said he was sorry." He has no morals, no decency.

The veteran senator is the only Kennedy who lived long enough to be found out. All three, sons of bootlegging family patriarch Joe, were born to ruthlessness, arrogance and a self-entitlement to any woman they wanted. Only the reticence of the times saved both older brothers from the consequences of their boorish use of Marilyn Monroe. Robert visited her bungalow on the night she died, and that is one step short of Chappaquiddick.

Oddly, it is reprobate Edward who has shown inclination to legislate for the common good. It is that which has propped up Camelot despite 40 years of revelations. JFK couldn't be bothered with Civil Rights because he didn't need black votes. Robert took on his

father's Mob buddies to bury the family legacy and opposed Vietnam when his brother's war proved unpopular.

Ted's role as national uncle came with the final Kennedy tragedy, the death of JFK's son John in a plane crash redolent of the family hubris. He was the little boy saluting his father's coffin in 1963 and was the heir to the myth of Camelot.

The media wanted to turn John Junior's death into a schmaltz-fest but the Senator managed to fend off the tide of sentimentality and maintain the dignity of family and nation. For all his sins, when the last of the Kennedy Boys does die, it will be the end of an era.