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Kennedy Sister Dies At 86
AP ^ | Friday, January 7, 2005 | LOLITA C. BALDOR

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 ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Front Page News; Miscellaneous; Unclassified
KEYWORDS: deadlib; drooler; goodriddance; kennedy; kennedyfamily; mentalhealth; obituary; retard; rosemarykennedy
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To: ken21

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.


81 posted on 01/07/2005 8:30:08 PM PST by Torie
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To: Captain Peter Blood
I hope Old Joe and Rose are rotting in hell for this.

Not me. I hope that they sought and found forgiveness for their sins, just as I hope I do.

82 posted on 01/07/2005 8:30:25 PM PST by Graybeard58 (Remember and pray for Spec.4 Matt Maupin - MIA/POW- Iraq since 04/09/04)
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To: SuziQ

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.


83 posted on 01/07/2005 8:30:50 PM PST by ken21 (if you didn't see it on tv, then it didn't happen! (/s))
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To: ken21

Which is incorrect. Rosemary was slightly retarded and kept hidden from view,as much as possible,long before she was lobotomized.


84 posted on 01/07/2005 8:31:34 PM PST by nopardons
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To: small voice in the wilderness
BWHAHAHAHAHA!!!! The family was so proud the day he learned to dive.. He was cool though. He just walked away like it was nothing.

Freudian slip? He didn't dive... if he did, Mary Jo might be alive today!

85 posted on 01/07/2005 8:31:35 PM PST by mwyounce
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To: Torie

"don't judge a book by it's cover"

or,

my report to you about it!

read it yourself.


86 posted on 01/07/2005 8:32:27 PM PST by ken21 (if you didn't see it on tv, then it didn't happen! (/s))
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To: fastattacksailor
Yeah, I was going to say something, but I figured you knew since you brought her up.

I'm sure Rosie's looking UP THERE and is envious of the cool breeze, if you know what I mean.

87 posted on 01/07/2005 8:32:48 PM PST by Former Dodger ("To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice. " Confucius)
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To: lavrenti

Its hard for me to grasp the concept of Joe Kennedy marrying down, unless all primates are included.


88 posted on 01/07/2005 8:33:24 PM PST by kylaka
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To: Torie
Then they did it with a sledgehammer.

Well there's the problem right there. Every first-year med student knows that the proper tool for a lobotomy is an ice pick.

89 posted on 01/07/2005 8:34:33 PM PST by silent_jonny (Happy New Year!)
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To: Paleo Conservative

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.


90 posted on 01/07/2005 8:34:39 PM PST by small voice in the wilderness (Quick, act casual. If they sense scorn and ridicule, they'll flee..)
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To: silent_jonny

LOL.


91 posted on 01/07/2005 8:35:23 PM PST by Torie
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To: nopardons

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


92 posted on 01/07/2005 8:35:33 PM PST by ken21 (if you didn't see it on tv, then it didn't happen! (/s))
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To: Graybeard58

I agree with you. I don't wish hell on anyone.


93 posted on 01/07/2005 8:35:35 PM PST by silent_jonny (Happy New Year!)
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To: Torie

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.


94 posted on 01/07/2005 8:35:54 PM PST by RedBloodedAmerican
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To: nopardons

Yep.


95 posted on 01/07/2005 8:36:41 PM PST by RedBloodedAmerican
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To: nopardons

Joseph P. Kennedy : The Mogul, the Mob, the Statesman, and the Making of an American Myth
by Ted Schwarz (Hardcover - September 5, 2003)


96 posted on 01/07/2005 8:37:44 PM PST by ken21 (if you didn't see it on tv, then it didn't happen! (/s))
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To: Servant of the 9
Noooooooooooooo...she REALLY was slightly retarded and the lobotomy had NOTHING at all to do with her "amorality".

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!

97 posted on 01/07/2005 8:37:57 PM PST by nopardons
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To: West Coast Conservative

BLAME BUSH


98 posted on 01/07/2005 8:38:06 PM PST by saxxa (FIRE-FIGHTER FOR PRESIDENT BUSH)
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To: GVgirl
I wonder if forced lobotomy counts as torture?

You wonder?

In Teddy's book.

It does in mine...

99 posted on 01/07/2005 8:38:34 PM PST by IncPen (Beware the fury of a patient man.)
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To: Servant of the 9
Noooooooooooooo...she REALLY was slightly retarded and the lobotomy had NOTHING at all to do with her "amorality".

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!

100 posted on 01/07/2005 8:38:34 PM PST by nopardons
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