NEWTON'S LAW: MARKING A SAD, GRACELESS FALL OF A ONCE-GREAT FAMILY NAME

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the Bay of Pigs invasion, when American-backed Cuban rebels set about liberating their homeland from the communist grip of Fidel Castro.

You might have noticed that three decades have passed and, while communism has lost favor in a good many nations, Castro's name still tops the presidential stationery in Cuba.

Meanwhile, John F. Kennedy, whose blessing was bestowed on this ill-starred plan, and whose brief presidency was marred by its failure, has long resided under an eternal flame at Arlington National Cemetery, victim of a killer who fell under Castro's spell.

It goes around and comes around. Notions of Camelot were not evident that April day; if there was one brief, shining moment, this was not it.

In fact, the Kennedys haven't had a lot of shining moments, brief or otherwise, in recent years. What was a glorious example (at least in perception) of the American dream (a non-Protestant immigrant family rising to revered levels) has dissolved into brutal self-parody.

What was heroic and dignified about the Kennedy image is now just tawdry and embarrassing.

Glance at the word Kennedy in a headline these days and what is the story you expect to find below it?

Fresh reports about JFK's ample sexual appetite, unearthed not for history's sake but for voyeurism that engenders healthy ledgers at publishing houses.

The failure of a Kennedy offspring to pass a state bar examination.

Senator Ted in a sticky circumstance.

Alas, poor Ted. Here is a man who has survived a lifetime of tragedy. An older brother was killed in war. Two older brothers died from assassins' bullets. He drove a car into a bay and killed a young companion. His son lost a leg to cancer. His marriage broke up in a very public way.

You would think a man of this background would be content with a quiet existence. Teddy carries on, however, like a fraternity brother at the end of Hell Week.

In West Palm Beach, where old-money types practice their decadence in a vigorous but usually discreet fashion, the senator carouses with kin half his age. He seems in competition with his late brothers to prove that power is the ultimate aphrodisiac

The recent, unfortunate tale of a sexual attack at the Kennedy compound in Florida does not necessarily serve as an indictment of the man; he can't be held accountable for all the ills of a family (though he seems to do his part).

What the attack seems to point out is a further erosion of the Kennedy myth. The Kennedys have been described as America's royalty and that may not be far from the mark: as with Great Britain's aristocracy, there is an aptitude for unbecoming headlines and the later entries in the lineage seem less regal.

The Kennedy fall from grace has little to do with the tenor of the times. Though national consensus has drifted away from the political philosophy embraced by this family, the slow, sad evolution isn't precipitated by GOP lynch mobs.

No one bemoans the current lack of leadership among Democrats more than those who have long been Democrats, those who held Jack near their heart ... but who hold their nose over Teddy's bad behavior.

By many accounts, Ted Kennedy is an effective senator. A man of means, he has proudly upheld a family tradition by championing causes of those of lesser station.

The working classes of this nation are still befriended by his legislative actions. Too bad so many south Florida bartenders are familiar with his leisure actions.