Sarah Palin Spits on the Legacy of Eunice Shriver

In 1962, Eunice Kennedy Shriver published an article in the Saturday Evening Post, lamenting the fate of her eldest sister, Rosemary. Born in 1918, "Rosemary," as Eunice wrote simply, "was mentally retarded." The Kennedys had the means and the love to care for her at home, refusing to send her to an institution, as so many families did with such children. But an attempt to improve her condition through a lobotomy failed, and an institution is where Rosemary ended up. Eunice wrote,

It fills me with sadness to think this change might not have been necessary if we had known then what we know today -- that 75 to 85% of the retarded are capable of becoming useful citizens with the help of special education and rehabilitation. Another 10 to 20% can learn to make small contributions, not involving book learning, such as mowing a lawn or washing dishes. Only 5% -- the most severely retarded cases -- must remain completely dependent all their lives.

If only Rosemary had been born forty years later, Eunice thought, things would have been different for her. This led Shriver to devote her life to such children and their families. She lobbied her brother, the President, to pour $120 million into research. The family foundation donated millions to care centers and medical facilities. As a Senator, her brother Robert successfully prodded Governor Rockefeller to improve (at least for a time) the horrid conditions at state mental institutions in New York. And most of all, she started the Special Olympics out of her own backyard.

It was about providing these children with an education, a sense of purpose, accomplishment and a full life. She helped create a world where these kids were not judged by their "economic potential," though ironically, her brothers often turned to Eunice when looking for workers to help around their Senate offices. Bobby once noted the mentally challenged young man at the Kennedy Foundation who worked the Xerox machine -- even fixed it when it broke down, "which is something none of the psychologists in the office can do."

The triumph of inclusion: that is the woman's greatest legacy -- one she would insist be shared with her eldest sister.

So the idea that mentally challenged children would be murdered by the American government is not only ludicrous, it is a disgusting insult to Eunice Kennedy Shriver. And yet Sarah Palin repeated that vile lie for a third time today, the day Eunice was laid to rest.

Palin's own child's life has so much more potential for no other reason than that he was born ninety years after Rosemary, who had a sister and family that cared so much. That Palin would show so much disrespect to this lovely woman by lying about the legislation her brother Ted has fought so hard for... it is beneath contempt.

"I am lucky that I saw my mother and my sister Rosemary treated with unbearable rejection.... The combination of the love of my family and the awful sting of rejection helped me to develop the confidence that I needed to believe that I could make a difference in a positive direction," Eunice said in 2007. "I think I can say that not one author among the thousands who have written about [President Kennedy] has understood what it was really like to be a brother of a person with intellectual disability. And tonight, I want to say what I have never said before: more than any one single individual, Rosemary made the difference."

We now live in a country in which casting out the mentally disabled will not be tolerated. That was not the case when Eunice and Rosemary Kennedy were girls. Sarah Palin ought to be ashamed of herself for suggesting what she did, today of all days.

Follow John R. Bohrer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JRBwrites

Comments

[NotStarvingArtist]

Can someone please post this article or a link to it on Sarah's Facebook page? I'm sorry, but I don't know enough about Facebook to know if that is even possible, but Sarah really needs to read this.

[Freesia2]

I'm afraid it's just all part of the Sarah Palin modus operandi. Lies are all the accomplishment she has.

Pretty much everything she does can be covered by the adjectives you use there Mr. Bohrer. "Disgusting", "Beneath contempt" as she goes "spitting on" things that are real and important, hard won.

She's a woman candidate who rode in on the work of women before her but cheaply resorts back to the old and easier tricks when showing a little ankle and a wink was supposed to be the way to get ahead. She took women back 50 years with her tactics. And so it's no surprise that she treats the work of Ted and especially Eunice this way. What's a lifetime of work and all it meant to so many desperate families and challenged human beings who desperately needed a chance - if she can grind it under the heel of hher red naughty monkey pump.

Eunice did amazing things for a group of human being that most people tried to ignore. It always makes me think of Princess Diana championing the needs of the AIDs victims, long before it was acceptable to do so.

Thanks for the article. I'm reminded again of how tawdry, and damaging, some self serving politicians can be. And why they deserve our disgust and contempt.

(Rest in peace Eunice. You did good.)

[BuzzingAlong]

Do you really think that Sarah Palin even knows who Eunice Kennedy Shriver was?

[dutchess2]

Sarah Palin does not know what she does not know.

She's that stupid.

Among the things she's done is foist her kids out into the spotlight, then complain because we
know about them. One of the things I know is that no mother forces a pregnant unmarried teenager
to take the stage in a political arena... That was about the cruelest thing I've ever known of a parent of a pregnant teen to do.

Another is her failure to be working with her special needs son 24/7, it takes that to ever get them able to even dress themselves and brush their own teeth.

She's just too busy, and you see the kids carrying him around like so much flour....

Just a royal mess.

[ESerafina42]

And what has Sarah done since she resigned (or before) for children like Trig? As I remember, while Governor she CUT funding for the Special Olympics, though she provided more when Keith Olbermann donated money to them for every lie she told. It sure looks like she only cares about HER kid, and then only when she can trot him out to make a political point.

[DorightWoman]

Palin always projects HER own wishes as someone else's. Some personality disordered people do that.

[JuliaMcKenney]

For the past 47 years of my life I've had the honor to share in the life of a down syndrome person, my brother. Due to my parents never ending commitment and belief that he along with other mentally challenged people could be taught to do the very things you and I do day in and day out I spent a lot of time around more DS folks than most others would meet in a life time.
I know how proud their parents can be of the smallest accomplishment. 3 years spent potty training, 1 year teaching how to eat with a spoon, 5 years old when they take their first step....pa­rents shout those things from the rooftop.
The strange thing about Palin is I've never heard of read anything about Trig's progress, whether it be he's learned to roll over or he is no grasping for toys. ... something I know an involved parent would do.
No all I hear from her about him is how this or that in the political arena MIGHT affect him.
Am I the only one who thinks this strange?

[BuzzingAlong]

You are not alone. I have been asking for months who is taking care of Trig.

As a 38 year worker in health care I am well aware of the extensive care that must be given to children with Down's Syndrome. Of the close bonding that needs to take place between the mother and father (or guardian) who should be be the primary care givers as opposed to the babysitter.

Can someone please tell me who is providing all of these things for Trig?

[Freesia2]

No. It's predictable of her though.

She didn't even tell anyone she was having him til she was 7 months pregnant. And when he was born I think her way of reconciling herself to a task she didn't want was to turn him into a political tool. "My Downs Syndrome" baby to pack on stage for a sound bite.

I read Rose Kennedy's memoirs a few years ago and she talked about the blessing of Rosemary. That in a family so accomplished it was easy to feel like you owned the world. And along came a child "who must receive gifts rather than bestow". The mindset was different and it influenced Eunice. She apparently would spend hours pretending to play tennis with Rosemary. Stay by her at parties, helping her apply some lipstick so she could feel like the other girls. The mindset of the family was what made good come. That mindset isn't there for Palin.

I

[Pippilangstrumpf]

And therein lies the problem: Sarah Palin has no shame.

[mdlw]

Palin is a deceptive person spewing lies and venom from the time she walked out on the national stage. She has used a baby with DS to promote her political agenda. Check out the video and judge for yourself.

http://palingates.blogspot.com/2009/07/sarah-palins-pregnancy-is-hot-topic.html

[cocl]

Thank you so much for this article, and for expressing my own sentiments about the right's dishonoring of Eunice's memory!

So sad she isn't here to speak out forcefully for reform. Would anyone have dared to accuse HER of supporting 'death panels'? I do hope the younger Kennedys will come out of mourning soon and speak out on her behalf. The administration could really use their support right now! And who could debunk and shame Sarah Palin more credibly and effectively than, say, Tim Scriver, chairman and CEO of Special Olympics?

[ESerafina42]

Oh, they would have dared. These are the type of people who accused the 9/11 widows of "enjoying" their husbands' deaths.

[deosil]

Lovely piece. Thank you!

[ncmom54]

wonderful article! the nature of our humanity (or lack thereof) is laid bare in the health care debate.
one thing is clear;
the life and work of Eunice Kennedy Shriver was one of genuine service to others.

palin is nothing more than a lightning rod in the hands of those who serve only themselves.

http://go.sojo.net/campaign/health_care

[dessertsfirst]

Sarah Palin should thank her lucky stars for Eunice and Rosemary Kennedy. They have paved the way for these precious and fragile little ones to be able to grow to their potential in our land. An article in our local newspaper said that the mentally disabled people actually are being hired at a higher rate than they have been before, during this economic downturn.

As usual, Sarah has picked a rethug talking point, and is wearing it out because it sounds good, but she doesn't know what she is talking about. Someone else said in a blog, that Sarah is becoming quite the typist... typing the talking points set in front of her, w/o suffering being held accountable for what she says.

[memphisviking]

I doubt very much if Sarah Palin even knew who Eunice Shriver was or anything about her legacy of inclusion. Ms. Palin is too building her legacy of exclusion.

[sherbug]

Do you think that Sarah Palin knows who Eunice Shriver is? Do you think Sarah Palin cares what anybody has done for disabled children? Palin is only interested in keeping herself controversial and keeping her base happy so that she will be the Republican nominee in 2012.