On Murray Rembrandt and MSNBC... What's In a Word?
I thought the "Murray Rembrandt" joke -- which I thought was a Mel Brooks-ism -- went:
"And then there's Rembrandt. Great painter. He has a brother, Murray. But Murray... he couldn't paint a house! (Rim shot!)"
As for Caroline, if the worse they can say about you is a lame joke, you're in the catbird seat.What all these idiots fail to get is that there is no campaign for public consumption. She must impress one person and that is Gov. David Paterson. Not the reporters, not the minor fringe players in NY politics, not the TV talking heads.
On another subject: What's in a word?
Apparently, a lot... Especially for MSNBC. The cable news folks have to find any way of linking -- no matter how precarious a limb they must climb out on -- the Prez-elect and Rahm-bo to Rodney "Lend Me Your Comb" Blagojevich.
Today's hook: Breaking News!!!!! Obama will NOT release his report on Rahm and Blago UNTIL tomorrow (disgusted sigh). (Pity that the breathless frustration of David Shuster cannot be accurately conveyed in print.)
Compare to what they could say: Obama will release the report tomorrow.
Shuster went on to ask whether or not the report would "exonerate" Emanuel for contacting the Illinois governor. Just a tiny little question here, MSNBC: How does someone "exonerate" himself when he has not been accused of any wrongdoing? Contessa Brewer and everyone else who's bouncing around the virtual "politics desk" makes the same statement with varying word usage. The incoming Obama administration and transition team have the burden of proving they did not do anything of the things they are not accused of doing. And the fact that they didn't "exonerate" themselves before they were accused of doing what they did not do fast enough to suit the media, makes them guilty as sin. The nerve of raising expections of that they had nothing to hide when in fact they had nothing to hide.
No wonder we complain...
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If she's going to be my senator the least she could do would be to submit to some public questioning. It's true, all she has to do is impress Paterson. But if she doesn't believe that the public has the right to scrutinize her before she takes an important appointment like this, then she's not suited to represent us.
December 22, 2008 11:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, well, Blago got scrutinized...look what that got the people of Illinois.
December 22, 2008 11:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
True, scoundrels can win elections.
December 22, 2008 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
I continue to be amazed at the double-standard which is applied. You demand that she must scrutinized ("scrued") in order to be worthy of being considered -- not getting just being considered -- for this office. You demand all kinds of "experience" that she must possess before be considered for the job, yet others have no such experience. You suggest that only someone who has a long record of past public service should get the job, but her long record of past public service doesn't count. You demand "answers" about legislative positions, yet overlook public works that not only reveal her commitment to service, but also reveal her policies. As Rep. Gary Ackerman said, the fact that she raised over $70 million dollars for New York PUBLIC SCHOOLS doesn't count as a "real experience" nor does it reveal her commitment to improving education for the public schoolchildren of the city.
I'd have far more respect for the person who just comes out and says, "I'm against Caroline Kennedy because I just don't like the Kennedys or anyone associated with them. Just on general principle. I hate the Kennedys. She's a Kennedy. I hate her. That's my position and I'm sticking to it."
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And on a completely different note, to no one in particular: What is up with the goofy change of format, size and font? I didn't change it. I didn't copy and paste into the text box, nor do anything else. Interesting.... must be a Monday thing.
December 22, 2008 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
What do you mean "nobody has the experience?" New York is full of experienced people who can fill this seat for 2 years. If she were running for office, it wouldn't be an issue. If the people choose an inexperienced representative that's their right. This is an issue because it's an appointment being made by a governor who was also not elected to his post. It'd be really irresponsible of Paterson to just hand the position to a socialite.
December 22, 2008 1:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly.
Caroline might be the right pick, but just as much as anybody's neighbor would be.
She is in the running because of her family's name. One would hope that there would be other reasons to pick a Senator...
December 22, 2008 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
YOU TELL HIM GIRL.
December 22, 2008 4:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Regarding Caroline as Senator, I concur with your take on the situation, and would add that regardless who gets the appointment at this point in time, their worthiness for the office, will end up a crap shoot for the voters, IMO.
re. the font size changes: I was working on a blog the other night, and it was happening to me as well. Primarily it occurred when I cut something on the first page, and pasted it on the extended tab. The software here @ tpm is still in need of some tweaking.
December 22, 2008 5:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
if you do not desire rich text functionality, change the default blog editor's default "format" setting to "Convert Line Breaks". Then you won't see styling from the original pasted text get replicated in your post. It not a bug, it's a feature.
December 23, 2008 7:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Gracias!
December 23, 2008 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
It never ceases to amuse me just how easily circle-jerking rightys can chain-yank the political bipolarity's left-side onto their message. Caroline Kennedy has shunned public notoriety, but she has not sequestered herself living a life of leisurely luxury in a fifth avenue apartment either. Her CV shows that she has been active in public education and charitable foundations. She has a law degree and has passed the bar in NY and DC. Here's an abridged listing:
- Commission on Presidential Debates, board of director
- NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, board of director
- Member of the New York bar associations
- Member of the Washington, D.C. bar associations
- Kennedy Library Foundation president
- Harvard Institute of Politics, advise
- 2002-2004 Office of Strategic Partnerships, NYC Department of Education, CEO
- The Fund for Public Schools vice chair
- Concord Academy board of trustees
In the 90s, Kennedy co-authored two books about Civil Liberties with Ellen Alderman. They were thoughtful treatments strongly supportive of civil liberties, without drift into any radicalised posturing, written with a style any moderately intelligent literate American, not deeply steeped in ConLaw or American History could understand, and gain enlightenment from. A bit on the light-side for me, but between the early 80's to late 90's my recreational reading included a broad spectrum selection of ConLaw/SCOTUS books written by 1st-tier Law University Professors, and Federal Judges (Tribe/Bork/Rehnquist/Storey to name four), respected SCOTUS Histories, and a large number of published Court Decisions past/present. This reading forced me learn a moderate amount of legalese esoterica.- Alderman, Ellen, and Caroline Kennedy. "In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights in Action". New York: Morrow, 1991.
- Alderman, Ellen, and Caroline Kennedy. The Right to Privacy. New York: Knopf, 1995.
During Kennedy's 2002-2004 gig with the Department of Education, she was credited with raising $65,000,000 towards funding a training academy for principles. In return, her NYC compensation was $1.Underlying these specious allegations of Kennedy's inexperience is a willingness to accept the status quo, by appointing a preexisting causality for the American Dream's current meltdown. I learned just yesterday that this Senate seat will be in play in 2010 and 2012. This makes Kennedy's fund-raising ability a proper concern.
I'll say it again, I'm not a member of a political party, and live out west, so whether Kennedy gets the Senate appointment has little value to me. I am a bit of a stickler about facts though. Right now, Democrats are looking like they want have Republicans brutally Carterized all over again, and lie about the next election cycle. Will the GOP produce another trutbusting hit with the sequel:
ReaganComedy 2-Another Unremembering?
December 23, 2008 6:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for this. I'm pretty agnostic on the issue, but this reassures me that she could be effective as a Senator, given her demonstrated experience and intelligence.
A bit more than a socialite, I'd submit.
Of course she wouldn't be in the running if her name wasn't Caroline Kennedy...but her name is Caroline Kennedy.
December 23, 2008 10:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
I do not know about the first but the second point is really salient. Like Tuesday is so far away from Monday. But they phrase to get listeners.
At any rate I have been watching Shuster for a long time and I like him. He is somewhere between Keith and Chris and is closer to Keith.
December 22, 2008 6:56 PM | Reply | Permalink