# Screw Caroline Kennedy **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 29, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127 "2008-12-29T23:00:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/21 "2008-12-30T01:03:53Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Sarah Palin, freaking SARAH PALIN, has more qualifications than this woman. She has more qualifications than Obama to be President but he got elected anyway. Don’t underestimate the stupidity of the voters. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/22 "2008-12-30T01:09:30Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > She has more qualifications than Obama to be President but he got elected anyway. Don’t underestimate the stupidity of the voters. Don’t you ever get pangs of conscience saying things like that? ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/23 "2008-12-30T01:38:37Z")
Caroline Kennedy will do nothing for Upstate NY, much less Northern NY. At least [Kirsten Gillibrand](http://www.gillibrand.house.gov/) is from Upstate and has created a name for herself in the House. She voted against the financial bailout twice because it wasn’t good enough. I have to respect that. Shumer is another NYC politician, why do we need two of them? There needs to be more of a balance between Upstate and Downstate representation. My fear is that Paterson will choose Kennedy because she’s a bigger name and will attract more attention to NYS than an unknown like Gillibrand or someone known only to NYS residents as in Andrew Cuomo’s case, who I would also like Paterson to consider for the seat. > [@Clothahump](#): > > She has more qualifications than Obama to be President but he got elected anyway. Don’t underestimate the stupidity of the voters. What voters? Gov. Paterson is appointing a replacement. There are no voters involved. Oh wait…that was an opportunity to slam Obama voters. I’m sorry, I thought you might have something to add. My mistake. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/24 "2008-12-30T02:02:35Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > That’s because when she does speak she makes Sarah Palin sound like Stephen Hawking. > > [Cite](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAgI4AS1NVg) She makes Sarah Palin sound like she uses a voice synthesizer? [An irreverent and irrelevant cite](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89jt7zJzkNQ) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/25 "2008-12-30T02:39:58Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Can someone tell me what this woman has done that makes her worthy of being awarded a Senate seat? Fuck that, she ought to just explain it herself! I don’t think you need to be an old hand in politics to earn this job, so I can’t say she’s unqualified, but it’s frustrating and absurd that she doesn’t seem to think this question needs to be answered. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/26 "2008-12-30T02:58:38Z")
Does she even have any competition? Maybe we can compare her to the competition, rather than debate whether she has what it takes. What are the pro’s and con’s of her holding the seat, vs. the competition? Isn’t that how we usually decide who is qualified? Not what qualities they have, but what qualities they have vs. the other persons qualities. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/27 "2008-12-30T05:12:41Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > Does she even have any competition? Maybe we can compare her to the competition, rather than debate whether she has what it takes. What are the pro’s and con’s of her holding the seat, vs. the competition? Ok…here’s a quick rundown. Caroline Kennedy: Pros: She’s a Kennedy, she’s a woman, she’s kind of hot, her daddy and uncle got shot, the President-elect likes her Cons: She has no experience in government whatsoever. Andrew Cuomo: Pros: His dad was governor, the voters like him, he was a member of Clinton’s Cabinet and is currently Attorney General, he wants to be governor, so appointing him would get him out of Patterson’s hair. Cons: He’s kind of a jerk. He divorced a Kennedy, which means Caroline will be super mad if he’s picked. He’s likely to start all his Senate speeches with “My Grandfather owned a grocery store…” Kirsten Gillibrand: Pros: She’s a woman, she’s from upstate, she’s well respected in Congress Cons: She’s only served one full Congressional term, so she might not have enough experience. She represents a really Republican district, so if she’s appointed, the seat will probably flip back R, which would upset the national party. Steve Israel: Pros: Four term Congressman, Jewish, popular with the party Cons: Even though he’s Jewish, he loves him some Congressional pork, which might not go well with the whole “earmarks are out of control” rhetoric that’s popular these days, is kind of boring. Fran Drescher: Pros: Jewish and a woman, CBS isn’t doing well these days, and The Nanny Goes to Washington would be a hit, the Democrats would be able to win back the “Most Annoying Voice” award from Lindsay Graham Cons: Charles Shaughnnessy is doing movies and might not be available to costar. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/28 "2008-12-30T05:28:17Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > That’s because when she does speak she makes Sarah Palin sound like Stephen Hawking. > > [Cite](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAgI4AS1NVg) I just went back and listened to this again and realized that she says the last 10 of her 30 “you knows” between 1:45 and 2:15 of that clip. That’s an average of one “you know” every _three_ seconds! Between those and the “ums” which are just about as plentiful, and the way she sort of slurs and drags out her words, I’m guessing she doesn’t have a whole lot to say and she’s painfully aware of it…so she’s trying to fill up the time with conversational sounds in order to try to make it look like she’s actually saying something. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/29 "2008-12-30T07:01:09Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > She has more qualifications than Obama to be President but he got elected anyway. Don’t underestimate the stupidity of the voters. I hope you haven’t had children, because you contain the germ for a \*powerful \*stupid. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/30 "2008-12-30T07:17:13Z")
[Nydia Velázquez](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nydia_Vel%C3%A1zquez) will be appointed by Gov. Patterson to fill the vacant senate seat. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/31 "2008-12-30T07:41:51Z")
And you know this how? According to [this article](http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/saturday/news/ny-stvela135963265dec13,0,276898.story) she told Paterson on Dec. 13 that she wasn’t interested in the job. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/32 "2008-12-30T07:48:37Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Can someone tell me what this woman has done that makes her worthy of being awarded a Senate seat? As best as I can tell, she’s a professional trust fund baby who lives off her name and inherited wealth and **has never done anything useful in her life**. > > [Caroline Kennedy - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Kennedy) > > I mean, come on. She “co-authored” two books, and assembled some collections of poetry related to her family. She raised money for New York City schools, and sits on a bunch of boards (no doubt simply because of her name, since she certainly hasn’t done anything else of note). Your 2nd paragraph puts lie to the bolded portion of your first paragraph. She has indeed done several useful things in her life, and has indeed NOT just been a professional trust fund baby. I’m not going to argue whether or not she should be appointed, because my opinion as a non-New Yorker means squat, and it makes no never mind to me anyway, but I’m getting more and more pissed off at this attitude that she’s a useless twat. I’ll tell you what she’s done, besides the stuff already listed, she stayed out of the public eye and raised three decent kids. For someone who was in the public eye from the minute she was born, who saw her mother and brother fed through the wringers of the paparazzi, she chose to stay out of public life specifically to try and give her kids a normal life out from under a microscope. If she had run for public office when they were younger she would have been dragging them into the spotlight with her. She chose to shield them by making herself so boring and normal that the paparazzi and tabloids weren’t interested in her or them. I can’t properly explain how much I admire her for that, but I do. She put her family first, because she wanted to, because she could, and because it was best for them. And for those who sneer at her for deciding to put her kids’ privacy first and foremost, fuck y’all. One of the things that feminism fought for is that a woman could choose how she lived her life. Career? Fine. Home and family? Fine. Both? Neither? Whatever you want to do, lady, go for it. Caroline chose education, then family, then public service. There’s nothing wrong with that. She didn’t stay out of public life because she wanted to hide or because she had nothing to contribute. She just wanted to give her kids a normal life, something they wouldn’t have had, couldn’t possibly have had, if she’d become a politician before now. Now that they’re old enough to take care of themselves, she’s stepping out. Whether she’s appointed or not, she’s a welcome addition to the world stage, and I for one, do not blame her a bit for waiting until now to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/33 "2008-12-30T07:49:26Z")
Just a glance at Velazquez’s experience and interests do make her an appealing prospect as far as I can tell. I’m impressed. But the linked article said that she had withdrawn her name from consideration. (I see you beat me to this, **Starvin’**!) No one has mentioned Caroline’s degree from Harvard or her law degree. What I really think that Caroline is lacking is a winsome personality before the cameras. She’s going to have to _play_ politics and not just know about it. She’s done more than has been mentioned here. It seems to me that a life of public service should qualify one to take on the job of public servant — and that’s what a Senator is supposed to be. Oh. And no one has mentioned that she’s a wife and the mother of three. I don’t think that coming from a wealthy family should **disqualify** anyone. The Roosevelts seemed to do okay despite their wealth. I honestly think that she is well-qualified, but she’s no politician. ---
**Author:** ![Amber\_in\_Treasury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Amber\_in\_Treasury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amber_in_Treasury)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/34 "2008-12-30T08:58:12Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I hope you haven’t had children, because you contain the germ for a \*powerful \*stupid. My sides hurt, and I’m still giggling. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/35 "2008-12-30T14:30:57Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Your 2nd paragraph puts lie to the bolded portion of your first paragraph. She has indeed done several useful things in her life, and has indeed NOT just been a professional trust fund baby. Actually, I would say she sounds _exactly_ like a trust-fund baby. Throwing parties to raise money for the Symphony is still throwing parties. > [@](#): > > I’m getting more and more pissed off at this attitude that she’s a useless twat. Which no one said. > [@](#): > > I’ll tell you what she’s done, besides the stuff already listed, she stayed out of the public eye and raised three decent kids. For someone who was in the public eye from the minute she was born, who saw her mother and brother fed through the wringers of the paparazzi, she chose to stay out of public life specifically to try and give her kids a normal life out from under a microscope. If she had run for public office when they were younger she would have been dragging them into the spotlight with her. She chose to shield them by making herself so boring and normal that the paparazzi and tabloids weren’t interested in her or them. I can’t properly explain how much I admire her for that, but I do. She put her family first, because she wanted to, because she could, and because it was best for them. Good for her. Really. Choices have consequences, though. You decide not to be a public figure, you decide, um, NOT to be a public figure. She can start now, but not as Senator. > [@](#): > > And for those who sneer at her for deciding to put her kids’ privacy first and foremost, fuck y’all. One of the things that feminism fought for is that a woman could choose how she lived her life. Career? Fine. Home and family? Fine. Both? Neither? Whatever you want to do, lady, go for it. Caroline chose education, then family, then public service. There’s nothing wrong with that. No, fuck you. This has nothing to do with feminism, and everything to do with royalism. For Christ’s sake, we just had a child of president in office. How’d that work out? > [@](#): > > She didn’t stay out of public life because she wanted to hide or because she had nothing to contribute. She just wanted to give her kids a normal life, something they wouldn’t have had, couldn’t possibly have had, if she’d become a politician before now. Now that they’re old enough to take care of themselves, she’s stepping out. Whether she’s appointed or not, she’s a welcome addition to the world stage, and I for one, do not blame her a bit for waiting until now to do it. I don’t care why. I don’t think she’s a bad person, or at least I didn’t until she demanded this Senate seat. There are all sorts of worthy New Yorkers who are not qualified to be Senator. Caroline Kennedy is one of them. You seem to believe she is qualified unless it’s demonstrated that sh’es not. You’ve got it backwards. Perhaps she can be your senator, if you like her so much? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/36 "2008-12-30T14:54:09Z")
Bleedin’ heart librul here, and I think she’s a useless twat. > [@](#): > > She didn’t stay out of public life because she wanted to hide or because she had nothing to contribute. She just wanted to give her kids a normal life, something they wouldn’t have had, couldn’t possibly have had, if she’d become a politician before now. Now that they’re old enough to take care of themselves, she’s stepping out. Whether she’s appointed or not, she’s a welcome addition to the world stage, and I for one, do not blame her a bit for waiting until now to do it. Fine. Let her run for a seat in the State House or something where she can’t do any damage while she works the kinks out of her political image. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/37 "2008-12-30T15:08:08Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Can someone tell me what this woman has done that makes her worthy of being awarded a Senate seat? As best as I can tell, she’s a professional trust fund baby who lives off her name and inherited wealth and has never done anything useful in her life. > > [Caroline Kennedy - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Kennedy) So, you did not even read [your own link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Kennedy#Career)? She has been a practicing attorney, a member of two separate bar associations, (which puts her even with any number of senators of both parties over the years). She has been _director_ of the Office of Strategic Partnerships for the the New York City Department of Education, she used her family income to decline to take a salary, yet oversaw the raising of $65 million in two years. She is currently President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. She might be only a figurehead, but you have provided no evidence that that is the case, and most non-profits actually employ their directors and presidents to do real work. She would not be my senator. There may be numerous people more qualified and willing in New York. I do not champion her cause. OTOH, you have demonstrated nothing but privilege envy with your fact lacking rant. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/38 "2008-12-30T15:08:17Z")
After a quick peruse here are a couple of qualifications she might have that other senators may not. The intelligence to actually grasp the importance of issues and how they affect the public. Actually caring more about the public than her own career and finances. Of course I can’t be sure she has these but it would be a nice change of pace in Washington. A reasonably intelligent person can figure out the job, and giving a dam about doing it with integrity is a quality I’d like to see rather than someone already turned self serving cynic by politics. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/39 "2008-12-30T15:24:06Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] She has been a practicing attorney, a member of two separate bar associations, (which puts her even with any number of senators of both parties over the years). [/QUOTE] As an aspiring lawyer, I really, really hate the fact that bar membership is considered a qualification for public office (along with military service). Legislators don’t write legislation. Lobbyists do. Even if legislators _were_ writing legislation, the nonsense consistently turned out by our national and state legislatures should be a pretty sound indication of whether lawyers are any better at writing laws than anyone else. Being an attorney is obviously a requirement for a candidate for the judiciary. There’s no reason it should be a requirement - or even a selling point - for a candidate for the legislature. Show me a candidate who’s a teacher, firefighter, nurse, urban planner, etc., and I’ll show you a candidate who might actually have something new to say. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127/40 "2008-12-30T16:15:14Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > So, you did not even read [your own link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Kennedy#Career)? > > She has been a practicing attorney, a member of two separate bar associations, (which puts her even with any number of senators of both parties over the years). She has been _director_ of the Office of Strategic Partnerships for the the New York City Department of Education, she used her family income to decline to take a salary, yet oversaw the raising of $65 million in two years. She is currently President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. She might be only a figurehead, but you have provided no evidence that that is the case, and most non-profits actually employ their directors and presidents to do real work. > > She would not be my senator. > There may be numerous people more qualified and willing in New York. > I do not champion her cause. > OTOH, you have demonstrated nothing but privilege envy with your fact lacking rant. I read the entire article before I posted my rant. I don’t see anything in there about being a practicing attorney. And even if it actually involved real work, I don’t think her two-year stint in three-day-a-week job as director of a school fundraising board, or presidency of her father’s library foundation, or second vice-chairman of the board of directors of another fundraising board is at all impressive, especially given that she wouldn’t have been able to do any of those in the first place without the name Kennedy. I don’t see any evidence that she’s actually done any meaningful work, ever. Really, how fucking hard is it for the daughter of JFK to ask for money for New York public schools from all her wealthy friends? Believe me, I am the last person who could be accused of “privilege envy”, or wealth envy. But I don’t think privilege and (inherited) wealth alone is enough to merit a senate seat. I agree that this is a great opportunity to pick someone from outside of the political process, who has not been corrupted by the need to actually be elected and pander to voters, lobbyists, interest groups, etc. However - there are literally thousands of people in New York who are clearly intelligent, hard-working and thoughtful enough to be an effective Senator, and who are not asking us to assume they possess those qualities solely because of their name. I mean, that’s really the argument people are making, isn’t it? “Screw it, she might be qualified, give her a shot!” Her only qualification is her name. If she was some woman named Worcestanislaw, who inherited a bunch of money from her wealthy-but-not-famous father, would anyone pay any attention to her? There are zillions of rich people who inherited wealth and sit on various fundraising boards, and I’m sure many of them would love to be a senator. Would you mind picking one of them at random? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-caroline-kennedy/479127.md?page=3)