NEWSFLASH - new book claims Ted Kennedy had a drinking problem

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Holly shit!  What next?  A book claiming that OJ is black or that the Pope is Catholic?  And to hear that his drinking troubled his family?  Give me a break!  I am sure his drinking didn't trouble HIS family as much as Marry Jane Kopekne's!

For decades, Ted Kennedy's hard-drinking escapades made him an easy target for parody: a boozer with a Boston accent and a bottomless glass of Chivas.

The late senator's new memoir acknowledges his many boozy benders, but Kennedy insists he was not an alcoholic.

It could be denial. Or it could be the truth, said Dr. Jeffrey Parsons, head of the Psychology Department at Hunter College.

"It is far easier for someone to say they have problems with alcohol than to identify as an alcoholic," Parsons said.

On the other hand, Parsons said, "it's entirely possible for people to have problems associated with alcohol but not necessarily dependence."

Tales of Kennedy's drinking were legendary and plentiful.

A 1990 profile in GQ magazine described him as a binge drinker who showed up for 1986's Hands Across America in the Boston Common reeking of booze.

"Like he'd poured Jack Daniel's on his hair," a reporter at the event was quoted saying in the story.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/09/04/2009-09-04_teds_battle_with_bottle_booze_a_recurring_topic_in_book_but_he_says_not_a_proble.html#ixzz0QBBJlGQF