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Be thankful for two things: These women fought for your right to vote, and you don't have to dress like this.
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December
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2 comments:
First of all, thank you very much for the shout out, Ms. McShane. I really enjoyed listening to the “bloggingheads” Ezra Klein of The American Prospect and Eve Faibanks of The New Republic. They made some very good points on whether Caroline Kennedy deserves Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat, many of which I had never thought about.
I never asked myself if Kennedy’s qualification go beyond her famous last name. Mr. Klein called this “nasty politics, saying that it is “pretty distasteful.” He thinks that Caroline Kennedy should not be senator just because she is the daughter of someone named “Kennedy.” I was surprised to learn that Ted Kennedy wanted his wife, Victoria Reggie, to be named into Senate seat.
Mr. Klein mentions that he read a New York Times article about a national women’s organization that had already endorsed a contender for the seat, but had said that if Caroline Kennedy came in, they would have to rethink that. I do agree that it is unfair for them to rethink the endorsement of a long-time legislator who has been working most of her life to figure out how to be effective in government just because they know the Kennedy name. At the same time, I think that Caroline Kennedy has some qualifications and deserved more credit than what she was giving by the bloggingheads.
I think there should be required qualifications even if this is an appointment. Ms. Fairbanks makes a good point in saying that in the deep Democratic political bench of New York, there are many candidates from other qualified families. I also think that the case of Victoria Reggie is much worse (of course I still respect Ted Kennedy and hopes he gets better soon).
People should not be able to hand-select their own successors. The fact that both bloggingheads believe that Hillary Clinton has no role or interest in Caroline Kennedy because Kennedy endorsed Obama was kind of surprising. Mr. Klein said, “I’m sure that Hillary Clinton has no love for Caroline Clinton.” Why? I mean, I get it, but people seem to think that Clinton is still bitter towards anyone that endorsed Obama. She is the United State’s Secretary of State under OBAMA’s presidency. She is working for HIM! If she is bitter, she should get over it. If she’s not, good.
Ms. Fairbanks ended by saying that the Kennedy’s should “give someone else a chance,” and Mr. Klein responds, “It’s not their seat. It’s weird…it’s not their seat.” I agreed with the points the bloggingheads made, but I think the overall message they were conveying was too tough. There is definitely a reason why the Kennedys have been in politics for so long…I think they don’t have the same [negative] reputation as the Bushes, for example. The majority of what people think of them is not that they have made bad policy. Quiet the contrary…most people seem to believe that President Kennedy did a good job when he was president and that Ted Kennedy has been one of the longest-serving and great senators that serve our country.
Caroline Kennedy is an attorney, editor, writer, and member of the NY and Washington D.C. bars. Kennedy worked as chief executive for the Office of Strategic Partnerships for the New York City Department of Education from 2002 to 2004, helping raise more than $65 million for the city’s public schools. 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. She is also currently President of the Kennedy Library Foundation, and director of both the Commission of Presidential Debates and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. So, you see, Kennedy is a great leader and part it is influenced by the family she grew up with-- but environment does play a factor in anyone’s development. She may have never served in the senate, but she has been involved in politics for a long time.
Whether or not Caroline Kennedy gets the senate seat, I think people should be a bit more aware of the fact that she is a smart, politically educated woman. Plus, when she introduced her uncle at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, she seemed very comfortable speaking to her party. This is needed as a senator of a state, when you must represent people of your state, because they expect you to be able to back up/confront people of your party and other parties. I think Kennedy would be a good choice, but I’m open to other people too. I guess what we think it “blah” though because we are not from New York.
Thanks for the video, Ms. McShane!
- Aislinn Diaz
So the videdo wAS very repetative, but what i got out from it was that Caroline Kennedy wants Hilary Clinton's seat in the senate now that Hilary Clinton has been nominated for Secretary of State.The man and the woman in the video did not disagree but heard each other and came to the conclusion that Caroline should not get the seat if the only reason is because she is a Kennedy. I agree there are many other people who are better qualified and who are from differnet families who deserve the seat. I don't know much about Caroline Kennedy but I say if she deserves the seat than she should get but otherwise give it to someone else. This whole world is based on names but that needs to be based on who deserves the seat and if they are able to handel all the responsiblities.
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