a dysfunctional and messed up family that was - even back to the early days when JFK and his siblings were young.

One thing that always stuck with me was when Joe Kennedy Sr. had his daughter Rosemary lobotomized because she was a little slow and thus not up to the "social graces" that was expected of a Kennedy. Joe Sr. was concerned that she might embarrass the family and adversely affect the political fortunes of her male siblings.

The lobotomy went badly and Rosemary spent the rest of her life in an institution with the mental capacity of a two year old.

That callous and even criminal act always stuck with me.

[PAR35]

May have been the only one the Kennedy boys didn’t pass around. Would explain why she kept herself pregnant.

[CaptainK]

Don’t have 11 children if you can’t oversee them.

[CaptainK]

He’s alive and remarried but his ex wife is dead.

[napscoordinator]

lol. i meant she’s alive.... Ethel.

[midnightcat]

I don’t know much about her. Did she have mental health problems?

[minnesota_bound]

#5 One of my cousins was in rehab (drugs) in Minneapolis, Minnesota with David. Kennedy checked in under a different name but they all recognized him.

[LucyT]

[Arm_Bears]

I include this story in my lectures about psychological disorders and their treatment.

Half of my students are horrified—The other half don’t even know who the Kennedys are/were.

[Regulator]

“They rented my aunts friend’s place to ski and it was trashed, totally trashed and never did they take responsibility”

One more story: the boys used to rent skis on thin snow days out in the West so they wouldn’t trash their own skis on the rocks. But they wouldn’t pay for replacement insurance ($1 a day). So they would show up with ripped up skis and try to intimidate their way out of paying for it. “You just want to screw us because we’re Kennedy’s!”.

They didn’t get their deposit back.

[minnesota_bound]

Long Before James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, There Was Joe Kennedy
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/14/long-before-james-whitey-bulger-there-was-joe-kennedy/

Kennedy was a gangster.

[MayflowerMadam]

“Getting pregnant eleven times does make anyone a saint.”

I’d say it makes anyone monumentally stupid. Lucky they had the money to support the tribe, even though it was ill-gotten gain.

[shotgun]

What man in his right mind would date a woman with 11 kids!

Hey Ethel, better pick up another de-boned ham for tonight!

[abb]

Ethel was from a family of means, even before she meet RFK. George Skakel was her father.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Skakel

In May 1919, Skakel and two partners put up $1,000 and established The Great Lakes Coal & Coke Company.[4] The company would purchase the coke from coal companies and then reprocessed the coke into clean carbon which was used to produce aluminum. By 1929, Skakel had become a multi-millionaire.[5] The business eventually grew into The Great Lakes Carbon Corporation, which became the one of the largest privately held corporations in the United States.