Posted on 12/08/2008 5:39:30 AM PST by shortstop
Sorry, Caroline.
New York isn’t your payoff.
And a New York seat in the United States Senate is not a perq to be passed out by the Democratic Party to its royalty.
Have you heard the news?
Caroline Kennedy has announced that she wants to be appointed to fill the New York Senate seat currently filled by Hillary Clinton. Hillary got it because she was the wife of a president and Caroline claims it because she was the daughter of a president.
Must be we’ve brought back the divine right of kings.Or princesses, as the case may be.
The one problem with the plan, of course, is the people of New York. In theory, the serfs are supposed to have a say. In theory, the people who hold high office have earned the trust and votes of the people.
Of course, in theory, the people who hold high office are also supposed to have some competence.
And Caroline Kennedy lacks that.
She is not competent to represent New York in the United States Senate.
Doubt me?
Ask her where Glens Falls is, and why most New York high-school sports fans know. Or what the issue of land ownership in Salamanca is. Ask her what 150-year-old business recently died in Camillus. Ask her specifically how Syracuse came to be known as the Salt City.
See if she knows what upstate city is associated with Steuben Glass. Better yet, if she wants to represent New York state, ask where the New York State Fair is held, and who the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills is, and what climatologically feature is found on the Tug Hill Plateau.
Find out if she knows what sort of permits you have to have to build a house in the Adirondacks, and what New York dairymen think about the current Farm Bill. Does she know the area code in Colonie? Can she tell you where in the state most of the nation’s maraschino cherries are grown? In terms of apple and maple syrup production, where does New York stand, and how many New York Army National Guardsmen have died in the war on terror?
Can she name five towns on the Erie Canal?
What is the name of the Onondaga County executive? Does Jefferson County have a legislature or a board of supervisors? And speaking of which, what is the relationship between counties, towns, villages, cities and hamlets in the structure of New York municipal government?
What military unit is based at Fort Drum?
How many counties are there in New York?
And, to pick a random stopping point, has Caroline Kennedy ever paid property tax in the state of New York? Does she own a home outside New York City? Does she know which jurisdictions her land would owe tax to?
And, of course, as to professional qualifications – has she ever been elected to anything?
The answer is: No.
And that must be the governor’s answer to her.
No, thanks, Caroline.
The payoff for endorsing Barack Obama is going to have to come from Barack Obama. You don’t get to pick up a Senate seat like it’s a gift bag at the Grammys.
In fact, it is insulting and offensive that Caroline Kennedy would in any way think herself qualified for this honor, much less entitled to it. It must have been hard for the governor to keep a straight face when she asked for it.
It is insulting to any number of actual elected leaders in New York whose careers and efforts might have actually prepared them for the responsibility. To think that Chuck Schumer with all his experience – annoying liberal extremes aside – should be considered essentially the equal of Caroline Kennety – with no electoral experience whatsoever – is offensive.
Andrew Cuomo went before the voters of the state to become attorney general. Before that he was a successful member of a president’s cabinet. How possible is Caroline Kennedy a better pick for the Senate than Andrew Cuomo? Or any other politician who has actually had to face the voters and be held accountable to them?
But far more importantly, this whole arrogant idea is insulting to the people and history of New York. The people are supposed to pick, and the people haven’t even met Caroline Kennedy, much less picked her. She has had her entire adult life to serve the public or pursue an honor of this nature – but she hasn’t. She hasn’t. Other than historic parentage and a timely endorsement, there is absolutely nothing of note or distinction about Caroline Kennedy.
There are dozens of New Yorkers whose political careers make them ready today to be senators. There are thousands of other New Yorkers whose life experience and aptitude would allow them to fill the responsibility.
But Caroline Kennedy isn’t one of them.
This is the entitlement of the elite in its most naked form, a claiming of some title of nobility by virtue of birth.
But it’s not going to fly.
Because there’s no place called Camelot in New York.
Apparently, there are no qualified people in the United States without the last names - Clinton, Kennedy, Cuomo, Rockefeller or Bush.
Of all the people in NY, why do they continue to put carpetbaggers from elsewhere in the Senate?
If Caroline was appointed Senator, she’d be refered to as the sober one.
“And the Dems thought Sarah wasn’t qualified? “
In the liberal mind-set - oops, thats an oxymoron, I meant to say that in the liberal, biased percepion of the world, aristocratic incompetence is better than a competent hick with street smarts.
all she knows is Park Slope,her charities and the Cuomos
I’ve come to the conclusion it is because New Yorkers themselves are mostly transients and couldn’t care less if the person they are voting for is a carpetbagger. That said, I’m a new yorker who grew up there and is nauseated by the phenomenon.
Mr. Lonsberry asks a number of very good questions. Not only does Caroline Kennedy not know the answers to them, she simply could not care less.
The US Senate is NOT a high office.
Caroline is as qualified as BHO, or Mac or Biden. It doesn't matter if they know ANYTHING about New York, it's about the payoff for the endorsement, money, support, and the 'prestige' of the Kennedy name.
You've deluded yourself into thinking there has to be a legitimate reason to appoint Caroline as Senator. The Dihms never need a reason.
If Caroline WANTS it, which New Yorker will keep her from it?
Welcome to the end of the Republic. Just like Rome before the fall of the Republic, you must be a member of a little group of Patrician families to claim power. Instead of the Julii Aemillia and Cornelii we have the Kennedy’s, Cuomo’s, Clinton and Bush’s.
Frankly, the Donks could do worse.
Wasn’t all this true of Hillary Clinton as well?
It's Caroline's if she wants it...and it would be a smart move for the Gov if he wants to get elected in 2010.
Ding,Ding,we have a winner!
“In the liberal mind-set - oops, thats an oxymoron, I meant to say that in the liberal, biased percepion of the world, aristocratic incompetence is better than a competent hick with street smarts.”
That’s the quote of the day right there.
If I'm not mistaken, Caroline Kennedy has lived in NY most of her life. That was her mom raised her and her brother, except for a few years in Greece.
Some of the previous people to hold this seat in the Senate:
Aaron Burr
Martin Van Buren
James L. Buckley
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Forget about comparing Caroline Kennedy to Hillary Clinton, because that is a pretty low bar to clear. Does she belong in the same league with any of these guys?
“That’s the quote of the day right there.”
thanks. even with my misspelled word?
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