Thinking Right

By Maniac is accurate

December 16, 2008 8:14 AM | Link to this

So, because she’s a Kennedy, she’s not qualified? Also, if you don’t like the way someone spells their name, you change it?

To me, Caroline Kennedy is an upgrade over Clinton.

By Redneck Convert

December 16, 2008 8:25 AM | Link to this

Well, what I want to know is what’s this Caroline Kennedy’s golf handicap? She probly can’t play and it would be a total waste for her to be in the U.S. Senate.

Old Saxby and people like him, though, can take full advantage of being there. He’s already the second best golfer in the whole Congress, so another six years will get him up to the top with Tiger Woods and the other big boys. Us GA rednecks don’t mind sending somebody that will use all the stuff that a senator can get, but we’re against somebody just filling a seat just because of a name and the shape or color of the skin.

It’s just like a woman librul Democrat to call up a blind librul Democrat and say appoint me to this Senate seat. It won’t even do her no good to flash some leg and smile big. Besides, she probly ain’t worked a day in her life. Old Saxby, though, ain’t much to look at but he has these big farms to take care of and it’s tough to get loose from all that work to make room for a couple rounds of golf a week in Washington. That’s why we should be grateful to Saxby for taking care of us the way he does. You just wait, he’ll get real friendly with this Obama and bring all kind of federal money to GA. But Obama will just tell this Kennedy woman to bake him some cookies and iron his shirt.

Anyway, you might of knowed another one of the Kennedys would try to horn in on a senate seat. Maybe Raghead can tell us what will happen to the capital gains tax with her being in the Senate. And ron too if he can crawl back from the bar in his underwear and sandals and put his thinking cap on. Have a good day everybody.

By southfulton

December 16, 2008 8:26 AM | Link to this

As a democrat, Caroline Kennedy should not be NY Senator unless she wants to wait until the election in 2 years.

And Zell is no more a name that we need for endorsements as the Pandas down at Grant Park.

By Donna P.

December 16, 2008 8:29 AM | Link to this

Has she EVER held any political office? Palin was considered “not qualified” even though she had been a mayor and was a sitting Governor. Now the Democrats want Caroline Kennedy to be a Senator? Unbelievable. I guess helping Obama is her qualifications.

By Ragnar Danneskjöld

December 16, 2008 8:31 AM | Link to this

Good morning all. I respectfully suggest that our genial host’s headline should read, “Lemmings accept the anointed.” Of course, that would not have been newsworthy, nor even particularly controversial. Observations: (1) a general rule, every lawyer thinks he is smarter than everyone else, and thus should be an overlord. (2) New Yorkers are congenitally incapable of choosing a competent leftist and same must be selected by party bosses, even if that means selecting an Arkansan first lady or a Massachusetts warm-over. (Yes, I realize NY once elected Buckley and Moynihan, but that generation of voters is dead.)

The real story here is the in-fighting. The Princess is Chauncey’s choice, as she gave him some credibility with party bosses last spring. Mario Cuomo’s first-born thinks he is as deserving as was his dad, and is ready to do his imitation of Howard Beale. I would note that Gov. Patterson is not anybody’s first choice for the next gubernatorial race, and this is his opportunity to burnish his own credentials. I have not thought through his potential calculus.

By For States rights

December 16, 2008 8:35 AM | Link to this

The old saying rings true….”Follow the money”. No she is not qualified just because her name is Kennedy…however she on the other hand cannot be qualified because her name is Kennedy. Lets ask Uncle Teddy (you know the guy who has the best cookies) what he thinks. But we will have to wait until he is sober and that may be a while. Speaking of Teddy…why don’t we just pick someone named Mary Jo? Remember that name Teddy boy.

By Ragnar Danneskjöld

December 16, 2008 8:41 AM | Link to this

Ok, three cups of coffee later, I’ve thought it through. Gov. Patterson will appoint Andrew Cuomo to the Senate, even though Andrew is married to a Kennedy. Otherwise Andrew will run against Patterson for governor.

Special note to friend Billy.

By Reality Check

December 16, 2008 8:42 AM | Link to this

Donna @ 8:29

Good morning,

To compare Kennedy to Palin is silly…. A new senator comes into a congresional body as a small piece to much larger body. As a senator, she would be a jr. voice that could barely even go to the bathroom on her own, but Palin on the other hand was one bad day from the US Nuke codes. Vernon Jones ran a county with more employees than the state of Alaska and more residents Alaska, does that make him qualified to be President? The senate can be a starting point provided there is apptitude. We can not take that chance (Sara Palin) at the top.

By Road Scholar

December 16, 2008 8:45 AM | Link to this

Caroline Kennedy would run circles around Sarah Palin Poor Sarah…Bless her heart!

Jim, Why didn’t you include Caroline’s work with the community and for children in your article? Oh yeah, that would take work. Also, repubs make fun of “neighborhood activists”. Well a neighborhood activist with a vision kicked your moose hunter’s butt in the election because of her deep intellect and her ability to provide clear and concise answers.

Others have the oppetunity to put their hat in the ring. Has anyone come forward? What are the optioms? Remember that the person selected will have to run in 2010 and 2012 also to maintain their seat. Unfortunately the person selected will be required to raise substantial amounts of money to do so. She does have name recognition. At least Gov. Patterson hasn’t put it on Ebay!

By Ga Values

December 16, 2008 8:51 AM | Link to this

She will probably be less bad than Saxby. She won’t have a LOBBYIST son to take care of.

By Dan

December 16, 2008 8:57 AM | Link to this

Reality check Is being governor of Arkansas really much different than Alaska? Actually Alaska probably has many more unique issues to deal with. Fact is she was the only one on either side of the ballot who was experienced in management and decision making as opposed to rhetoric

By findog

December 16, 2008 8:57 AM | Link to this

Jim,

First the qualifications for congress must be extremely low because they do next to nothing on time, within budget, or of consequence. They stay in perpetual campaign mode collecting dollars for the next campaign. Whoever gets this senate seat will be running constantly: 2010 for remainder of term and 2012 for reelection. Not nearly the freebee espoused in the press.

Second the sixties. There were two sixties. There is the sex, drugs, rock and roll sixties that if you claim to remember then you were not there. Then there is the: ask not, greatest generation peaking, technologically superior, reach the moon sixties. And while a portion of the Kennedy clan extended the former through the seventies and eighties Caroline was shielded from them by her mother who help perpetuate the Camelot myth of the later.

By The Corporal

December 16, 2008 9:00 AM | Link to this

And I would like to play firstbase for the Braves.

I really am (liberal or conservative) getting a little tired of the privileged/family name people thinking they are supposed to automatically run this Republic.

By DB, Gwinnettian

December 16, 2008 9:02 AM | Link to this

34 whole minutes for the first “Mary Jo” reference to surface? You’re slipping.

By Bo Chambliss LOBBYIST

December 16, 2008 9:06 AM | Link to this

The chief executive of National Lampoon, Daniel S. Laikin, was charged on Monday with conspiracy and securities fraud in what prosecutors said was an attempt to raise the value of the company’s stock artificially.

By RCH

December 16, 2008 9:06 AM | Link to this

If my father was a brain surgeon and so was my uncle and I am a plumber, would that qualify me to do surgery on you? No wonder this country is in such a mess.

By Frost

December 16, 2008 9:14 AM | Link to this

Who is Zex Miller??Some southern GA farmer…If i dont know him but he is known by Wooten and Ragnar,then he must be some old 70 year old guy,who is hardly in the news any way.Relevant and good for whose endorsement? Carolie Kennedy??If the Yankees want her,then can have her.They are the only people here who matter,not some GA rednecks.Wooten and company,you all need to focus on ur crumbling education and test scores.Not NY. Over-reaching hate!

By Frost

December 16, 2008 9:16 AM | Link to this

though Andrew is married to a Kennedy Andrew has long been divorced to the Kennedy,acrimoniously!! Get ur facts Right.

By Davo

December 16, 2008 9:19 AM | Link to this

“Other than political family name and the liberal fondness for the fading U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, there seems to be no real reason to appoint Caroline Kennedy.”

Money.

She will have to defend the seat in 2 years…which means she will start fund-raising immediately. No telling when she will find time to ‘govern’.

Goodbye Democracy…Hello Tribalism!

By ron

December 16, 2008 9:21 AM | Link to this

Good morning,That Jim would like to get beyond a woman named Kennedy for a Senate appointment is hardly the news item of the week.

The only qualification Caroline Kennedy needs is to be the no.1 on the Governors list.That’s pretty simple,isn’t it?How one gets to be no.1 is a mystery.In Illinois it was going to take money,but now that has changed.There’ll have to be a different set of qualifications now.I’ll be willing to bet that the N.Y. appontment won’t be near as exciting as Blago made his.

The Kennedy name would nean more in Mass.than it does in N.Y..that’s for sure,but as I sit here and think about it,I don’t really care who gets appointed.It’s for a short period and if the appointee doesn’t measure up,I’m sure the good voters of N.Y. will make that plain.Surely their memory will be that long.

By Steven Daedalus

December 16, 2008 9:31 AM | Link to this

Qualifications, who needs qualifications, look at our two senators, if those two are qualified, there’s plenty on every corner.

By Supid

December 16, 2008 9:38 AM | Link to this

Anybody seen my t? Oh, there it is up there. Wooten gave it to Paterson. Sorry son, but I need that back. Thanks.

By Road Scholar

December 16, 2008 9:43 AM | Link to this

Here is a link to discuss her history and qualifications:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/nyregion/16qualifications.html?ref=politics

Hope this sheds some light for those fixated only on name recognition.

By Ragnar Danneskjöld

December 16, 2008 9:46 AM | Link to this

Dear DB @ 9:02, ok, I’ll bite, who is Mary Jo? The suspense is killing me. What are you driving at? Your argument is all wet, or is at least a bridge too far, but I’m sure you would deny it after you sobered up.

By jm

December 16, 2008 9:50 AM | Link to this

I wonder if Mr. Wooten would feel the same way if the last name was Bush instead of Kennedy.

By FIELD_NICKNAME

December 16, 2008 9:53 AM | Link to this

FIELDMESSAGEelordr

By FIELD_NICKNAME

December 16, 2008 9:53 AM | Link to this

FIELDMESSAGEelordr

By FIELD_NICKNAME

December 16, 2008 9:54 AM | Link to this

FIELDMESSAGEelordr

By Shorter Wooten

December 16, 2008 9:56 AM | Link to this

It would be wrong for the dilettante offspring of a former president to achieve national office simply because of name recognition. Unless that name is Bush, of course.

By findog

December 16, 2008 9:56 AM | Link to this

Jim,

It is really too bad this item did not come out for last week two couple essay. Appears abandonment is found in some other animals. UGA should persue a government grant and study the hatchling to see if forcing a father back to the nest results in a well balanced offspring, or will the hatchling become a thug?

From todays offbeat news:

Emer the errant emu found safe after a month trip BURRILLVILLE, R.I. — Emer the errant emu is home after roaming free across northern Rhode Island for a month. The fugitive was profiled on television broadcasts. Authorities, area residents and owner Pamela Hood had tried to capture him. Yet he managed to outlast tranquilizer darts, traffic, freezing temperatures and hunger. Finally on Saturday a Burrillville woman spotted Emer sauntering up her driveway. She walked the 6-foot-tall, 130-pound bird into a horse stall. Four-year-old Emer was 16 miles away from home. His trek began after a pig nuzzled open the gate on Hood’s livestock enclosure. Emer took off the same night his mate laid an egg. It falls to male emus to sit on eggs for incubation. With its father back, the egg has a better chance of hatching.

By Uncle Boris

December 16, 2008 10:08 AM | Link to this

Bull feathers!

By LuvUAll

December 16, 2008 10:09 AM | Link to this

Caroline Kennedy was born, raised and educated for political office. Put her up against any of the oldsters in Congress and she’ll come out ahead.

By Maniac is accurate

December 16, 2008 10:09 AM | Link to this

Ragnar @ 9:46 Funny stuff.

My support for Caroline Kennedy is mostly rooted in the fact she looks really good in a skirt. But, if Paterson isn’t going to appoint a libertarian or conservative (and he isn’t) then he could do much, much worse than Kennedy.

By Steven Daedalus

December 16, 2008 10:11 AM | Link to this

If her name were Bush instead of Kennedy, it would take Jim a month to get the slobber off his shirt.

By Bo Chambliss LOBBYIST

December 16, 2008 10:15 AM | Link to this

The TARP has been a disaster from its less than immaculate conception. The Bush administration and Congressional leadership used scare tactics to rush through a bill that gave vast authority to the Treasury department with almost no oversight. That is what us knuckle-scraping Neanderthals said at the time and events have yet again shown us to be right.

The TARP was about handing out taxpayer dollars to rich Wall Street executives whose incompetence and recklessness brought their institutions and the economy to ruin. Now we are being treated to a chorus of “shocked, shocked” from Congressional leaders who pushed the bill through.

The public should demand that a special prosecutor be appointed to go over Wall Street dealings with a fine tooth comb. It is the only way to restore confidence in the integrity of the financial system. It should also demand that members of Congress give back campaign contributions from Wall Street.

Undoubtedly many more scandals are yet to be exposed, but given what we already know, our politicians should be more anxious to be seen with Bill Ayers or Reverend Wright than Robert Rubin and the other Wall Street honchos.

By Bo Chambliss LOBBYIST

December 16, 2008 10:21 AM | Link to this

As the holiday season commences, it’s worth taking stock of the last gift that President George W. Bush and the 110th Congress have left for U.S. taxpayers.

It’s a package of about $8.7 trillion dollars’ worth of potential taxpayer commitments for loans, guarantees and other bailout goodies for businesses and distressed homeowners.

Amid the tissue paper:

• More than $1.5 trillion in Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. loan guarantees, including a $139 billion assist to the lending arm of General Electric Corp.

• $1.8 trillion in cash, tax breaks and loan guarantees doled out from the Treasury Department to taxpayers, financial institutions and credit companies.

• $300 billion for homeowners from the Federal Housing Authority.

• $25 billion in assistance for auto companies from a program overseen by the Energy Department, which is separate from the bailout proposal that tanked last week in the Senate.

• And $5 trillion worth of new money, loan guarantees and loosened lending requirements from the Federal Reserve Bank.

According to Bianco Research President James Bianco, who crunched these numbers, that amounts to more government aid and assistance than nine other historic bailouts and big government outlays combined.

The New Deal, for instance, cost an estimated $32 billion in its day, which would be about $500 billion in today’s dollars. The Marshall Plan cost about $12.7 billion, which is the equivalent of a paltry $115.3 billion. The Louisiana Purchase? The French got $15 million, which would be worth about $217 billion today.

If you take those three items, add in the adjusted costs of the Race to the Moon, the savings and loan crisis, the Korean War, the Iraq war, the Vietnam War and assistance for NASA, you still get to just $3.92 trillion — not even half of the taxpayers’ exposure today, according to Bianco.

If that weren’t enough to make you want to upgrade your holiday gift list, it’s useful to remember that Congress isn’t done and President-elect Barack Obama’s team hasn’t even started.

They are promising a newer and bigger stimulus package early next year — one that could make last spring’s $168 billion government giveaway to taxpayers (remember that fixer?) look like pocket change.

Asked just how much the taxpayers are on the hook for, Bianco said: “I just say you should use the number infinity, because nobody understands these numbers, and I would include the Treasury secretary and chairman of the Fed in that group.”

There is a bright side, sort of. Only about $2.9 trillion of the government money, loans and guarantees have actually been spent or committed.

And some of the deals are structured with the idea that taxpayers could one day make money off them by selling pieces of companies or the government’s new stake in them.

But that can’t be done until the economy rebounds, something that most economists aren’t yet willing to predict — probably because it would be even more depressing.

Now, all this is not to say that these measures weren’t necessary to save consumers from an even worse fate. That’s a big unanswered question that now will be left to speculators.

But the vast majority of the smart economic crowd, from both sides of the aisle, say the job losses and economic calamity that would have ensued without government intervention today would make the Great Depression look like an economic hiccup.

“If we don’t fix this, it doesn’t matter if we can’t pay for it,” said Heather Boushey, a senior economist at the Center for American Progress. “The problem will only get worse and become harder and even more expensive to fix.”

Meanwhile, she said, unemployment rates could soar abruptly, as they did during the Depression. “Every person who loses a job could also lose a house and health insurance and the ability to pay for college,” she added. “We could lose a generation.”

Given that, it was something of a wonder when Senate Republicans quashed a $14 billion rescue plan last week for domestic automakers.

Republicans had taken a beating on Election Day, in part because of resentment within their own base at the bailout bonanza in Washington.

But the automakers’ request seems a pittance given all the taxpayer cash already flooding the private market.

Part of the answer might have come from an Obama-style Internet campaign launched by FreedomWorks, a grass-roots organization led by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas).

FreedomWorks purchased Google search ads that popped up any time someone clicked for information about the auto bailout. The ad urged people to oppose the measure.

Thomas Keeley, the organization’s online advertising specialist, said the ad helped them generate nearly 100,000 messages to Congress. “We did very well, especially given the limited time we had on this,” he said.

The auto industry wasn’t idle. General Motors and Ford also took out Google search ads urging support for the package — a message that would have been tough to deliver in a big television ad campaign.

The cyberspace campaigns are likely a harbinger of how future bailout battles will be waged once Obama takes office with an e-mail list of more than 10 million supporters.

Already, Peter Greenberger, who’s heading up Google’s new issues advocacy sales team, says he’s warning interest groups that may take a stand on either side of the Democrats’ expected trillion-dollar stimulus package not “to organize a 20th-century advocacy campaign against a 21st-century administration.”

By Bo Chambliss LOBBYIST

December 16, 2008 10:34 AM | Link to this

Yeshiva University lost $100 million to $110 million on investments in Madoff’s funds, having already seen its endowment drop to $1.4 billion, from $1.8 billion, after turmoil in the markets.

In a letter to donors, the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington said it had $10 million invested with Mr. Madoff, about 8 percent of its endowment as of Nov. 30. The organization said it would work to recover the money.

The Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation, which supports organizations like the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach in Florida, said it lost $145 million, or 45 percent of its assets at the end of last year, because of investments with Mr. Madoff.

The SAR Academy, a Jewish school in the Bronx, had roughly a third of its $3.7 million in assets invested with Mr. Madoff, according to an e-mail message it sent to donors and parents. That exposure was through the Ascot Fund, a charity to provide wigs for people with the baldness disease alopecia, which is run by Mr. Merkin, the chairman of GMAC.

And Steven Spielberg’s Wunderkinder Foundation, which supports organizations like the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the Chabad charity Children of Chernobyl, had investments with Mr. Madoff, although a spokesman said he did not know how much.

The Chais Family Foundation in Encino, Calif., announced over the weekend that its losses had forced it to stop operating, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The foundation had $178 million in assets in May 2007, according to its tax form.

The Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation of Salem, Mass., had about $7 million at the end of 2006, but was forced to shut down at the end of last week.

By Gator Joe

December 16, 2008 10:45 AM | Link to this

Wooten: Caroline Kennedy is female, intelligent, well-educated, thoughtful and a Democrat. Considering the two Republican senators recently elected here in Georgia by you and your fellow Republicans, I understand why you would oppose someone with her qualifications.

By Fred

December 16, 2008 10:50 AM | Link to this

Like the movie Vertigo, the Democrats continue to pursue their Camelot fantasy. In the last 40 years, they’ve nominated two Taxachusetts pols for President (one even had the initials JFK), another for VP (Shriver), scores of them sport Kennedy-like helmet hair (witness Bill Clinton, John Edwards and now Blogojevich) and all of them try to claim that New Frontier mantle (how many times has BHO been compared to JFK in this election?), in spite of the fact that Kennedy had only a brief, muddled term that unfortunately ended tragically. His ghost has been a much more compelling leader than he ever could’ve been.

When Robert was shot, it was just presumed that Teddy would be President, but he’s been a mess. Meanwhile, a legion of offspring have subsisted on their over-romanticized last name… why should Caroline be any different? Don’t you know that if JFK Jr. hadn’t crashed his plane, they’d be marching him out for national office by now as well.

Caroline may be a perfectly lovely woman, one who has long shunned the national spotlight - and I’ve respected her for that. But then, New York has a long, star-struck history of handing their Senate seat to anyone with a famous name. It’s too bad she would choose to succumb to that temptation.

By LEB

December 16, 2008 11:02 AM | Link to this

I wonder if the press will be as kind to Caroline Kennedy as they were to Sarah Palin

By Gary

December 16, 2008 11:02 AM | Link to this

Hey Democrats - What is the difference between selling your senate seat in Illinois, and forcing the state of NY to take an unqualified, non-tested, pol with the “magical” Kennedy name?? NOTHING - both moves are stupid.
How many qualified people just turned away from putting their name in the hat because big Dems and the New York Times want the “name”…. I see another 4 to 6 years of absolutely nothing substantial happening in Congress while the rest of the world picks us apart a piece at a time. But, hey - we got sweet Caroline a senate seat..

By Mike D

December 16, 2008 11:10 AM | Link to this

I would put www.tubgirl.com in office before I put CK in office.

By Jim

December 16, 2008 11:40 AM | Link to this

Sure there is some nostalgia involved, and the Kennedy name doesn’t automatically qualify her for the position, but her education and experience do qualify her. How many times have we seen a governor appoint a deceased politician’s WIFE to the vacant position. At least she knows her way around the tough arena of NYC. If she isn’t successful, the voters can have their say in 2 years.

By mm

December 16, 2008 11:44 AM | Link to this

Liberal fondness for Ted Kennedy? Massachusetts elects Kennedy, not the entire nation. He probably wouldn’t get elected in any other state.

For all you paranoid wingnuts:

Worry about your own state. You have plenty enough to worry about.

By ron

December 16, 2008 11:48 AM | Link to this

I have it on good authority that Rednecks wife is murmuring my name in her sleep ever since she found out I’m lusting after her,hence the reason for Redneck’s horrible depiction of me crawling in after a night’s imbibing, in his post this morning.I was simply spending my ill gotten gains from my reduced capital gains tax.+

A little research shows that appointed Senators do not fair well in the election following the appointment.The majority fade away.There have been some notable standouts,however.Republican Ted Stevens is right there among them.Should Saxby require replacing for any reason,Sonny would do the right thing and appoint himself.Of course,Sister Dusty would have thrown her bloomers into the ring too.

By norman ravitch

December 16, 2008 11:54 AM | Link to this

The Constitution only required the age of 35 or over for Senators. Most Senators have never had much more than that going for them. Why not Caroline?

By GhettObama

December 16, 2008 12:01 PM | Link to this

Caroline is a kiss-Kennedy-butt-cheek pick. Disgusting mockery of the whole process.

By Mike

December 16, 2008 12:27 PM | Link to this

I think she would be a great choice. I’m sure Republicans think otherwise, but who cares what they think. We voted them out of business, why won’t they go away?

By Maniac is accurate

December 16, 2008 12:33 PM | Link to this

Enough of this trivial U.S. Senate crap. Rafael Furcal is headed back to the Braves and hopefully that means Jake Peavy’s not far behind. This could be a really good day folks.

By Curious Observer

December 16, 2008 12:41 PM | Link to this

This experience thing is overblown. What do we get when we elect an “experienced” politician to office. We get an expert at legalized (and sometimes illegal)bribe-taking, at working the system to reward friends and punish enemies, and at butt-kissing to rise in the party ranks, without regard to the needs of the constituency. When is the last time either of the Georgia senators ever did anything for you or consulted you about your needs and desires?

Our founding fathers never imagined a country in which six-term senators and 18-term representatives still toddled around, corrupting everything they touched.

Give me the amateur every time. At least I know there’s still a chance that the amateur will perform the duties honestly and conscientiously. I’ll take Caroline Kennedy over a skunk like the former NY governor’s son any day.

By Chaz

December 16, 2008 12:46 PM | Link to this

Curious, I guess that means you were a big fan of Sarah Palin?

By Donna P.

December 16, 2008 12:48 PM | Link to this

Could I put my name on the list for Senator? I’m a distant relative of Obama’s mother (through an ancestor named Mareen Duvall). Maybe he could put in a good word for me. Also, Obama sure has a terrible memory. He doesn’t know Blagojevich, Resko, Ayers, or Wright (that Rev. Wright hates America and white people). Funny, Bill Clinton didn’t inhale or “have sex with that woman”. I can’t wait until Obama’s Chicago thug-friends bring him down.

By Jake

December 16, 2008 12:49 PM | Link to this

Kennedy would probably bring more integrity to the job than 90+% of the current Senators and, therefore, would be highly ineffective. Having ethics is a handicap in that job.

By I HEART NY

December 16, 2008 12:54 PM | Link to this

IT IS ABOUT TIME A SENATE REP FROM UPSTATE NY WAS GIVEN A SEAT AT THE TABLE. TALK ABOUT TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!

By New Yorker

December 16, 2008 1:13 PM | Link to this

CAROLINE SEEMS LIKE A NICE LADY BUT NEW YORK DESERVES SOMEBODY QUALIFIED. HILLARY DID NOTHING HER 8 YEARS. CARRYING ON A FAMILY LEGACY IS NO REASON TO BE A U.S. SENATOR.

By Preshana Price-Cox

December 16, 2008 1:20 PM | Link to this

I certainly agree that Caroline Kennedy is an upgrade. I feel she would do an excellent job. I wish her well.

By Captain

December 16, 2008 1:20 PM | Link to this

Thank God another Kennedy is volunteering to ‘serve the people’s interests’. What in the world would we do without this most benelovent family?????

What a joke! We have Uncle Teddy serving from the Commonwealth of Mass, if he were a Republican he would still be serving, serving prison time for “the automobile accident”. Then there’s Patrick, serving the interests of Rhode Island,and how many times has he been in Drug Rehab? We have Caroline wanting to “serve the people’s interests”, and then there’s a Bobby Kennedy son, son in law, or whatever, who has put his name, I mean BID, in for the Senate seat in Illinois.

Is this a great country or what??? We have the Kennedy’s, a family whose fortune was amassed with questionable dealings, whose children have run the gamet of crimes from rape to murder, yet this great country continues to call upon them to “serve the people’s interests”. Without the Kennedy family, why the United States might well be Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Sudan or some other backwards, illiterate, third world country. The people of this country owe much of what we have to the compassion, generosity, and willingness of the Kennedy family’s desire to “serve the people’s interest”. I can only say — THANK YOU, and I hope with Caroline’s help in the Senate that Uncle Teddy can finally socialize the world’s best medical care and bring it to the level of, well, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Sudan. Isn’t that what all Americans want from our “ROYAL FAMILY”?

By Donovan

December 16, 2008 1:23 PM | Link to this

New York has always been a state comprised of brain dead voters who compete with the Left Coast for notoriety. Princess Kennedy would be a good fit after the Princess of Darkness leaves to take on another job handed to her by her left wing conspiracy.

By CommunistAJC

December 16, 2008 1:28 PM | Link to this

It’s NY. Who really cares? NY is notorious for putting polarizing morons in office. Take the Kennedy out of her name and she is a nobody. With that kind of history in her family she’ll probably end up dead somehow. That family is the strangest family in politics other than the Clintons.

By Donovan

December 16, 2008 1:53 PM | Link to this

It’s refreshing to hear the voices of reason. Try taking your opinion to the Bookman blog site and he will ban you from his site for disagreeing with him. What a spineless left wing hack.

By SaveOurRepublic

December 16, 2008 2:00 PM | Link to this

Her Leftist leanings aside, Caroline Kennedy is grossly underqualified to serve in the U.S. Senate. I’m well aware that the Senate (& Congress for that matter) is full of those undeserving to hold such office (and in many cases, “any” office). However, I’m sure the DNC will leverage this Kennedy name/mystique to push her forth.

By The Snark

December 16, 2008 2:07 PM | Link to this

Like the Corporal, I too am “getting a little tired of the privileged/family name people thinking they are supposed to automatically run this Republic.”

That’s why I am hoping that Jeb Bush gives up on running for President in 2010.

By The Corporal

December 16, 2008 2:14 PM | Link to this

Here’s the obvious bottom line that no one has picked up on:

Now that she has seen how close Hillary and even Palin got, she has Camelotesque visions of being crowned President someday.

She just doesn’t want to work for it.

By just me

December 16, 2008 2:18 PM | Link to this

Are the Bush supporters really yelling tribalism and family name recoginition? I thought their lame duck had that area cornered.

By CJ

December 16, 2008 2:35 PM | Link to this

Caroline has the right last name, but Drescher has the right background. Laugh if you want to, but Fran Drescher is way more qualified than Caroline Kennedy to be the next Senator from New York. She comes from a modest middle-class, working family where her father held 2 jobs to make ends meet. In her career, she successfully managed her television show and all of the off-air business associated with it. She has also survived an attack which gives her a unique perspective on women’s issues.

Caroline Kennedy was just born into the right family. Her qualifications are not relevant.

By Dusty

December 16, 2008 2:52 PM | Link to this

ron@11:48

How in the world did ya know? Of course, I have thrown my bloomers(the ones with little Santas on them) into the ring. Caroline Kennedy doesn’t have a chance.

Not only am I suddenly a resident of Chicago, I come with great credentials!!Unbelievable credentials from notorious universities. Editorship of high ranking newspaper (HiSchool Times) in town of 7K known as Wonderland. Daughter of a (MD) Community Organizer. Brave pioneer ancestors who killed bears. Relatives who never drive when drunk. Husband a dam engineer (well, he once helped build a dam).

What more could the governor ask? Oh yeah, I did happen to mention that I had extra wealth that I wished to donate for the good of the state (all twenty bucks).

Like I said, that Caroline doesn’t have a chance. I hope she doesn’t mind. All those Kennedy ladies look like they don’t get enough to eat. But maybe she can manage.

By Disgusted

December 16, 2008 3:03 PM | Link to this

How in the world did ya know? Of course, I have thrown my bloomers(the ones with little Santas on them) into the ring. Caroline Kennedy doesn’t have a chance.

Hey, Dusty, careful when you throw those bloomers. They’re the size of horse blankets, and some kid could suffocate.

By Truthifier

December 16, 2008 3:10 PM | Link to this

But Jim, you are not a resident of New York and therefore it doesn’t really matter what you think about whom should be appointed to the Senate seat. Surely, you would object to New Yorkers interjecting themselves into Georgia politics?

Also, just when did the Kennedy’s “almost” become royalty? Was there some coup that isn’t mentioned in the history books? Or are you owning up to having a subscription to gossip mags?

By Dusty

December 16, 2008 3:22 PM | Link to this

Dear Disgusted aka TWIGGY, 3:03

You are just ENVIOUS!! Not everybody can be errrr voluptuous!! (Is that the right word?) Eat your heart out, skinny mosquito legs!! My fruitcake is better than your lettuce lunch. Comely complete cuties consume comforting calories!! So there!!

By Dave

December 16, 2008 3:31 PM | Link to this

Redneck Convert - Ok whatever you want -just stop, please stop!!!

By Tom

December 16, 2008 4:09 PM | Link to this

If a fraudulent, bragging, never-was-a-war-hero like McCain can ride that lie into a career and the Senate, then Ms. Kennedy is far, far more qualified by just being an intelligent, normal citizen.

Also, she was an excellent academic student. Whereas McShame flunked his way thru 22 (22!!!) schools, then Annapolis, then Pensacola flight school. The facts are out there - git um!!

By Stan

December 16, 2008 4:17 PM | Link to this

Ah Tom, you too are aware of the truths of “The Hanoi Hilton Songbird.”

By Mr. KnowItAll

December 16, 2008 4:38 PM | Link to this

I think Fran Dresher would make a GREAT NY senator. She could stand behind Sr. Senator Chuckie Schumer and “laugh that crazy nasally laugh” every time he speaks. It would be PERFECT! and so appropriate.

Caroline—Well—she’s a Kennedy. Of course, with their fortune made from bootlegging, rape charges, DUI’s, plane crashes, alcoholism, 2 counts of murder (don;t forget cousin Michael Skakel!)==the newspapers would LOVE to sell papers with a revived Kennedy presence.

Besides, you know why the Kennedy’s cry after sex? It’s the mace.

By Dusty

December 16, 2008 4:38 PM | Link to this

Psstttt Tom and Stan,

The election is OVER!! You can stop the propaganda now.

By Mort Merkel

December 16, 2008 4:54 PM | Link to this

I hope Caroline Kennedy is willing to sleep her way to the bottom. Get it? See at bottom she’d get to me. Ha ha. I amuse myself something fierce. Oh gosh.

By scott

December 16, 2008 5:12 PM | Link to this

Did she kill anyone? That trait is inherent in many of the Kennedy’s. Just asking.

By SaveOurRepublic

December 16, 2008 5:29 PM | Link to this

Tom & Stan - Good points on phoney hero “Juan McAmnasty”. I suspect he “took the dive” to make way for Marxist “Bacrock Obuma”. “McAmnasty” had the kid gloves on the entire campaign, and didn’t unleashed his usual venom (primarily used on fellow Republicans). Like 9/11 profiteer Rudy “Ghouliani”, “McAmnasty” is a RINO/Neocon/Globalist pupper of the 1st order!

By One Voice

December 16, 2008 5:46 PM | Link to this

A hilarious link some of you may appreciate: http://www.sockandawe.com/

By @@

December 16, 2008 5:54 PM | Link to this

The backlash from Hillary’s constituents is understandable. As far as passing of the “named torch”…….that should be exclusive to family-owned businesses.

Last I checked, the majority of Americans weren’t up to being owned by a political dynasty.

After reading today’s comments, there appear to be many from the left who have no problem with it provided the representative is “better educated” than they.

By mister.earl

December 17, 2008 8:38 AM | Link to this

A Boston investment professional, Harry Markopolos, started writing letters to regulators in 1999 alleging that Madoff was conducting a Ponzi scheme. Markopolos continued to send letters, including most recently in April. Markopolos said that his charges were detailed and specific, and he said he was still angry that the SEC ignored him.

“They have a lot to answer for,” Markopolos said. “They refuse to enforce rules against this industry.”

The extent of the alleged fraud has also raised questions about the possible involvement of other people. Cox’s statement yesterday mentioned “others who may be involved.”

By AmVet

December 17, 2008 9:24 AM | Link to this

So the faux conservatives in the Old White Guy Party have strong feelings about Caroline’s qualifications.

Do tell.

But as with virtually every other topic of note, their judgment is not just suspect, it is laughable.

This woman would be the junior senator from NY. A laudable position to be sure. But just one of 100 US Senators.

On the other hand, Sarah BarraClueless, who was beyond doubt, imminently unqualified, was potentially one bad heartbeat away from the nuclear option.

And the neo-cons and fools in the lunatic fringe just SMIIIlLED and thought it was a jim-dandy idea.

No wonder they keep getting humiliated every other November.

And I don’t see that changing anytime soon…

By ZEKE

December 17, 2008 9:51 AM | Link to this

Her only qualification is that she is a flaming ultra leftist liberal member of the family that except for her father are the same! That should disqualify her or any other from elected office! Oops! Sorry! I forgot she is not running for office but looking to be handed the office!

By Mike

December 17, 2008 10:59 AM | Link to this

Caroline Kennedy is an intelligent, capable person who would probably be a competent senator. But I have no idea how someone can spend 45 years cultivating a private, media-free life and then go for such a high office. I think the process will be horrible for her and her family.

Fran Drescher made an impressive appearance on Larry King the other night. She’s certainly more capable than Al Franken.

By yankee

December 17, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this

Next thing you know sports stars will be running for office.