High life
Loyalty of the Kennedys
Taki
Gstaad Jean Kennedy Smith, the American Ambassador to Dublin, is the younger sis- ter of the slain US president, J.F.K., and mother of William Kennedy Smith, judged innocent of rape three years ago in Palm Beach. Her other credentials for the presti- gious post are that, unlike the rest of her brood, she has never been in trouble, and like the rest of her family she sees Sinn Fein as a liberation struggle against British occupation.
In fact, I don't think there has ever been another American ambassador to Ireland who is as sympathetic to the Irish republi- can cause as Ms Kennedy Smith. This is par for the course. The porcine senior sen- ator from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy, her younger brother, as well as her nephew, congressman Joe Kennedy, are outspoken fans of Sinn Fein, and Jean Smith was among the Draft Dodger's first appoint- ments in return for Ted Kennedy's support during the 1992 election campaign.
So far, so bad. Ironically, Jean Smith I find the nicest of the clan. I first met her during the early Sixties, introduced to her and her husband Steve by their brother-in- law Peter Lawford. When Porfirio Rubirosa died in a car accident on 6 July 1965, Jean and her sister Pat flew over for the funeral. 'Now you're ready for Teddy,' was what they told his widow, Odile. They meant it in jest, of course, but it was a bit tough coming as soon as it did. Mind you, Odile didn't mind. Still, it was hardly diplo- matic. From what I hear — the Kennedys and your correspondent aren't exactly close nowadays — she's been a good ambas- sador, but what rankles is her one-dimen- sional view of the Northern Ireland problem. Here is a woman who has had two of her brothers assassinated, yet appears to turn a blind eye to the terrorist outrages perpetrated by the IRA over the last 20 years. Furthermore, here is a woman whose family has made the demo- cratic process its motto and raison d'être, yet she and her brood ignore that very same democratic process when it involves Ulster.
In her defence, I am sure it is because of family loyalty. Nothing comes before family where the Kennedys are concerned, and Jean Smith showed that loyalty when the God-awful Willie Smith was tried for rape. Like the intelligent woman that she is, Jean Smith must have known that her son had his problems with drink and women. There had been at least four complaints, none of them brought to trial, before the Palm Beach one, all involving allegations of vio- lence against women. Even some of Willie's cousins admitted that much, though he denied it. Yet Jean Smith told reporters that her son was an angel, per- haps an admirable thing for a mother to do, but hardly the right thing.
It is the same with Sinn Fein. She is sim- ply following political orders from Ted and Joe. There are no British voters to speak of in the US, and the Kennedys know who their constituents are. As do the rest of the rich and famous now lining up to shake the bloody Adams hand this Friday in the White House.
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