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Lifting veil of privacy, friends discuss Kennedy (You have no idea how frreaking qualified she is)
Associated Press ^ | 01/11/09 | SAMANTHA GROSS

Posted on 01/11/2009 6:54:27 AM PST by presidio9

When community groups and the Board of Education were caught in an acrimonious dispute over an arts program, education officials brought in a fixer: Caroline Kennedy.

The daughter of a president and niece of two senators listened attentively, asked probing questions and proposed various scenarios to resolve the dispute. Under her prompting, a compromise was reached.

"People were pushing themselves back from the table and folding their arms," recalled Stephanie Dua, chief executive officer of the Fund for Public Schools. "She was very good at defusing the situation. ... She has a very easy style about her but she's very sharp."

The episode is an intriguing glimpse into how Kennedy might fill the role of U.S. senator if she is appointed to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton.

In a series of interviews with The Associated Press, friends and colleagues of Kennedy painted a picture of a reserved but intelligent and tenacious woman who writes her own speeches and who, despite her vast wealth, still takes the subway.

Those interviewed did not provide an impartial view — but, with several speaking publicly for the first time about their relationship, they offered a rare look inside the private world of a woman America fell in love with decades ago as she rode her pony over the White House lawn.

___

Much was made of Kennedy's decision last January to support Barack Obama's presidential campaign, but she is no stranger to politics. Paul G. Kirk Jr. remembers meeting her at the age of 16 or so, soaking in as much as she could while on the campaign trail with her uncle Teddy.

She was "lively, engaged, inquisitive," said the family friend and former head of the Democratic Party. "She might hear two or three people ask the senator the same question if he

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: New York
KEYWORDS: camelot; camelotbarbie; carolinekennedy; ossociatedpress
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"a reserved but intelligent and tenacious woman who writes her own speeches and who, despite her vast wealth, still takes the subway."

1 posted on 01/11/2009 6:54:28 AM PST by presidio9
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To: presidio9

If O’bummer can be POTUS, then she can be queen of the known universe.


2 posted on 01/11/2009 6:55:54 AM PST by xcamel (The urge to save humanity is always a false front for the urge to rule it. - H. L. Mencken)
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To: presidio9

Add up the abilities of all Kennedys (save for the superb felonious talent of the “Ambassador”), and we still would only asymptotically approach “normal”.

That group contains a collection of genes that would be best separated, walled off, and preferably sent into the sun.


3 posted on 01/11/2009 6:56:44 AM PST by Da Coyote
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To: presidio9

And, she baked cookies for her childrens' kidnergarten classes

4 posted on 01/11/2009 6:59:42 AM PST by xtinct ("There's a sucker born every minute." P.T. Barnum)
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To: presidio9

Sounds reasonable to me; settle a few ruffled feathers in a commitee meeting over art class funding and you’re qualified to be one of the 100 most powerful people in the United States - without the usual rigamarole of voting and such.


5 posted on 01/11/2009 7:00:35 AM PST by WorkingClassFilth (Leftist kids say the darndest things!)
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To: xcamel

> If O’bummer can be POTUS, then she can be queen of the known universe.

One of the many downsides arising from the election of His Excellency is that the bar has been set extraordinarily low for anybody pretending to “High” Office in the US henceforth. Now, all you need is either a pedigree of some sort, or a few well-placed acquaintences. You need no natural ability or talent or experience: these things will be created for you from scratch by the media.


6 posted on 01/11/2009 7:00:44 AM PST by DieHard the Hunter (Is mise an ceann-cinnidh. Cha ghéill mi do dhuine. Fàg am bealach.)
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To: presidio9

Taking the subway in NYC only shows common sense. In rush hour it could take you three times as long to get somewhere especially.

More nonsense.


7 posted on 01/11/2009 7:00:49 AM PST by romanesq
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To: romanesq

I go to fifteen or twenty Yankees games a year. I guess that means I live in the South Bronx. Where’s my government cheese?


8 posted on 01/11/2009 7:04:44 AM PST by presidio9 (Islam Is As Islam Does)
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To: presidio9
She was "lively, engaged, inquisitive

This can't be about Carolyn because she is none of these things!

9 posted on 01/11/2009 7:05:43 AM PST by CAluvdubya (Sarah's my girl! Palin 2012---Go Chargers!!)
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To: presidio9

This so sweet by teeth hurt!


10 posted on 01/11/2009 7:05:47 AM PST by maggief
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To: presidio9
Paul G. Kirk Jr. remembers meeting her at the age of 16 or so, soaking in as much as she could while on the campaign trail with her uncle Teddy.

"Soaking in" on the trail with uncle Teddy? The jokes just write themselves.

11 posted on 01/11/2009 7:06:00 AM PST by Bernard (If you always tell the truth, you never have to remember exactly what you said.)
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To: presidio9

I mean, like, you know, even she doesn’t know how qualified she is, you know.


12 posted on 01/11/2009 7:08:26 AM PST by reg45
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To: presidio9
Yep...”Good ole Teddy”:

1. He was caught cheating at Harvard when he attended it. He was expelled twice, once for cheating on a
test, and once for paying a classmate to cheat for him.

2. While expelled, Kennedy enlisted in the Army, but mistakenly signed up for four years instead of two. Oops, the man can't count to four. His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to England (a step up from bootlegging liquor into the US from Canada during prohibition), pulled the necessary strings to have his enlistment shortened to two years, and to ensure that he served in Europe, not Korea, where a war was raging. No preferential treatment for him like he” charged President Bush received.

3. Kennedy was assigned to Paris, never advanced beyond the rank of Private, and returned to Harvard upon being discharged. Imagine a person of his “education” NEVER advancing past the rank of Private.

4. While attending law school at the University of Virginia, he was cited for reckless driving four times,
including once when he was clocked driving 90 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood with his headlights off after dark. Yet his Virginia driver's license was never revoked. Coincidentally, he passed the bar exam in 1959, amazing!!!

5. In 1964, he was seriously injured in a plane crash, and hospitalized for several months. Test results done by the hospital at the time he was admitted had shown he was legally intoxicated. The results of those tests remained a “state secret” until in the 1980’s when the report was unsealed. Didn't hear about that from the unbiased media, did we.

6. On July 19, 1969, Kennedy attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. At about 11:00 PM, he borrowed his chauffeur's keys to his Oldsmobile limousine, and offered to give a ride home to Mary Jo Kopechne, a campaign worker. Leaving the island via an unlit bridge with no guard rail, Kennedy steered the car off the bridge, flipped, and into Poucha Pond.

7. He swam to shore and walked back to the party, after passing several houses and a fire station. Then two friends returned with him to the scene of the accident. According to their later testimony, they told him what he already knew, that he was required by law to immediately report the accident to the authorities. Instead Kennedy made his way to his hotel, called his lawyer, and went to sleep. Kennedy called the police the next morning and by then the wreck had already been discovered. Before dying, Kopechne had scratched at the upholstered floor above her head in the upside-down car. The Kennedy family began “calling in favors”, ensuring that any inquiry would be contained. Her corpse was whisked out-of-state to her family, before an autopsy could be conducted. Further details are uncertain, but after the accident Kennedy says he repeatedly dove under the water trying to rescue Kopechne, and he didn't call police because he was in a state of shock. It is widely assumed Kennedy was drunk, and he held off calling police in hopes that his family could fix the problem overnight.

Since the accident, Kennedy's “political enemies” have
referred to him as the distinguished Senator from Chappaquiddick. He pled guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, and was given a SUSPENDED SENTENCE OF TWO MONTHS. Kopechne’s family received a
small payout from the Kennedy's insurance policy, and never sued. There was later an effort to have he
r body exhumed and autopsied, but her family successfully fought against this in court, and Kennedy's
family paid their attorney's bills... a “token of friendship”?

8. Kennedy has held his Senate seat for more than forty years, but considering his longevity, his accomplishments seem scant. He authored or argued for legislation that ensured a variety of civil rights, increased the minimum wage in 1981, made access to health care easier for the indigent, and funded Meals on Wheels for fixed-income seniors and is widely held as the “standard-bearer for liberalism”. In his very first Senate roll, he was the floor manager for the bill that turned U.S. immigration policy upside down and opened the floodgate for immigrants from third world countries.

9. Since that time, he has been the prime instigator and author of every expansion of and increase in immigration, up to and including the latest attempt to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. Not to mention the Pious grilling he gave the last two Supreme Court Nominees, as if he were the standard bearer for the nation in matters of right. What a pompous ass.

10. He is known around Washington as a public drunk, loud, boisterous and very disrespectful to ladies. JERK is a better description than “great American”.

Yea, Ted Kennedy. He would be the last person on Earth I'd want my kids to model, and I'd just as soon leave the rest of his corrupt family out of politics, too.

13 posted on 01/11/2009 7:10:04 AM PST by econjack (Some people are as dumb as soup.)
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To: presidio9
The episode is an intriguing glimpse into how Kennedy might fill the role of U.S. senator if she is appointed to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton.

OH. my. god. Send her to the Middle East. Peace is just waiting for her.

What a pile of squat.

14 posted on 01/11/2009 7:11:17 AM PST by hinckley buzzard
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To: presidio9

You have to arrive one hour before game time and the line forms at the exit of the D train.

LOL


15 posted on 01/11/2009 7:14:49 AM PST by romanesq
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To: Da Coyote

I think Caroline Kennedy has made a mistake by going after this appointment. If Kennedy were to run for office, many people would give her points for at least being willing to sell herself to the electorate. Instead, she’s asked to be appointed to the Senate despite having demonstrated no strong interest in politics before Hillary Clinton’s seat became available. (Kennedy’s voting record is spotty and she’s given little money to Democratic candidates. Her interviews since announcing interest in the Senate seat expose her political convictions as vague, beyond the declaration that she is a Democrat.) I think Kennedy’s presumptuousness is embarrassing and I will resent it if Paterson appoints her to the Senate just because she’s a celebrity looking for a new hobby.


16 posted on 01/11/2009 7:17:42 AM PST by utahagen
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To: econjack; All

Don’t forget, his dad praised NAZI Germany...


17 posted on 01/11/2009 7:17:57 AM PST by KevinDavis (Thomas Jefferson: A little rebellion now and then is a good thing)
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To: romanesq
I agree. It's insulting to be told we should admire someone for taking public transportation.
18 posted on 01/11/2009 7:18:48 AM PST by utahagen
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To: KevinDavis

“Democracy is finished.” The ‘Old Man’ was right . . . just 70 years early.


19 posted on 01/11/2009 7:26:02 AM PST by Oratam
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To: presidio9; All
Well, we know being in the senate is not a matter of qualifications. We have this now, and it is hard to find someone more UN-qualified to be involved in making decisions on our behalf, but...there you have it:


20 posted on 01/11/2009 7:28:12 AM PST by rlmorel ("A barrel of monkeys is not fun. In fact, a barrel of monkeys can be quite terrifying!")
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