DebateGate
General Category => 3DHS => Topic started by: BT on December 07, 2008, 09:27:11 PM
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Caroline Kennedy? Thanks But No Thanks
By: Jane Hamsher Sunday December 7, 2008 8:00 am
photo by Joe Burnham
Everyone seems to be salivating because Caroline Kennedy called David Patterson and is apparently interested in the Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton.
It's a truly terrible idea.
Her leadership could have been really helpful when the rest of us were trying to keep the progressive lights on and getting the stuffing beaten out of us by a very well-financed right wing for the past eight years. But when things were tough, she was nowhere to be found.
Now that the Democrats are in power, she'd like to come in at the top. We have absolutely no idea if she's qualified, or whether she can take the heat of being a Kennedy in public life. She's certainly shown no appetite for it in the past. She'll have a target on her back and if she can't take it, if she crumbles, she will become a rallying point that the right will easily organize around.
The woman has never run for office in her life. We have no idea how she'd fare on the campaign trail, or how well she could stand up to the electoral process. She simply picks up the phone and lets it be known that she just might be up for having one of the highest offices in the land handed to her because -- well, because why? Because her uncle once held the seat? Because she's a Kennedy? Because she took part as a child in the public's romantic dreams of Camelot? I'm not quite sure.
There's an enormous problem in the Senate right now with entitlement, with the sense that its members owe their allegiance to each other and not to the public. Witness Joe Lieberman's recent confirmation of Homeland Security Chairman, when Democratic Senators circled the wagons and helped him hold on to power -- despite the fact that he refused to hold hearings into the government's response to Hurricane Katrina and protected billions of dollars in contractor graft from being investigated. Nobody, including Howard Dean, seemed to think that his performance record as head of the Committee was something that should even be taken into consideration.
The new Senate is going to face incredible challenges in the upcoming session, and we're lucky this year that it will be infused with some much-needed new blood. It's not a place for anyone to be wearing political training wheels. If Caroline Kennedy aspires to that lofty perch, let her run for something first -- her name recognition, political connections and ability to fund raise should make it a cake walk. It could be a tough year for Democrats in 2010. It would be good to have her in the game.
In the mean time, I'm glad she had fun being part of a winning campaign in a year that saw a rather rosy playing field for Democrats. But simply being well-known and a member of the "American nobility" in a celebrity-driven society shouldn't be enough to axiomatically entitle her to be a member of the US Senate.
http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/07/caroline-kennedy-thanks-but-no-thanks/ (http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/07/caroline-kennedy-thanks-but-no-thanks/)
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Kennedy would not be a bad interim Senator. The seat would become open in 2010 anyway.
The problem is she was an early supporter of Obama and would Hillary try to snafu any Kennedy appointment.
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I see nothing wrong with Caroline Kennedy replacing Hillary. She and Hillary are of the same mindset, and both are prominent women, who could get things done that a lesser known person could not.
I doubt that Hillary would sabotage anything she did.
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Is there an expectation that Senator Obama must be replaced by an African American and Senator Clinton must be replaced by a Female American?
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Is there an expectation that Senator Obama must be replaced by an African American and Senator Clinton must be replaced by a Female American?
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I think many would say yes to the former and more would say yes to the latter. No one shold complain if a senator or representative is replaced by someone who will do exactly what the elected senator or representative would do, because that is who a majority of the voters voted for in the first pace.
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I really could go either way. I'm torn between my disdain of dynastic appointments in government and the idea of another Kennedy generation in politics supporting President-elect Barack Obama. There is a certain delicious symmetry to it.
Hillary has gotten all the political juice she can from the NY seat. It was really just a resume' job for her.
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>>I see nothing wrong with Caroline Kennedy replacing Hillary.<<
There's a real shocker.
I say sure, why not. When you've got a no talent no experience democrat president, why not a no talent no experience Senator? One more yellow dog on the democrat side. Hell, they all look alike anyway. Who'll know the difference?
I do think Heir Pelosi might take exception. She'll be standing in front of mirror on her private jet chanting, "Mirror mirror, on the wall..." Somebody better warn Caroline to stay away from apples.
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Caroline Kennedy is rather a bit more qualified than Sarah "let me get back to ya on that" Palin.
Who, by the way, does not see to have ever gotten back to anyone.
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Caroline Kennedy is rather a bit more qualified than Sarah "let me get back to ya on that" Palin.
How so?
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Who, by the way, does not see to have ever gotten back to anyone.
What were you waiting on?
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>>Caroline Kennedy is rather a bit more qualified than Sarah "let me get back to ya on that" Palin.<<
Really??
I'll bite. Tell us all how sweet Caroline is more qualified than Governor Pailn.
I fucking dare you.
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Caroline Kennedy is rather a bit more qualified than Sarah "let me get back to ya on that" Palin.
Who, by the way, does not see to have ever gotten back to anyone.
I am totally unaware of Caroline Kennedy's accomplishments .
Could you point to some highlights?
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Well, she has done some stuff.
From Wiki:
Kennedy is an attorney, editor, writer and member of the New York and Washington, D.C. bars. She is one of the founders of the Profiles in Courage Award, given annually since 1990 to a person who exemplifies the type of courage examined in her father's Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name. The award is generally given to elected officials who, acting in accord with their conscience, risk their careers by pursuing a larger vision of the national, state or local interest in opposition to popular opinion or powerful pressures from their constituents. In May 2002, she presented an unprecedented Profiles in Courage Award to representatives of the NYPD, the New York City Fire Department, and the military as representatives of all of the people who acted to save the lives of others during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.[4]
From 2002 to 2004, Kennedy worked as chief executive for the Office of Strategic Partnerships for the New York City Department of Education. During this time, she helped raise more than $65 million for the city’s public schools. [5] She currently serves as the Vice Chair of The Fund for Public Schools, a public-private partnership founded in 2002 to attract private funding for public schools in New York City. [6]
In addition, Kennedy is currently President of the Kennedy Library Foundation,[3] a director of both the Commission on Presidential Debates and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Honorary Chairman of the American Ballet Theatre. She is also an adviser to the Harvard Institute of Politics, a living memorial to her father.
Kennedy has represented her family at the funeral services of former Presidents Ronald Reagan in 2004 and Gerald Ford in 2007, and at the funeral service of former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson in 2007. She also represented her family at the dedication of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, Arkansas in November 2004.
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Palin barely made it through a BA degree. Kennedy is most likely to do what Hillary would have done, and is therefore qualified to replace her. Perhaps there are others better qualified, but Palin is not one of them.
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>>Palin barely made it through a BA degree.<<
That's the best you can do? You can't back up your incredibly stupid remark so you resort to another stupid remark.
>>Kennedy is most likely to do what Hillary would have done, and is therefore qualified to replace her.<<
That's it? :D
Caroline Kennedy is the perfect fit for libtard nation. She has a name, and that's it. A rubber stamp. A good German. Just like Barry, substance doesn't matter to the left. The cult of personality drives the left, not concern for their country or it's citizens.
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Perhaps there are others better qualified, but Palin is not one of them.
Palin is not qualified at all. The main qualification to be a Senator from New York is to live in New York. She does not live there, so is therefore unqualified for the position.
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Perhaps there are others better qualified, but Palin is not one of them.
Palin is not qualified at all. The main qualification to be a Senator from New York is to live in New York. She does not live there, so is therefore unqualified for the position.
That, I think, is true but I read a blurb yesterday that said that some people were hoping for a Harold Ford Jr appointment to that seat. I don't know if he is living in NY or not.
And, all he would have to do is buy a house upstate and that would be that. Palin, I'm sure could at least rent a flat somewhere.
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Palin is not qualified at all. The main qualification to be a Senator from New York is to live in New York. She does not live there, so is therefore unqualified for the position.
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I agree, Palin is unqualified to represent NY because of residency.
With a BA in journalism, it is safe to assume that she knows less about the law than Kennedy, who has a law degree. Palin surely knows more about hunting the wily moose.
It is still unclear whether Palin has ever actually ventured to Little Diomede Island on a clear day and gotten a glimpse of Russia's Big Diomede Island. This s about the only thing to do there, unless one is a connoisseur of chewing blubber. I think one must be a native Alaskan to hunt walruses, seals, Narwhals and Polar bears, another occasional occupation of Little Diomedieans, who are few in number, but indubitably plucky in spirit. If Richiepoo were to go there, it would be refreshing for all concerned. A visit to the Pribilhoffs might also be exciting.
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I don't know why she'd want the job? She's a great fund raiser for the things she finds important, why get involved in Washington DC?
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That a way Xo....keep dissing your President-elect. ;D
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It is still unclear whether Palin has ever actually ventured to Little Diomede Island on a clear day and gotten a glimpse of Russia's Big Diomede Island.
I think it's quite clear; she never claimed to have done so, so it's a fairly safe assumption that she has not.
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There's no chance of BO ever going there. Only real men and real women could handle it. You best stay down in mommies basement where it's all safe and warm. Nobody in Alaska is going to cut the crust off your cheese sandwich for you BO.
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There's no chance of BO ever going there. Only real men and real women could handle it. You best stay down in mommies basement where it's all safe and warm. Nobody in Alaska is going to cut the crust off your cheese sandwich for you BO.
Now THAT is funny.
LOL :D
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When do you plan to grow up, Richiepoo?
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Isn't going from Govenor to Senator a demotion?
As Hillary proved , anyone can make it in New York , all you have to do is move there and outspend the competition.
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;D touche', Plane
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;D @ BO