Posted on 01/07/2005 7:46:11 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
WASHINGTON -- Rosemary Kennedy, a sister of John F. Kennedy who was born mentally retarded and lived most of her life in an institution after undergoing a lobotomy, died Friday, her family said. She was 86.
Kennedy, the inspiration for the Special Olympics spearheaded by the Kennedy family, had been a patient since 1949 at St. Coletta School for Exceptional Children in Jefferson, Wis. She was the third child and first daughter of Joseph and Rose Kennedy, born a year after her brother became president.
In 1941, Joseph Kennedy, worried his daughter's mild mental retardation would lead her into situations that could damage the family's reputation, arranged for Rosemary to have a lobotomy. She was 23.
"Rosemary was a woman, and there was a dread fear of pregnancy, disease and disgrace," author Laurence Leamer wrote in his book "The Kennedy Women: The Saga of an American Family." He wrote that Rosemary, whose retardation possibly stemmed from brain damage at birth, had taken to sneaking out of the convent where she was staying at the time.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
Too much, I guess!
God Spared her the shame of knowing that she was related to a Family of criminals.
God Bless Rosemary. No longer at the hands of her "loving" family.
That's the sort of "newspeak" sentence that makes you give up on the article. And once that is done, Rosemary sinks further into obscurity-- a backhanded favor to the Kennedys.
I thought my sarcasm was obvious.
Extremely. And by changing the story, instead of simply correcting it, they continue to muddy the waters about Rosemary-- further helping the Kennedy's desire to have everyone forget about her. You are witnessing a compliant American Press end the chapter on a Soviet-style "non-person" they helped to create.
Recently, PBS' Masterpiece Theater showed "The Lost Prince" about Prince John, who "suffered from epilepsy and mysterious learning disabilities". It's available on DVD. The blurb on the cover says "The heartbreaking story of the prince that history forgot."
You can bet that PBS will not be showing a film on Masterpiece Theater about the heartbreaking story of Rosemary Kennedy anytime soon...
Drat. I suck at formatting! :-( :-D
I recall that Kathleen, "Kick," died in a plane crash in England after she insisted on marrying someone the family did not approve of. I believe either one or both of her parents were not speaking to her at the time of her death.
Kennedy women stay in the background; Kennedy women stay silent; Kennedy women look the other way, etcetera. It's a mixture of being Catholic, being Irish, one's station in life and being in the political limelight.
The most revealing book is You Can Go Home Again, by Monica McGoldrick. The book uses the genealogies of well known families to illustrate repeated patterns through the generations. The Roosevelts and Kennedys are some of the families she writes about and it's fascinating.
RIP, Sweet Rosie . . .
Heh heh. And if you were to split Teddy open, you'd find that he's chocked full of nothing but a bunch of half-eaten hoagie sandwiches soaked in gin.
LOL! In addition to the hoagie sandwiches soaked with gin, he's totally full of crap! :) A complete waste of human flesh!
bump
Agreed.
Oh...okay. :-)
No...she was older than JFK I believe or close to his age.
I think that Rosemary had tantrums and Joe didn't want her to "EMBARASS"the family!! HA! Like Philandering, killing young women and cheating your way to the Pesidency isn't embarrassing!!
What about an operation to another part of the male anatomy?
I know. Money talks. But they were not who they were made out to be. Fakes and phonies all of them.
I should have put on sarcasm my bad....
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