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Home Page > Blogs > News blogs > People and Politics > Kerry Kennedy just the latest JFK clan member to fall apart - Yet another sad chapter in bizarre Kennedy family behavior

People and Politics by Patrick Roberts

Kerry Kennedy just the latest JFK clan member to fall apart - Yet another sad chapter in bizarre Kennedy family behavior

Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2012 at 08:16 AM

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Spare me another chapter in the increasingly sad and dysfunctional Kennedy saga.

Alas, Kerry Kennedy’s arrest and bizarre behavior following a traffic accident writes another chapter in the continuing Kennedy saga. She was considered a rock compared to some of her siblings.

She had written a well-received book on Catholicism and seemed deeply involved in her human rights work and charitable foundation and in raising her three daghters. Now that has all changed.

A mother of three, the 52-year old was driving erratically and charged with driving while impaired with drugs when she crashed into a tractor trailer in Westchester, north of new York City. She was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident.

NBC reports that Kennedy was found passed out at the wheel of her Lexus when police arrived.

Her arrest will set the Kennedy newshounds off into a frenzy, of course.

Coming soon after the suicide of Mary Kennedy, Bobby’s wife, the clan are beginning to seem more like a soap opera than ever.

Because she is Gov. Andrew Cuomo's ex-wife and he has a real shot at the White House in 2016, there will be massive coverage.

Brendan Behan once remarked that ”genius doesn’t come in litters” and the Kennedy dynasty beyond JFK and his brothers and sisters has taken on a surreal “Jersey Shore” like quality with weekly updates of the clan’s misadventures.

It is the children of Ethel and Robert who appear to be having the most problems. Most of the eleven barely knew their father, and wife Ethel had, understandably, a very tough time coping with her brood after her husband was so cruelly snatched away. Suicides, drug abuse, and drinking have all featured prominently in the children’s life stories.

Kerry was close to Mary Kennedy and stuck up for her after her recent suicide despite her siblings closing ranks around Bobby Junior.

Did that fact contribute to her bizarre behavior I wonder? When it is the Kennedys one can never be sure.

Be sure of one thing today though. Andrew Cuomo is counting his blessings the couple are divorced and he is not heading into 2016 with a huge liability at his side

As for Kerry we should wait for the full story to unfold. A spokesman for Kennedy stated "Kerry Kennedy voluntarily took breathalyzer, blood and urine tests -- all of which showed no drugs or alcohol whatsoever in her system "The charges were filed before the test results were available."

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mayoman | Jul 15, 2012, 08:23 PM EDT

Is it too much to ask that we wait until we discover all the facts concerning Kerry Kennedy's accident. Clearly there is a negative media bias towards the Kennedy clan. A bias that exhibits a tendency to rush to judgement with the intention of condemning the entire family. Cmon Pat, do you think that you're being fair in your analysis? Do you honestly have all the facts concering this accident? Or are you just too eager to bash Ms. Kennedy?

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occassio | Jul 15, 2012, 04:09 PM EDT

Carlaba: I’m not in the habit of denial nor do I affirm the concept of reverse discrimination. Your post is such an intriguing mélange of misunderstanding that you confound rather than clarify. However, your point about poor blacks (minorities) getting what poor whites can’t is a misread of the facts. Neither seem to be able to ‘get’ anything from governments (Regan, Bush) that spend trillions of dollars on illegal and indiscrete wars and/or companies that have fired thousands of U.S. employees so that they can reap the financial rewards in countries that pay less than minimum wage and have no compulsory medical coverage. The prodigious amounts of money that have been wrung from the middle class and poor have done nothing but benefited many of the denizens of Hyannis Port, Chappaqua NY and elsewhere. However, it does not follow that because one (Black/minority) gets, the other (White) does not. According to the 1990 Census, statistics show that the preponderance of welfare recipients (61%) are White and 33% are Black. Taken in proportion to their populations, it may even out. However, welfare is not race dependent but is designed to support anyone who is in need. Thus, it spans many types of economic assistance of which Social Security (Retirement) is the largest. This is not a black/white issue. And, unfortunately, you are blind to the many shades of grey.

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irishpjk | Jul 15, 2012, 01:30 AM EDT

wtf Why do so many people put the blame on other people for the liberal screw-ups, it was the deaths of JFK or RFK that affected the Kennedys. It was Regan’s fault that the Clinton administration could not function as promised; it is Bushes fault that Obama can’t get the job done. Ted Kennedy no one else drove his car of a bridge and did not report it for hours. The Kennedy clan will have problems as long as they feel that they are better than the rest of Americans and are above the law.

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occassio | Jul 15, 2012, 12:27 AM EDT

Carlaba, this "racial" accusation is a misdirection and a red herring. Affirmative Action is broader than racial preference and refers to policies that take into consideration factors including race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin. Many people other than blacks have taken advantage of affirmative action to garner successful careers that otherwise would have been lost due to rampant and overt and aggressive descriminatory policies. Besides, Lyndon Johnson's 1964, Civil Rights Act did more for affirmative action than anything that JFK did. Perhaps you're cursing the wrong president.

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merefalow | Jul 14, 2012, 06:28 PM EDT

yes great,slag the kennedys,name one presidential candidate that was a straitforward honorable man,if he was he would,nt get elected.you have to be disreputable to be elected.the vast weapons ,munitions,banking multinational rip off elite baaaaaaas who run our lives dont want men of integrity and honesty,thats why they kill them,wake up goldfish.

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CTIvan | Jul 14, 2012, 06:08 PM EDT

It's not sad; it's pathetic. No one forced alcohol down her throat. If it weren't a Kennedy this story would be about some no name loser. Now it's a named Kennedy loser.

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Maggie47 | Jul 14, 2012, 04:22 PM EDT

Karma, It's the BOOTLEGGING

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sinead | Jul 14, 2012, 02:46 PM EDT

Hi Kerry, I hope you are feeling better. Accidents do happen.Jane

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borefield | Jul 14, 2012, 02:42 PM EDT

In days gone by it was said the Irish only sung sad songs and played sad melancholy music. Seems to me Irish Central is repeating this tradition. Can't you guys/gals write about something happy, upbeat. It's always doom and gloom, even your political stories are dark. If one has a different opinion you all go "ape". Lighten up people, life is good.

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pilib04 | Jul 14, 2012, 02:19 PM EDT

Patrick Roberts is probably too young to have seen the assassination of Bobby Kennedy on live television in 1968. He probably has little or no recollection of the week that America spent view the assissation of President Kennedy, the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald on national television and subsequent wake and funeral of our young President. I am sure both factor in greatly to any problems the Kennedy survivors had. But all of this does give something to a hack writer like Patrick Roberts, to write about.

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Rebelforce | Jul 14, 2012, 01:06 PM EDT

"Irish Central" in general, and this article in particular, reminds me of the observation the Englishman Samuel Johnson once made about the Irish: "The Irish are very fair people. They rarely speak well of each other."

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SalemCat | Jul 14, 2012, 12:49 PM EDT

When will people realize that there are many people that are SERIOUSLY BAD DRIVERS, even when they are stone cold sober. I see them every day, whizzing through Stop Signs, ignoring Red Lights, speeding down narrow streets that are filled with children playing. They're not stoned - they're just irresponsible idiots. And when they get elected to a position of responsibility - God help us all.

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Mary Caulfield | Jul 14, 2012, 12:44 PM EDT

If you are so sick of it, stop covering it. Your smarmy contempt only adds to the burdens of a family that has certainly paid enormously for the privileges previous generations took. Leave the woman alone for God's sake. Who can blame her if she needed a sleeping pill after what she has been through? Sleep is harder to come by as we age and Ambien is well known to have dangerous side effects.

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Murph46 | Jul 14, 2012, 12:26 PM EDT

Who knew?????????????

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StevieVirginia | Jul 14, 2012, 11:46 AM EDT

Put the whole clan on a bus and send it off a cliff.

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