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 ...
I will try to do it, but it just doesn't pass the smell test. Old Joe was probably just trying to pacify an inconvenience, not fully capable. Now they do it with drugs. Then they did it with a sledgehammer. There may be some merit in the courts reviewing the drugs in this day and age. Cheap pacifiers may not be moral.
Not me. I hope that they sought and found forgiveness for their sins, just as I hope I do.
correct.
according to schwartz, fdr grew very worried about joe's nazi sympathies and had a spy report to him about joe's doings in great britain.
Which is incorrect. Rosemary was slightly retarded and kept hidden from view,as much as possible,long before she was lobotomized.
Freudian slip? He didn't dive... if he did, Mary Jo might be alive today!
"don't judge a book by it's cover"
or,
my report to you about it!
read it yourself.
I'm sure Rosie's looking UP THERE and is envious of the cool breeze, if you know what I mean.
Its hard for me to grasp the concept of Joe Kennedy marrying down, unless all primates are included.
Well there's the problem right there. Every first-year med student knows that the proper tool for a lobotomy is an ice pick.
Hell, who knows. How could the Kennedys still hold any place in American politics? She can be born anytime they want her to be born. It's Camelot, baby, and truth is what the Kennedys decide it to be.
LOL.
how would i know?
what i know was shaped by the schwartz bio that i've mentioned several times in this thread.
he has painted the daughter of rose and joe as a european-loving, sexually-budding, girl. and, joe wanted to thwart her sexuality, so he consulted the doctor in d.c. evidently joe nor rose expected the lobotomy to do what it did.
don't shoot me, go read the book, and report back.
thanks,
ken
I agree with you. I don't wish hell on anyone.
Yep. Didn't she have a lack of oxygen to her brain at birth? But in those days and the society they kept, those types of people viewed a child like that as an embarassment. I always felt sorry for her. She was probably more normal than any of them. Ironic: they thought that they could hide or bury her to avoid public shame, only to come under "The Kennedy Curse" and suffer ongoing shame, disgrace or the like with each member of their family. I hope she has eternal life; that would be the ultimate irony.
Yep.
Joseph P. Kennedy : The Mogul, the Mob, the Statesman, and the Making of an American Myth
by Ted Schwarz (Hardcover - September 5, 2003)
All of Joe's children went to boarding schools. Rosemary never did. Why? Because she was,what the Kennedys called " slow".They managed to get Teddy into Milton (fat chance of that happening today! LOL)and he was a dummy.Poor Rosemary,she embarrassed Joe,so he had her lobotomized and stuck away in Wisconsin.And when it became oh so PC and "wonderful" other family members dragged her out/made a big deal of their "compassion",buy starting the SPECIAL OLYMPICS in her name.
DISGUSTING!
BLAME BUSH
You wonder?
In Teddy's book.
It does in mine...
All of Joe's children went to boarding schools. Rosemary never did. Why? Because she was,what the Kennedys called " slow".They managed to get Teddy into Milton (fat chance of that happening today! LOL)and he was a dummy.Poor Rosemary,she embarrassed Joe,so he had her lobotomized and stuck away in Wisconsin.And when it became oh so PC and "wonderful" other family members dragged her out/made a big deal of their "compassion",by starting the SPECIAL OLYMPICS in her name.
DISGUSTING!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.