Date With Dynasty

For our first song of 2009, we are adding our guitars, drums and voices to the chorus of opposition to Caroline Kennedy's possible Senate appointment, which keeps seesawing to and away from inevitability.

Enjoy "Date With Dynasty."

Also: for a great take on why these appointments from the Governor, check out this piece by Tom Geoghegan, who is running for Rahm Emanuel's house seat in Illinois the old fashioned way.

Click here to hear the song

Date With Dynasty

So the chattering classes said it's said and done, and this time they're probably right
Opportunity knocks and then it's ring and run, and disappear into the night
And I don't have a finger to point right out but I think it would be a mistake
To march in the order of the monarchy to the top of the Empire State

Honoring a legacy, long before I came to be
When birthright meets opportunity
You've got a date with dynasty
You've got a date with dynasty

And they said consecration was dead and gone, it's safe to say they were wrong
And they sang out a sun-soaked symphony but someone stopped singing along
So don't get me wrong, I think it all goes down with the best of intentions at hand
Oh what a concept, the purpose of process has turned up in desperate demand

Tell me just what happened to, hearing out two points of view
I know that isn't the life for you, but who's got the time with so much else to do
And that's why saints and royalty are better left to history
Be them, kings and queens or Kennedys
You've got a date with dynasty
You've got a date with dynasty

What good is entitlement, absent some accomplishment
Or maybe some shred of evidence, of some kind of semblance of interest
I guess we'll never take a leave of silly old ideas like these
In this land of opportunity
You've got a date with dynasty
You've got a date with dynasty
There's nothing quite like a legacy
You've got a date with dynasty

Max and the Marginalized are a band and a blog that does a weekly political song. All 60 are available for free here. We're also on MySpace and Facebook.

Comments

[standard]

You seem to have devoured--hook, line and sinker--the irrational, somewhat hate-filled argument that if someone has famous relatives, that should bar him or her from public office. How dare John Quincy Adams, Benjamin Harrison, Franklin Roosevelt, Ted Kennedy, Andrew Cuomo and David Paterson even have CONSIDERED entering public office! Why, we should even disown Barack Obama: he and Dick Cheney are cousins! What rubbish.

I'll grant you that Bush43, Mrs. Clinton and their war in Iraq are strong arguments against some "dynasties", but the whole point about Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg is that she's NOT a professional politician but a concerned citizen with excellent credentials and a record of voluntary public service who's way smarter than Dubya and way less self-promoting--and far more authentic and truthful--than the Clintons. As a Senator, she can be a fantastic asset to the progressive cause and we ought to give her a chance to prove it. (New Yorkers can simply vote her out of office in two years if she doesn't pan out: in a democracy there can be no REAL dynasties.)

It may be chic this week not to value this smart, well-educated author, mother and Democrat because her family is well-known, but that's not a sensible argument--and setting it to music doesn't turn it into a valid one. Not even if the music is performed very well, as this was.

[Osmona]

I totally agree with you Standard. I am by no means a rich woman. In fact, I am African American and grew up "poor". I remember Caroline Kennedy and her brother, her father and mother. Caroline is a is a New Yorker. Her mother, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, was a GREAT woman. She raised her children to be as normal as possible. She took them on bike rides in Central Park and did her best to protect them from the spoils of being rich. Although she was filthy rich, Jackie O (what she was called before she died) went to work EVERYDAY. She taught her children that even though they have been born with many advantages, they need to make a contribution to society. Not many kids born into privilege can stand up to Caroline' and John John (her brother's nickname). Just look at Paris Hilton for example. John John rode the city subways and rode his bike through the streets of NYC.

I think NYC should give her a chance. What harm could it do? Hillary Clinton IS NOT a New Yorker and we accepted her. We should give Caroline a chance.

[standard]

Osmona--

Thank you for saying that!

I'm old enough to have actually worked in her dad's campaign in New York 1960 (if being a teenaged "gopher" and handing out fliers counts as campaign work) and so, those nicknames aren't new to me. I don't idolize the Kennedys--I was never a fan of RFK, for example--but I'm appalled at how much time and effort has gone into inventing reasons not to give CKS a chance to prove herself further.

You're exactly correct: there are really wonderful rich folks (Bill and Melinda Gates come to mind, as does Jay Rockefeller and even Mayor Bloomberg) and there are all sorts of horrid ones. There have been good "dynasties" and others as bad as the Bushes.

To be against someone based on his or her family name is to pre-judge that person: to be prejudiced. There apparently are prejudiced folks even among New York Democrats--but I like to think they're far outnumbered by folks as fair-minded as you seem to be.

[research]

Wonderful!

I'm done with royalty!

[vinny]

ug

[SpencerKent]

Great song, Max. Infectious.

[w&cheneysuck]

Good one! Love the perspective!!!!!