The Kennedy Curse..

[msb314]

The Kennedy family, being one of the most famous families in the US, had had atleast one member of their family in Congress since 1943 and almost a quarter of the total time of USA's existance.

However, some believe they are dogged by the Kennedy "Curse" due to various tragedies and deaths that have occured in the Kennedy family.

E.g.

- Rosemary Kennedy was often believed to have been intellectually disabled, underwent a labotomy and could not walk or speak for the rest of her life.
- Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. died when his plane exploded during World War II.
- William Cavendish was killed by sniper fire in Belgium during World War II.
- Kathleen Cavendish died in a plane crash in France.
- Patrick Bouvier Kennedy died two days after his premature birth. Was the youngest son of President JFK.
- President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald.
- U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy was involved in a plane crash in which one of his aides and the pilot were killed.
- U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan in Los Angeles.
- Ted Kennedy accidentally drove his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, fatally trapping his 28-year-old colleague, Mary Jo Kopechne, inside. In his televised statement a week later, Ted stated that on the night of the incident he wondered "whether some awful curse did actually hang over all the Kennedys."
- Ted Kennedy, Jr. had his right leg amputated because of bone cancer.
- David Kennedy died of a cocaine and pethidine overdose in a Palm Beach, Florida hotel room.
- Michael LeMoyne Kennedy died in a skiing accident in Aspen, Colorado.
- John F. Kennedy Jr. died when his plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. He was the only surviving son of President JFK.
- Kara Kennedy died of a heart attack while exercising in a Washington, D.C. health club.

Similarly, it has also been said that our very own Bhutto family also has a curse since no member of the Bhutto family (children of Shah Nawaz Bhutto)has lived over the age of 59 - the eldest is Sanam Bhutto who is currently 59 herself.

Do you guys actually believe in these "curses" and (as we call them in Urdu) Baduwayein and Nazar?

 

[Markhor]

Its not so much a curse but a reflection of an unstable family environment that has been riddled with alcoholism, drug abuse and adultery over the years.

JFK is a bit overrated, LBJ achieved far more on the domestic front with his Great Society reforms. LBJ knew how to arm-twist and cut deals with Congress, and reach out to Southern members of the Democratic Party in a way JFK never could. However Vietnam will always be a black mark against his name.

RFK could have been a great President. He was the embodiment of the social democratic movement of the 60s and had a special connection with the poor, the working class and African Americans. When he was assassinated in June 1968 it was a hammer blow to the progressive movement having lost MLK months prior, and the pendulum swung decisively back to the right with the election of Richard Nixon.

The right then went about engendering the "me me me" culture that still prevails today. The working-classes were pitted against each other, unionised workers vs non-unionised, the working poor vs the unemployed, and the Southern Strategy was unleashed. The Republicans went on to win 5 out of the next 6 Presidential elections after RFK's demise.