Ethel Kennedy, Camelot''s Clown Car

She picks her nose.

She pickin' AND a-GRINNIN' !

That picture at r1 is so bizarre. Let's exclude the facts that all the books on the bookcases are in matched sets that have clearly never been touched and Ethel is picking her nose: it looks like everyone's backing away from a big fart from JFK, who is happily basking in the aroma.

Thomas Braden, a former CIA agent and journalist, wrote "Eight Is Enough" about his family. It's really nothing like the show except in the casting of the kids -- the actors and actresses who played his children looked nothing like the real kids, but each exuded the personality of each. For example, he wrote about Mary going insane while his wife was off in India with Jacqueline Kennedy, and the actress who played Mary in the series, Lani O'Grady, seemed older and more stressed than your average college student.

It was Braden's relationship with RFK behind the eight kids and why, suddenly, Eight Was Enough. In the olden days, Catholic men enjoyed trying to outbreed each other, but Braden had to stop when it was clear he, unlike the trustifarian RFK, could no longer afford any more.

In one chapter, the Bradens and RFK's family all went to Aspen together for a skiing trip. The parents went out to dinner and when they came back, they found the Kennedy kids had taken seige of the large cabin and the Braden kids encircling it all while throwing rocks at each other and seriously busting up the place.

Large wealthy families seem to produce packs of animals. Ethel was from a similar large ugly pack, so she wouldn't notice the smell JFK had shared with the group.

Ethel's sin was roping Joan for Teddy and ruining Joan's life.

OOOPS! The public was not supposed to see that vulgar, unflattering shot of Ethel. I was supposed to have that negative destroyed. Sorry.

I know Ethel is not liked on here, but my parents know her. Say what you want, but Ethel was the more "hands-on" parent than the other Kennedy women. Yes, she is a little nutso when it comes to her religion, but if it is what got her through some real rough times, so be it. I'll tell you what, after RFK was killed those older boys got real crazy wild. It was sad about her selling Hickory Hill but none of the kids bother going to Virginia anymore. I think Ethel was lonely & according to my parents "Ethie can't stand loneliness."

[quote]Ethel was from a similar large ugly pack, so she wouldn't notice the smell JFK had shared with the group. especially with her finger up her nose.

She reminds me of Goober's wife in "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof". With Liz as Jackie.

[quote]Say what you want, but Ethel was the more "hands-on" parent than the other Kennedy women. That's hilarious, considering she beat them like gongs.

[quote]Say what you want, but Ethel was the more "hands-on" parent than the other Kennedy women.

Yeah, probably, but she's still crazy.

In Chris Lawford's biography he mentions a time he and David were rough housing and Ethel through him out of the house, grabbing his hand with such force she broke his thumb with a snap.

He also told of getting thrown out of the house if he didn't stand when Ethel came into the room.

It was reported Ethel, along with Caroline Kennedy and Maria Shriver, placed calls to the head people at ABC and the History Channel to cancel that Kennedy miniseries.

She was not picking her nose.... she was nostalgically fingering the only tight hole she had left.%0D

Well, if EK was "hands-on", she shouldn't have been. Jackie's kids turned out much better.

At least she did stage "retard races" in her backyard to amuse the family like Eunice did.

Look at Jackie in that photo. She gave birth to JFK Jr only 3 weeks later. Tiny.

"Ethel through him out of the house..."

Oh Dear

"Ethel was lonely"%0D %0D Ethel was a drunk

through = threw

Thank you Oh Dear.

Jackie thought Ethel was rather coarse and common, but after RFK was killed she warmed up to her. They were still never great friends, though.

It's funny how you'd always hear how great all three of the Kennedy daughters-in-law were as mothers and none of them were.

Jackie didn't give her children much attention, and though they went to fancy schools they never did much with their lives in terms of public service or genuine achievement (and no, just having a degree is not an achievement). She also took them away from the closest thing they ever had in their whole lives to a father when she divorced Ari (who adored the kids).

Ethel was lonely and kept having more kids (and buying more exotic pets) to satisfy her anxieties about her straying husband. The bratty obnoxious children largely raised themselves, and several of them had drug addictions they had to work out. Some of them have done well as adults, but it's more because they followed their father's uncles' examples rather than because of what she did.

Joan was an unhappy drunk. One of her kids had a drug addiction too, although she seems like she was the only hands-on mother of the three. But now she's the biggest mess of all and the kids have to clean up after her.

But the Kennedy sisters were not much better. Pat was distant and uncaring and miserable, and Jean raised a rapist.

"She also took them away from the closest thing they ever had in their whole lives to a father when she divorced Ari"%0D %0D On what planet did this "divorce" happen, r20?

I read that after RFK was assassinated Jackie told a friend, "I hate this country. I despise America and I don%E2%80%99t want my children to live here anymore. If they%E2%80%99re killing Kennedys, my children are number one targets.%E2%80%A6 I want to get out of this country."

After she married Onassis and the her children stayed in America.

Caroline attended The Brearley School and Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City and graduated from Concord Academy in Massachusetts.

JFK Jr attended the Collegiate School in New York City from third through tenth grades, and later graduated from Phillips Academy.

Bobby was far more of a father figure to Caroline and John Jr than Ari

[quote]She reminds me of Goober's wife in "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof". With Liz as Jackie.%0D %0D %0D Wow. That is a perfect analogy.

[quote]Bobby was far more of a father figure to Caroline and John Jr than Ari I think so too. Wasn't Ari in the process of divorcing Jackie when he died?

So Ethel was photographed picking her nose...so what? Jackie was photographed NAKED. The pictures were in Hustler magazine. I guess she was sunbathing; she had a skinny, scrawny bod and a luxuriant bush.

And despite all the laughs, it's obvious she's not picking her nose in the picture, as her finger is on the side of her face and fully visible.

They were vulgarians with money and she was what she was (what she is now I have no idea), but with a photographer in the room and no drinks in evidence, not even Joan in full swill would have plunged a knuckle up the nostril.

Ethel was SO mean to David her 3rd son and bobby's favorite

Who the hell are you people who claim to know how the Kennedys treated their children? Weird.

Jackie as much as admitted she married AO so that her children would be protected. They may have remained in the US, but they were heavily guarded. They lived as normal a life as possible, under the circumstances.

[quote]Jackie as much as admitted she married AO so that her children would be protected. They may have remained in the US, but they were heavily guarded. They lived as normal a life as possible, under the circumstances.

She said that but it was crap. Her children were protected by the Secret Service, and that had nothing to do with Onassis. She married him for his money.

"Her children were protected by the Secret Service, and that had nothing to do with Onassis."%0D %0D No she had to give up use of the Secret Service when she remarried.

Jackie gave up her Secret Service protection when she married Onassis; John Jr. and Caroline kept theirs.

There was a story about a 13 year old JFK Jr. ditching his Secret Service agents on a path in Central Park and having his bike stolen. That was years after Jackie remarried. She used her children as her excuse to marry Onassis.

"As I said, he wasn't a sissy at all. He was a great athlete and he was on the football team at Harvard." - Rose Kennedy on Joe Kennedy

I wonder once all the legend-protectors are gone if we'll ever get the whole story on Bobby.

I hope so, R34. I'd like to hear the real story about all of them. Some of Jackie's tapes are going to be released, but they're going to be so edited (if she was willing to say anything real at all- they were made while she was still building the Camelot myth) they won't be worth anything.

"He was very popular with men and the girls." --Rose Kennedy on Joe Kennedy Jr.

R33's link

RFK assassination witness, Nina Rhodes-Hughes, says there was a second shooter.

Was this talked about here?

"There were more than eight shots," Rhodes-Hughes said by phone. She says that during the FBI interview in her Los Angeles home, one month after the assassination, she told the agents that she'd heard 12 to 14 shots. "There were at least 12, maybe 14. And I know there were because I heard the rhythm in my head," Rhodes-Hughes said. She says she believes senior FBI officials altered statements she made to the agents to "conform with what they wanted the public to believe, period."

It was posted within another thread, r37, but this gives more people a chance to see the latest story. I knew one of the other people shot in this incident and wish I had kept in touch to get his take on Rhodes-Hughes' story.

Oh, thanks R38. I hate double posting. I did a search and nothing came up. I think it's most interesting that she says the FBI investigators who interviewed her altered her statements.

R38, did you ever talk to him about what happened that night?

No, r39, it was such an awful experience that people who knew him didn't bring it up, figuring that he would talk about it if he wanted to. Nobody wanted to push him into discussing the horror of it all. We had a lot of friends in common but none, that I know of, wanted to mention it.

Now, if we were still in touch, I wouldn't have a problem in asking about it due to the latest news from another witness. The passage of years makes it easier for people to look back.

All of ethels sons when they were younger i wouldve had sex with over and over! But she was mad as a fucking hatter.

Was Ethel always crazy or was it just after the assassination? I recently saw a photo of a room in her home and it wasn't regular family photos, it looked like a shrine to RFK.

Being a single parent to 11 kids would drive anyone out of their minds!

By all accounts, the assassination of her husband ruined her.

Yes, R43, but I'm sure she had help: nannies, cooks, maids.

r43 is right. Ethel was never a Stable Mabel, but the assassination really pushed her over the edge. She was kind of crazed after that.

[quote]Let's exclude the facts that all the books on the bookcases are in matched sets that have clearly never been touched

Books are awfully decorative, don't you think!

Thanks r37 for posting that. I can't believe it hasn't garnered more attention in the corporate media.

The lawyer who is now defending Sirhan Sirhan was actually a friend of MLK and won a lawsuit for MLK's family filed against the government.

This should be news.

I'm surprised how little attention this has gotten. Maybe it's because of Kennedy conspiracy overload. I thought someone coming out and saying directly that the FBI changed their statement to fit a certain scenario would get people talking.

Did the FBI change the statements of other witnesses, in RFK's assassination, JFK's, MLK's?

I'm not ever a conspiracy theorists, but it would be interesting to look into.

[bold]I Pick My Nose: The Movie[/bold]

Cant wait to see hbo documentary on her. Since daughter did it im sure it will be quite sugar coated though. Wont include her temper tantrums and hitting her kids with hair brushes im sure.

Damn, Bobby was cute!

Ethel = Dick

Why do some of you keep saying she's picking her nose when she's clearly just scratching her face. Her finger isn't anywhere near her nostril.

I just watched the documentary tonight and I thought it was well done. Although I have this irrational dislike for Rory Kennedy because JFK, Jr. was killed going to her wedding and if she just didn't get married, he'd be alive. I know, irrational.

That family kills their boy gays and forces marriage on their girl gays...

Sirhan did not kill RFK, but we are not really sure who did or why it was done.

Discuss!

[quote]Sirhan did not kill RFK, but we are not really sure who did or why it was done.

Wasn't the Mob more angry at RFK than JFK?

I thought the documentary on Ethel was well done too, though it seems kind of ironic that her (at times) reckless, f&ck the rules attitude rubbed off her on kids & not in a good way (ie. Nursing kicking son Dougie). You don't read about the older Kennedys having such an oversized sense of entitlement.

Good point, R58.

And what's with the "mummy" and "daddy" references? Sounds so immature and waspy. Maria Shriver did the same thing. Not sure I ever heard Caroline refer to Jackie as "mummy."

Yeah, the mummy & daddy reference seemed weird to me too. Calling their father daddy is one thing, since he's the man they remember as a kid, but to still be calling their mother "mummy" at their age seemed weird. It's like they have this formal relationship with her when she's clearly not a formal person.

Different time OP (Offensive Prick) I grew up with large families. At 3 kids, we were the smallest in our family. Top prize went to 7.

She isn't picking her nose, blow up the pix.

I don't care for the Kennedy's at all, but this sheer hatred being displayed is unreal. I doubt if very many of the posters were adults in the 1960's, so they're re-living it second or third hand.

What they had was the most magnificent PR machine in the history of the world. It has faded some. What's left to come out about RFK will eventually sink the whole thing for good.

[quote]What's left to come out about RFK will eventually sink the whole thing for good.

Well, do tell, dear!

[quote]What's left to come out about RFK

???? The real reason he got shot and by whom?

Rory is a dyke who was forced to marry

"As I said, he wasn't a sissy at all."

A mother always knows . . .

Rory is so gay, it's not even funny.

And what's with RFK, Jr.'s voice? Does he always sound like that?

[quote]And what's with RFK, Jr.'s voice?

It's something psychological from childhood.

I agree r63 and I love your eloquence about the Kennedys having a magnificent PR machine. I can't stand them and wish no one would vote for them.

The RFK PR machine has been in full effect for 50 years propagating the lie that Bobby, along with his brother, was a hero of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Recently released tapes show that Bobby was a hawk all 13 days of the crisis. In fact, it was only JFK - going it alone against all of his civilian and military advisors - who was for a more dovish response.

How many DLers know that Sen. Joseph McCarthy was the godfather of Kathleen, the eldest child of Bobby & Ethel and eldest grandchild of Joe & Rose?

I miss JFK, Jr. sometimes. I'm linking to a nice You Tube video of him from the 1988 Democratic convention.

RFK, Jr. has spasmodic dysphonia and that is basically when your very vocal cords have a tremor.

r72 that is hardly new news.

[quote] Not sure I ever heard Caroline refer to Jackie as "mummy."

I have read something about JFK Jr where he referred to his mother as Mummy. It was his ex-girlfriend Christina Haag's book. He almost killed himself in a boat and he kept screaming, "Don't tell Mummy"

WHO called me a nose-picker?

Please start a thread:

Letitia Baldrige, Jackie Kennedy's social secretary, dies at 86

R64 Well, Dear. For one thing, some of his MANY women will blab before they croak. Also, his suggestion that we sink an American ship and blame it on the Cubans as a pretext for invasion was certainly not the only brainless and impulsive thing he ever came up with.

Whether we'll ever know more about the mob business .. unlikely.

Back then, Joan was the best looking of all the women

Maybe Sirhan Sirhan was an early supporter of Planned Parenthood.

[quote]R79

IMO none of the Kennedy women were any great shakes in the looks department. Joan Bennett Kennedy even in her wedding photos looked much older than she was. Most of JFK' sisters were slightly better than average looking.

It's a handful of the Kennedy men that have been somewhat good looking; the best of the lot having been JFK Jr.

The best looking of Ethel & Bobby's daughters is .......

Verificatia of Sirhan Squared Sizemeat?

The Kennedys are America's Royal Family.

R80: if so, Sirhan was a day late and $11 short.

Given Ethel's decision to remain single, I am assuming she hasn't gotten any in the last 40+ years. She had more with Bobby in her 18 years of marriage with him than most people probably got in an entire lifetime.

[quote]R86

She was very close with Andy Williams for years following his divorce with Claudine Longet.

Also, being 'more Catholic than thou' Ethel relished being a professional widow.

R82 lol Haley looks like a Bobby and Ethel spawn.

Ethel Skankel

Bump

How did Bobby who was pretty hot fuck Ethel at least 11 times. Must've been with a bag over her head. I can't really picture Ethel having sex without cracking up.

I bet he wishes he could have put Ethel's personality in Jackie's body.He was feisty and I bet he loved her tomboy side.

She was probably hilarious when you got her started on the Widder,Zack-leen.

Mrs. RFK Sr. had a baby every 12 to 24 months for most of her married life. The exception was no babies in 1960, 1961, and 1962, quite a long stretch...for her. Does anyone know if she suffered a miscarriage then or was there perhaps another reason?

I could never stand her. I thought her maiden name should have been Skankal instead of Skakel.

As J Peterman on Seinfeld said, she had "proclivity to procreate".

Ethel came from a wild bunch herself. She once road a horse through her parents' grand foyer as a kid.

Might as well provide the complete quote

"...Ethel Kennedy, a woman whose triumph in the face of tragedy is exceeded only by her proclivity to procreate."

R93 Bobby was getting plenty from Marilyn at this point. Can you imagine fucking Ethel? Must've been in the dark with a paper bag over head. Bobby was pretty hot during the 50s and early 60s. He must've seen Ethel as his Catholic duty to create a large family.

Thanks R 98. It would seem that the baby making did start up again once MM passed on.

Imo, EK looks attractive in photos from the 1970s where she has her eyebrows groomed.

Ethel has the look that so many well-to-do men seem to go for, though I don't understand why. Thin face that is also a bit wrinkly for her age especially around the eyes, thin lips, and big front teeth. They always have a bitchy, entitled look and attitude about them. So many doctor's wives that I know fit this description perfectly.

R 98, I cannot imagine doing it with Ethel. I am a straight female. Brand new to DL. Reading these threads has me laughing so hard, tears are streaming down my face.

Rory Kennedy is uglier than all her brothers and sisters put together

Ethel looks like a lion head goldfish now.

I’ve always felt Ethel’s vagine had something to do with Chappaquiddick. Like maybe it had fallen out in the road causing Teddy to have to swerve into the pond to avoid it.

Does anyone know why Ethel was friends with Roger Ailes. She was at his funeral and everything.

How and why did that friendship exist? Curious.

[quote]Rory Kennedy is uglier than all her brothers and sisters put together

Maybe she had those filed down a bit she would look ok.

[quote]I’ve always felt Ethel’s vagine had something to do with Chappaquiddick. Like maybe it had fallen out in the road causing Teddy to have to swerve into the pond to avoid it.

After Bobby's death, Ethel offered Mary Jo Kopechne a job as governess to her spawn. Ethel may have secretly been in Chappaquiddick to recruit Kopechne again.

Rory's husband is an "acclaimed" writer and film maker who didn't seem to have a career before the marriage.

Where are all the gays in this enormous extended family? I've never seen so many str8s in one family in my life.

Show me the gays.

Answered in r55 back in 2012

Ethel and children:

These people look like Republicans.

Shouldn't you be handing out razor blade apples instead of bumping this bullshit right-wing propaganda thread?

Right-wing psychos.

She loved the D.