(As author and sole owner of the words in this story, I did not write them for AOL, and do not wish to have any association with it imposed upon me. The original text may still be found at http://narconews.com/thefield - Al Giordano, February 7, 2011)
(Crossposted from The Field.)
Follow Al Giordano on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AlGiordano
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Caroline Kennedy's open support for marriage rights for gays and lesbians in an era when top liberal Democrats can't bring themselves to support it offers the best antidote to the Rick Warren blues yet.
It is in the very best of Kennedy traditions: they're not black, but they were among the white pioneers for Civil Rights. They're not Mexican, but they've fought harder for a path to citizenship for immigrants than most Democrats. So it's no small thing that Caroline Kennedy similarly places this basic human right for gays and lesbians on the same path.
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John Kennedy's father made his fortune as a "bootlegger" when Rockefeller sponsored Prohibition, which he did to profiteer on petroleum and prevent Henry Ford from making a profit on ethanol-burning vehicles. Global warming is on the heads of the Rockefellers, and the Kennedy family was among the first civil disobedients. Historically, the Kennedy family is on our side more than their opponents are. Much more.
I'm not a New Yorker, but as an American I say that in general, we can do much worse, and not much better, than a Kennedy, any Kennedy, to represent our Best Interests in whatever post they are elected, or appointed, to hold. Rockefellers and Bushes and their friends like Karl Rove rise by manipulating people and events and markets, and they smear achievers who threaten their unearned power rather than work to retain what they have taken.
And Maloney is just one of the more qualified candidates who've worked for liberal ideas and actually achieved something. Consider Byron Brown, Elizabeth Holtzman, Thomas Suozzi, Nydia Velazquez, Kirsten Gillibrand, Steve Israel.
There's no need to go with a neophyte.
Yes, Carolyn Maloney initially voted to support the Iraq war. We don't know what Kennedy's position was at the time because she wasn't asked and wasn't tested by having to vote. We do know that Maloney repudiated her position on the war. And I'm pretty impressed when a public figure has the courage to admit that she was wrong.
Furthermore Maloney has demonstrated her committed to populist causes by enacting legislation - not by just talking about things. She was the one who made enacted legislation to include gay partners under the FMLA. She's done a lot more to advance populist causes: http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_issues&Itemid=35
So what makes a populist? Working on behalf of the people, or being the aristocrat who claims to care the most about them?
The sorry outcome from Georgia reflects this point, thanks alot Georgians!
After two re-vitalizing terms with the 'Big O', another Kennedy administration and the first woman president will certainly be in order. I love that scenario!
Until the recent Pres. campaign, I had never given money to a candidate. Receiving fund raising e-mails from the Obama people, I could almost not stop myself from clicking the 'DONATE' link. At $25 a pop, I rang up a total of $325 in donations. All, may I add, with my wife's enthusiastic approval. LOL
Let me also add the fact that I am far from a rich man.
Where can I send $25 to Caroline?
Ed the Carpenter
Because it doesn't.
The Senator from New York functions as New York's voice in Washington -- not YOURS, if you don't live in New York State.
In allowing outsiders to "help" choose our Senator, we are handing over our share of the dialog to others -- and diluting it.
You have Senators of your own, who represent you -- and not us. Leave ours alone.
Each state has a legislature, where the affairs of the state are considered. There the input of out-of-state citizens is not needed.
QUESTION 2: Same-sex marriage. Do you support the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry? Do you think it's appropriate that Rick Warren, who campaigned to ban gay marriage, is delivering the invocation at Obama's inauguration? If not, have you expressed that to the president-elect?
ANSWER: "Caroline supports full equality and marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples."
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When a minority's civil rights have been abused for, well, all of recorded history, and that minority is joined by friends and family to form an historic groundswell, leadership must emerge as well.
True leadership involves potential personal loss for the leader as well as for those in the movement.
Risk
Human Rights values versus Political values and, in this case, Religious Values
Ability to comprehend defining moments
Caroline Kennedy has joined this civil rights movement.
She has done it with the full understanding that her personal life will never be the same.
And I am grateful.
It's inconceivable that any person who wasn't a scion of a political family who had never been elected to a single office, never held a regular job, hadn't even voted regularly and hadn't even registered to vote until she was 31 would have even the REMOTEST chance of being considered for senator of ANY state.
HL Mencken got it right when he said that the American people get the government they deserve.
-John Adams, A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America, vol 1, 1787
" . . . every time somebody makes a crack about her as a "princess" or "doing her nails" . . . "
You're offering facts. CKS's detractors have offered a smoke screen of nonsense and vitriol. Thank you for this VERY important post--and especially, for calling that other writer out on her unworthy, sexist "doing her nails" crack. It's a good thing when speaking truth and stating facts helps to improve real peoples' lives--and that's what you've accomplished here! Nicely done.
We do know that she grew up without a father because he was slain as President of the United States. We do know that she has lived in the shadow of politics her entire life. We can rest assure that she carries all this kind of stuff with her. Caroline Kennedy’s life story maybe more compelling than the average American realizes.
If I were to hire an employee, the argument "you don't know what I'm capable of" would not make me choose the person with the thinnest resume. Nor would "people in my family work really hard" Nor would "a lot of people find change frightening"
When someone becomes a senator, they are a public servant. We have a right to know what our senators are made of. Furthermore, when there are candidates who have already worked successfully to advance the causes we believe in, why should we cast them aside for the sake of a neophyte who has only developed an interest in politics at the age of 51. 51 is a little old to be asking for a job based on potential.
Compelling life stories are great for Lifetime movies. I want someone with a compelling list of legislative achievements when I'm looking for a senator.
I just hate the idea that the deaths of famous people are more important than the deaths of other people. That and the idea that rich people are less corruptible than working-class people offends me. As if the crimes on the business section page were committed by people making $50k a year.