The Impossible Maureen Dowd Touts Caroline and Once Again Denigrates Hillary
By Ani on January 8, 2009 at 6:45 PM in Barack Obama, Caroline Kennedy, Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Qualifications
In her NY Times column yesterday, “Sweet on Caroline,” Maureen Dowd finds yet another way to display her Hillary Derangement Syndrome by defending Caroline Kennedy in her bid for appointment to the Senate. In the process, MoDowd not so subtly plunges yet another dagger into Senator Clinton’s heart. Contrary to her mission in this column, however, MoDowd only succeeds in proving that, in Caroline Kennedy’s case, less is more — since Caroline is far less qualified than the far more capable Hillary was when she was first elected to this seat in 2000.
Ms. Dowd begins in her usual snide fashion:
Ask not, you know, what your country can, like, do for you. Ask what you, um, can, you know, do for your country.
After a lifetime of shying away from the public spotlight, Caroline Kennedy asked herself what she could do for her country.
Her soft-spoken answer — to follow her father and two uncles and serve in the Senate — got her ripped to shreds in the, you know, press.
I know about “you knows.” I use that verbal crutch myself, a bad habit that develops from shyness and reticence about public speaking.
Wow. That’s so nice of you, Mo, to first make fun of Caroline Kennedy’s crutch of saying ‘you know’ 120 times in one interview – only then to excuse it. This ignores the fact that Ms. Kennedy’s “you knows” may cover the fact that she doesn’t have very much that is pertinent to say otherwise. Mo then continues fawning:
I always thought that Caroline and her brother, John, had special magic capital in America because of their heartbreaking roles in the Kennedy House of Atreus.
… I found it bizarre that when Caroline offered to use her magic capital — and friendship with Barack Obama — to help take care of New York in this time of economic distress, she was blasted by a howl of “How dare she?”
How dare she indeed. Let me inquire of Ms. Dowd: how does Caroline’s “friendship” with Barack Obama or her magical Kennedy name enable her to magically help the beleaguered State of New York?
Is Ms. Dowd implying that if a Senator is not a ‘friend’ of Barack Obama, his or her state’s needs will be ignored? Surely, Hillary Clinton has done an amazing job for her constituents and earned their respect, despite the fact that the Bushes and Clintons are like oil and water. For one thing, Senator Clinton fought for and got better care for first responders after 9/11 when President Bush ignored their needs. She did it without the ‘magical friendship’ Ms. Dowd insists is so important. Furthermore, many in NY Congress as well as local representatives refused to abandon Hillary for Obama during the primary, though they were under great pressure to do so. They stuck with her for one reason: they each made clear, when they needed Hillary, she always showed up for their districts. Yet, Ms. Mo still treats Senator Clinton like a carpetbagger. How is it that Caroline is magically equipped, simply by virtue of the Kennedy name to rescue New York? Dowd then states:
Although Americans still have enough British in their genes to be drawn to dynasties, W. has no doubt soured the country on scions. And the camps of the other two New York dynasties — the Clintons (still bitter about Caroline’s endorsement of Obama) and the Cuomos (who’d like that Senate seat for Andrew) — have certainly done their best to undermine Caroline.
Who has undermined her? Ms. Kennedy has done a fine job of doing that for herself. And why shouldn’t NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo want the seat – he is also far more accomplished? What about Congresswoman Carol Maloney – probably Hillary’s pick? Why should the far more qualified woman once again be overlooked? Why do we seem hell bent for leather to promote “American Idol” in this country? What has happened to the American dream of working for and earning what you want in life? And why do we assume the Clintons are bitter about Caroline’s Obama endorsement? And what does that have to do with the fact that Congresswoman Maloney is more deserving and more qualified for this appointment in her sleep than Caroline Kennedy?
Sounds like Ms. Dowd is the one who is bitter. The Clintons are husband and wife. No dynasty there that I can see, but Mo still pulls out the same old, tired narrative of ‘no dynasties’ that Obama used so effectively when trumpeting his excuse for CHANGE. Um, except when the dynasty is “Kennedy” – then the sky’s the limit. Heaven forefend we have someone who has some idea what the hell they are doing. But since we just elected a President who hasn’t a clue, perhaps Ms. Dowd feels we should keep the trend going. Ms. Dowd refers to Caroline Kennedy as offering the Senate “an infusion of class, intelligence and guts.” Guts? Um, you know, yeah, err, aah, you know aaaaaaand….yeah.
“People complain that the 51-year-old Harvard and Columbia Law School grad and author is not a glib, professional pol who knows how to artfully market herself, and is someone who hasn’t spent her life glad-handing, backstabbing and logrolling. I say, thank God.”
Oh, Mo! You’re kidding me, right? And your beloved “Obambi” hasn’t spent his career glad-handing, backstabbing and logrolling??! Certainly, P.E. Obama hasn’t any idea how to “artfully market” himself, does he?
The press whines that she doesn’t have a pat answer about why she wants the job. I’ve interviewed a score of men running for president; not one had a good answer for why he wanted it.
Gee, does that include P.E. Obama – the one you touted this entire election season while excoriating the far more qualified, eloquent (sans teleprompter) and caring Hillary Clinton at every opportunity? I believe when Obama was asked the first thing he would do as President, he said he would “put his feet up behind the desk.” Awe inspiring.
Ms. Dowd then tells us Caroline’s relatively inarticulate and inexperienced manner is no worry, since she “knows Caroline Kennedy.”…
“She’s smart, cultivated, serious and unpretentious. The Senate, shamefully sparse on profiles in courage during Dick Cheney’s reign of terror, would be lucky to get her.
Anyhow, it isn’t how you say it. It’s what you say. Hillary Clinton is a great talker, but she never stood up in the Senate to lead a crusade against any Republican horror show, from Terri Schiavo to the Bush administration’s dishonest push to war.”
I see, but Barack Obama stood up to …???? Who exactly? What crusade did the inspiring speaker, Mr. Hopey-Changey lead? Who did Joe Biden stand up to? Or Kerry? Or any of them? Furthermore, P.E. Obama supposedly made an anti-war speech in 2002 and then when elected to the Senate in 2005, spent the rest of his time voting in lock step with his party and rubberstamping everything that President Bush wanted. Senator Clinton, gave her vote for the IWR in 2002 very reluctantly, as her speech on the Senate floor shows. The very next day she, along with Senator Robert Byrd, set about restricting George Bush further in terms of what powers this IWR would grant him.
Again, Hillary is being judged by a ridiculous double standard. Dowd actually has the nerve to criticize her for not being the lone Senator to stand up against Bush and his cadre but the man Dowd affectionately named “Obambi,” who never stood up to anyone, or for anything, gets a pass. Does she even realize or care how contradictory this nonsense is?
And if we are going to talk about Terry Schiavo – didn’t Obama vote to keep her alive?
What the hell is Mo Dowd going on about here? She seems to conveniently forget that very man she spent the last year fawning over is just as vapid and chameleon-like as they come. Moral courage? How about political expediency? That is the only term our President-to-be understands.
I find Dowd’s closing words most hilarious:
Sitting in the Senate gallery on Tuesday as senators were sworn in by Dick Cheney, I saw plenty of lawmakers who had benefited from family.
It isn’t what your name is. It’s what you do with it.
So dynasties are OK as long as you are a Kennedy. But Hillary Clinton, who Dowd predictably finds time to trash once again, had far more accomplishments on her own that Caroline Kennedy ever had, only got to her Senate seat and a run for the nomination because of her husband? I see. Ms. Dowd sounds more like Chris Matthews every day. Jealous much? Hillary Clinton has done a great deal with her name but her detractors still are determined to pretend her accomplishments are non-existent, probably to make Caroline look better by comparison. Sorry. Not working.
What exactly has Caroline Kennedy done that entitles her to jump to the head of the line in front of Carol Maloney and Andrew Cuomo?
It is far more likely that Ms. Dowd chooses to champion Caroline because she is sweet and non-threatening – no brilliance detected. Hillary surely is a far more intimidating character. I have nothing against Caroline Kennedy personally. The question in re Caroline Kennedy isn’t what’s wrong with her – it’s what’s right with her for this particular job? Out of nowhere, she crooks her finger to get a Senate seat and it should be granted her?
The rather clueless Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post also chimed in…
“Caroline has always been part of my consciousness: the lucky little girl with a pony and an impossibly handsome father. What a fitting coda … to have the little princess grow up to be a senator.”
So in order to have a “storybook ending,” let’s put a totally unqualified Kennedy in the seat. Marcus enjoyed giving Mr. Obama a storybook ending as well. For those who don’t remember, Marcus is also one who saw fit to trash Hillary Clinton endlessly.
So a qualified woman is to be vilified and held to impossible standards – but one with no qualifications for the job is to be nursed along at every turn? What kind of a message are we sending with this behavior? When we send a woman up who is unqualified and she falters, she makes it twice as hard for the truly qualified female candidate to be sent up the next time.
The bottom line is this: When we lower the bar to suit an unqualified woman, or a minority of either sex, you are making it that much more difficult for a qualified person in the same category. Unqualified men seem to get by with little consequences, however.
Ms. Dowd may excuse Ms. Kennedy’s ‘verbal crutch,’ but that does not excuse her lack of deserving or qualifications otherwise. It also doesn’t excuse the fact that women like Ms. Dowd and Ms. Marcus seem incapable of celebrating a truly qualified and capable woman like Hillary Clinton over a truly unqualified, dissembling man.
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Well, fuck. I give up.
No sense voting for one’s state representation. Just let the Executive appoint cronies and move on.
How much am I s’posed to make my check out for?
Maureen Dowd is just a wannabe who,by some stroke of luck, landed a column in the NYT. I used to be amused by her because she can turn a catty phrase, but when she went so ballistic on Hillary and became such a suck-up to Obama, I never read her anymore. Ani, from the looks of this diary, you have more talent in your little finger than MoDo has in her whole sorry self. She’s right about one thing. Her stumbling cadence on MTP with her friend Tim Russert was almost painful to watch. Her over-orchestrated sentences meant to mimic Dorothy Parker usually fell flat because she struggled with the delivery. She is one of those types who thinks her ethnic group is more desirable than others, especially people from the South, outside the Beltway and not as cosmopolitan as she. But I would venture to say that her jonesing for all things Kennedy (and now transferred to Obama and the alledgedly Jackie-esque Meeechelle)is just all part of her unrequited fantasy to be part of the clan.
SHe is also jealous of Hillary because she is the classic smart nerdy girl who grew up and succeeded far beyond everyone else in her class.
Dowd is just sort of weak and pathetic.
Holy Moley- what HE says.
Thanks, Chicago Joe. I also agree that her efforts to be Dorothy Parker fall flat — I’ve written before that whenever I see Dowd on TV, she always looks like she smells poo. I dslike snobs and her attitude is always that we are lucky that she would deign to bless us with her presence.
I know she believes the world is just waiting for her next ‘bon mot’ as she tips her head to and fro a la Ernestine of Laugh-In, but I can assure her, we are way past her little witticisms.
I believe that is one of the reasons she is so jealous of Hillary — she knows she does not possess that level of smarts.
Further, Dowd’s book, “Are Men Necessary” sells a memo that liberated women sort of no longer wish to be liberated, so obviously she has to condemn all things Hillary because Senator Clinton represents everything contrary to the “babe-a-licious” way that MoDowd wishes to see herself and also runs contrary to her book’s oversimplified, foolish thesis.
Dowdy suffers from a severe case of OBAMAUTISM — someone who has her head so far up her ass that she is in perpetual OGASM.
i used to scoff at the term limo liberals, now i can see how they got it. insular, conceited, arrogant and poorly informed pretty much sums up dowd and the rest of the so called pundits and writers who think we are too stupid not to see throught their bullshix.
You know, John Kass made an interesting comment in one of his columns, in regard to Burris: “it’s all show.”
Meaning, Obama and the Democrats always intended to seat Burris, becuase they could have had a special election, if they truly believed what they said about Blago.
This whole episode was for show, just like FISA, the Patrit Act, and the rest.
Cheney, OTOH, just uses force to push through his illegal agenda, no pretense toward sucking up to the average voter, first.
I’m not sure who is more stupid, the democratic op, or his republican counterpart.
Again, these are the people Krugman was speaking of in his comment about Gupta, and Moore.
IOW, congressional democratic opposition REALLY is just show, whether it be opposing Cheney, or Obama.
Everything is driven by pay to play, I suppose, a combine, just like in IL.
Limo Liberals are exactly why Hillary is where she is and exactly why this country is going to get trashed. It’s also the factor of the long departed “Democratic Party” that has destroyed the party and alienated its members. Those people are pathetic and their reign of terror on this country is just beginning. Well, we can thank them already for Fannie and Freddie. And for Nancy Shit-For-Brains Pelosi’s 62 Million Dollar personal paycheck on OUR BACKS. Why doesn’t someone balls up and stop these nuts from turning America into their private little Cuba?
Indeed. These nitrous oxide-filled creampuffs think they are doing the rest of us hoi polloi a favor by giving us the polyethylene provocateur as a saviour. Thanks but they can have him and their cake and eat it, too, for all I care. I want no part of it.
Great post. I will read your posts frequently. Added you to the RSS reader.
I must say this is a great article i enjoyed reading it keep the good work
Thanks, Jamie and welcome to NoQ.
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!
Doesn’t Dowd even live in JFK’s Georgetown bachelor pad? She really does have a problem with idol worship.
Bob Somerby (daily howler.com) raised Irish Catholic -as I was, has written a lot about the Irish Catholic cabal of Washington insiders. The late Tim Russert, Maureen Dowd, Chris Matthews, Brian Williams, Mike Barnacle, Lawrence O’Donnell, Peggy Noonan, Michael Kelly and how snarky they are to those they look down on - Gore, the Clintons and I would add Carter. They particularly hate people who come from places they view as full of hicks. I think he has a point. They do seem to have a strange way of looking at things. They all hated Clinton for desecrating the White House with his sexual indescretion. Yet they worship the ground JFK walked on and we all know he never fooled around in the White House. Maybe they secretly look down on Clinton because he only did it with one woman? They are a confused bunch.
http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh012607.shtml
(Read the “Boys’ Club segment”).
bernieo, the funny part is that the irish have been looked down on since they came to the us. sure they have made progress, but to think of themselves as all that is well, silly! and i am part irish!
Irish is good. I’m only Irish on St Pat’s day.
I must say there is something not right and positively odorous about the deference that these Catholics and some Catholic websites have given Obama. I consider Hillary’s policies the embodiment of the corporal works of mercy, the true bulwark of Catholic faith. Obama’s position on live birth abortion is definitely not in line with Catholic doctrine and is more extreme than any position I am aware of Hillary ever supporting. Furthermore, his campaign tactics were certainly not morally elevated, despite his rhetoric. Something is not right and I really wonder what is truly motivating these religiously minded, if not pious, people.
It’s true, Hillary is not in favor of live birth abortions. She voted for the bill that was *against* it.
FOCA would also force many Catholic hospitals to close their doors.
“only did it with one woman?” pleaseeeeee
Somerby was a suite mate of Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones at Harvard.
Would you be interested in exchanging blogrolls links with my site? Please email me if you are interested
You know I’m just really disgusted with a woman who is jealous and does everything to undermine an exceptional person like Hillary.
You know this past year the one thing you know that has you know pissed me off the most you know is women hating women.
What’s this all about…As a guy I just don’t get it.You know I thought this year was the year of the woman.
I did everything you know to see a woman lead this country. Seems women love to destroy each other.
I hope you’ll make an exception if we don’t want The Stepford Senator to be appointed (anointed) in NYS.
There are a lot of men who do not understand this hatred women have for other women — there is no rational reason for their behavior.
There’s an older gentleman - 98 — who remembers clearly when women got the right to vote. It was a big deal and he remembers how the women in his family felt about this monumental event.
He cannot understand why the women in their 40s and younger HATED Hillary Clinton — he could see no logical in their answers to his “why”.
I see no logic either — at first I assumed that the job the press did on Hillary while her husband was President was the cause of the attitude of the 40 & younger women — but then when they responded in the same way to Sarah Palin — I realized that this group of women has no concept of the history of women.
I must assume that women’s role in history has not been taught in American schools — perhaps the only women’s history is taught in “Women Studies” in colleges?
When I was in school I know that the history books were written as if women did not exist — had no opinions or made zero contributions (except for Betsy Ross making that damned flag). On my own I read books and learned that there is a rich history of women’s contributions to the world and to culture. This information could easily be incorporated in history books. Otherwise — I still don’t understand the reason why so many women HATE other women and seem to think it is cool to be as cruel and as nasty as possible toward any strong women like Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin.
It’s a puzzle that I’d like to understand.
The hatred women have towards other women is the most detrimental thing we all face. It seems to be this…men compete with each other in sports, work, etc. and all is well. Women are taught to compete FOR A MAN against their friends, women. I know, that seems like oversimplification. But think about it. When women learn to embrace each other, men or no men, then I think this might work.
Very interesting B,
I think you are correct..Women seem to focus on the character of other women when they compete.
I didn’t realize that Women really try to destroy each other over men.
Guys when they realize that another man is involved with a women usually back off for fear of rejection.
It’s sad that women can’t lift each other up. When I saw the sheer VOLUME of attacks on PALIN by our own “sisters” I thought I would have a heart attack. Never in my life have I seen women be so vicious.
Actually a lot of Pumas are women in their forties- I’m 42, been a feminist since I was 7 years old, had a feminist mom, etc…
All the female Hillary hating Obots I knew were upper class, under 35, fauxgressives or upper class faugressive women over 60 who want to pretend misogyny doesn’t exist and threw fits when Hillary, Pumas, or Sarah Palin dared even mention that their precious upper class faugressive male pals were being slimy misogynists, the under 35 crew joined right in with most vile of the attacks.
No, the middle and lower class women in their 40’s know feminism, that’s why so many of us became Pumas.
Oh and Dowd is no liberal, she was fawning over Bush until it became no longer cool amongst the elites to do so. Dowd has hated Hillary from the beginning, because Hillary comes from the middle class and worked hard for women’s and children’s rights all her adult life, and civil rights, etc… Hillary understands classism too and has fought for the welfare of the poor and lower middle class. Dowd is just the modern manifestation of the elite Washington women who hated Eleanor Roosevelt because, Eleanor, despite being from the elite, worked to empower women and all disenfranchised people.
The reason why women hate other women is something that puzzles everyone and I find that the explanation to this is simply that certain segment of the female population do not truly appreciate being “liberated”. The notion that a woman is a clinging vine, a damsel in distress waiting for knight in shining armor to rescue is still very strong among this segment of female population.. So in spite of the gains made by women like Hillary Clinton climbing into leadership positions, other women will not support simply because they do not like or they do not agree with women leading and accomplishing things which they themselves could not accomplish. Timid and shy is still a quality that this type of women would adopt because of their fear that if they aspire and they fail, they do not want to be embarrassed falling flat on their face…They do not want to hear the blame.. blame… see, I told you women can’t do it, they should have let the men do it and leave the women at home..
Some comments made mention of the envy of Modo. Her rantings truly reflects the idea that Modo has accomplished her book writing and column writing but unable to have a mate and keep a marriage and so she trashes Hillary for doing all great things writing a book, working hard for the interests of her constituents and including keeping a marriage. Must be lonely to sleep alone at night..True she could hire a mate or seduce someone to sleep with her but she still she falls short of what Hillary can do.
It is this ambivalence among women that really makes them hate other women who have accomplished things that they could not accomplish themselves..Why her? Why not me?
Hello.
I would like to put a link to your site on my blog roll if you want to do the same for mine. It would be a good way to build up both of our readerships.
thank you.
NQ is widely read including by the mainstream media. Where else would MSM get their news? *snark*
Dowd favors the Kennedy dynasty over the Clinton dynasty. Who cares?
dowd is a legend in her own mind and no one else.
What? What “Clinton Dynasty”?? lol!!!
How many “Clinton’s” are there compared to “Kennedy’s”?
“dynasty”…pfft.
One dynasty works for the good of the country; the other works for themselves in their name only and has trouble with responsible driving, all while pretending to care about others. If you don’t see the difference, you are part of the problem.
ferd, ole ted has been a big disappointment hasn’t he?
I never did like him–thought he was an enormous, bloated plutocrat with a bottle for a soul. But when he ran against Carter (who I have mixed feelings about) that did it for me.
i used to be a kennedy fan, but their sense of entitlement is beyond me. i am glad their power is on the downside.
I agree. At one time they appeared to have relevance. Now they sadly cling to a heritage they never upheld and probably never really understood.
A friend of mine just emailed me one of your articles from a while back. I read that one a few more. Really enjoy your blog. Thanks
I discovered your homepage by coincidence.
Very interesting posts and well written.
I will put your site on my blogroll.
Don’t do that without checking with the owner of the blog and his assistant.
That is not cool.
Hi there,
I looked over your blog and it looks really good. Do you ever do link exchanges on your blog roll? If you do, I’d like to exchange links with you.
Let me know if you’re interested.
Thanks..
I still think Dowd is upset with Hillary because she didn’t “leave Bill”. Sounds like MO has a personal problem with projection.
Do you do blogroll exchanging? If you want to exchange links let me know.
Email me back if you’re interested.
I finally decided to write a comment on your blog. I just wanted to say good job. I really enjoy reading your posts.
very good post…thanks for taking this topic and Maureen Dowdie on…you hit all the right points…
Dowdie and the rest of the ‘trust fund baby crowd’ are all jealous of Hillary and Bill…Hillary and Bill are self made people…Bill came from a tough upbringing and got to where he is on his own…no family assistance…
…and Hillary has been a trailblazer since her college days…the irony is she put her career aside for Bill…however you cannot keep a great woman down…regardless of how many critics, enemies and so-called “friends” have tried to stop Hillary from going after her goals and opportunites…
Hillary (and Bill) are natural born LEADERS…
…the thing the Georgetown and New York insider ‘trust fund baby crowd’ cannot stand is that Hillary (and Bill) are the real deal…and they made their way on their own merits and superior intelligence…neither one of them had their daddy’s help or family connections to pave the way…
…and Hillary (and Bill) are survivors and have succeeded…Hillary has her career, international recognition, her husband, her daughter…er, what does Maureen Dowdie have??? besides her snide, jealous comments…getting kind of old…on her way to becoming a boring has been…kind of missed her boat…
Hillary makes mincemeat out of her critics…she leaves them in her dust…keep on trucking Hillary from First Lady of Arkansas, one of the most prominent lawyers in the country to First Lady of the USA to two term Senator from New York…to Secretary of State for the USA…you go girl…you have just begun your new journey and Dowdie and the rest of them are just left to observe your life from afar…stuck in their same ruts with their same old tired narrative over and over again…
Hillary will go down in history as inspirational and extraordinary…no one will ever remember Maureen Dowdie for anything significant or worthwhile or that helped anyone but herself and fed her own ego
“getting kind of old?”
Not ‘kind of’, MoDodo bird is OLD.
Is it true that her animosity stems from the fact that Bill Clinton wouldn’t give her a play?
What a loser she is!
I was trying to be kind…
“Hillary will go down in history as inspirational and extraordinary…no one will ever remember Maureen Dowdie for anything significant or worthwhile or that helped anyone but herself and fed her own ego”
Just thought it needed repeating
Yes, I agree. It was also fascinating that after the primnaries, when Hillary was no longer in the race, the press still could not stop talking about her and covering her. She was the most exciting candidate, really. Not Obama or McCain — no matter how much the media tried to pretend otherwise.
Didn’t old lady Dowd diss Sarah Palin too due to her lack of “experience” as well as bashing Hillary? Yeah, Caroline has no experience but she is one of the “revered” ones and a loyal lapdog of the big “ONE”. We should all get on the right page here, according to the Dowd rules and get our line-up and worship correct. Dowdy is a big, fat wannabe imo. Rubbish for brains.
GREAT POST!
Wow–you ripped her a new one that was well deserved. I don’t know what the NY Times sees in her.
I second that!
And my two cents on Caroline - if she wants to run, and the voters don’t care about her inexperience, more power to her.
but to hand it to her, because of her name, and support for PEBO? not right.
Amen to that.
Fantastic post. Dowd is the only human being on earth who tempts me to use a word that starts with the same letter as Caroline.
But on the topic of C-words, I guess if we want lessons in “class” we can always look at the list of items from her mother’s estate that Ms Kennedy thought fit and proper to auction off. To choose one example from lot 1183, “A Portrait Study of Caroline Kennedy,” which had an estimated value of $1,500 to $2,500 but ended up adding another $23,000 to the fortune of its subject. The artist, Aaron Shikler, said that he was “shocked” that this and other studies he gave to Mrs Onassis as gifts were put on the block. “They were such a personal thing,” he said. “They could have wrapped it up, put it away to give to the children and grandchildren. It’s bizarre.”
But tacky? A Kennedy? Never.
actually bitch came to mind for me but I think too highly of 4 legged dogs.
It’s embarrassing that our country holds these drunks and murderers up as our very own royalty. This mindset is against our founding principles of capitalist free trade and a meritocracy.
That does it…really. I feel sorry for the folks in NY if they let this happen.
Nice site. Theres some good information on here. Ill be checking back regularly.
Oh good, she didnt let us down. Maureen has shown herself to be the new whore from the Times, replacing Judith Miller as the W H residents goafer and sucker. LMAO
Yo, Mo Do Go! lol
Dowd obviously is psycho and needs to be heavily medicated.
I thought she already was….
psycho yes, but obviously hasn’t had needed meds
Jamie Holts…a bot.
No question about that.
there’s another one who needs meds…
LMAO. Perhaps Larry needs a staff Psychiatrist for the NQ website. A lot of obviously troubled bots come here for punishment.
how about a Catholic priest too for confession? They seem to be troubled and don’t know how to repent.
For sure.
The bot in question thinks FraudO is smart.
Bot loves FraudO ’cause FraudO is cool in the way that he’s a slave to his blackberry.
Politics is not for the shy, especially these days. Let Sweet Caroline (Dumb Dumb Dumb) run for the House first.
Is Bore-een Dowd sleeping with some top editor at the NYT or something? Because I can’t believe any “serious” newspaper would continue to employ such a bitter Miss Havisham who utilizes the printed word merely to unleash her pent-up personal frustrations on her betters.
LOL- Miss Havisham - what a great reference for Dowd!!!
Great post, as usual, Ani. Dowd should mind her own business since she does not live in NY. I live in NYC and care about my state and do not want an inexperienced, unelected Senator. If the Princess wants to by the Senator from NY, let her run for the privilege.
excellent post…
A slap to Hillary Clinton. She has done alot for NY and for the Armed Forces. She deserves respect for her work not to mention what she did while Bill was President. Dowd can go fuck herself.
um, jamie holt, you’re kinda creepin’ me out and this ain’t even my blog………………
The trolls are really out today. Wonder WTF it is they’re so scared of with respect to Fraudbama.
They never had much faith in FraudObama to begin with. They just voted for the “cool” guy who has meetings on You Tube and who wons blackberry, because it was the popular thing to do. It’s one big sausage fest with dudes being all dreamy eyed over the FraudO. Obots = sausage fest.
What Clinton dynasty?
It’s a married couple of two highly intelligent, highly accomplished Americans that worked their butts off to get where they are.
Dynasty!? Fuck you, Dowd!
Yeah, and the Kennedys aren’t a dynasty? WTF!
I’m with Maya Angelou on this one. Rise, Hillary. Rise. As for Dowd, Couric, Huffington and all the other females who sold their own down the river–karma.
I second that…
I believe that has a great deal to do w the mindset of Obama followers. I doubt many have worked a hard day in their life for anything or had to endure much suffering or hardship of any kind.
Every Obamabot I’ve come into contact with, either on line or in the flesh, has only parroted what That One has said. They have no opinions of their own but a soundbite and spin.
I believe it just from the blog postings I see.
a person can’t have their own opinions when they haven’t done anything worthwhile-sponging off ones parents while keeping track of the cheeto inventory in the basement doesn’t count.
ROFL–any more than being a damn “Community Organizer” makes one qualified to be president. That One is the Cheeto-in-Chief.
I agree with everything in this post. Although I ignore Dowd’s column most of the time, I read this first piece one after her break. She never misses an opportunity to lash out against Hillary and both Clintons and she tends to rave about those celebrities who bothered to give her the time of the day at one time or the other.
Her column would be fine in People or similar fan magazins but not on the op-ed page of the NYT.
If by chance they slime their way with seating Caroline Schlossberg, Chelsea should run in 2010 and NY will vote for Chelsea.
maybe the Kennedys are just afraid of their dynasty stranglehold being removed. CK never even gave a rats ass about politics and how old is she now, 50??She just wants to do it to carry on the Kennedy tradition? That’s a piss poor excuse. Maybe Ted threatened to remove her from his will.
I have said this before…there is no important piece of American legislation with the Kennedy name on it. JFK died before Civil Rights. Ted has been working this Universal Health Care thing since what, the 70’s? He knows he is going to die and wants that Kennedy name on it. That’s my opinion of the reason and the reason Hillary got moved out of Senate and the Kennedy name is getting thrown in. I don’t think this was just out of the blue. Obviously there was a deal made by the Fraud because he wanted the Kennedy support way back. More pay to play nonsense and another unqualified “selected” politician. Ughhh….
I remember someone telling me that….it might have been you. I was suprised but shouldn’t have been.
Obama is a fraud You are so right, President Johnson passed all those so-called New Frontier proposals and than much, much more, Great Society! Kennedys were involved with the mafia and than there were all those compromizing women issues surrounding John Kennedy.
Not to memtion, Jackie Kennedy pushing her 1st lady duties onto Lady Bird Johnson.
You can put lipstick on a pig, even $300 million dollars worth of lipstick, but, it’s still …
Touche and LMAO. Let’s see how the bots like a dose of their own medicine.
“People complain that the 51-year-old Harvard and Columbia Law School grad and author is not a glib, professional pol who knows how to artfully market herself, and is someone who hasn’t spent her life glad-handing, backstabbing and logrolling. I say, thank God.”
Would she say the same about Sarah Palin? Doubt it. You think they keep giving Dowd a salary just because she’s so horrific a writer she’s got “train wreck” appeal?
I’m getting so tired of these columnists who feel compelled to use literary allusions or Greek mythology references [The House of Atreus] as they offer up their rarified [and often pinched] points of view.
What’s that all about? To prove their opinions are wildly superior to the “average” reader? Dowd’s used this technique before.
Wearisome.
I have no idea what Dowd’s problem is. Except maybe she’s getting old and frantic–OMG, I’m going to die alone! But boy, she does not like the Clintons. Guess they didn’t bow deep enough.
As for the WP columnist looking at CK as the “perfect fairytale ending?” Growup! I can’t believe these people are taken seriously. And then, the newspapers wonder why their readership is down.
Good article, Ani. I saw Dowd’s byline this morning and passed over it. Your summary tells me what I suspected: I didn’t miss anything. Just another opportunity for a mean-spirited writer to take another jab at Hillary, while apologizing for Princess C.
I hope it made her day. Maybe the snark is the only thing she has left.
Pitiful.
I think it has something to do with Greek columns, and a desire to be considered as being on familiar terms with the Gods on Olympus. It is, at heart, extremely elitist and snobbish. It is the opposite of tolerating any redneck lowlifes clinging to guns and religion.
Your use of the word “rarified” was very perceptive.
I hate it when MoDo whines about how she uses “you know” all the time because she’s “shy” and because of her “reticence in public speaking.”
Who does she think she’s kidding? Maureen Dowd is a piranha. She routinely rips people to shreds without the slightest shyness or reticence.
On Bill Maher when she would try and rip into people. They seemed like practiced routines that she would often flub.
I guess a writer wants to be witty in person. But it came off as weird as she does in print.
Memorized insults…ewww.
lol
Ani-Spot on article. I believe Ms. Dowd is somewhat jealous of Senator Clinton, for her appeal to the American people, for her accomplishments and political skills. Maybe because Mrs. Clinton, has class, power and looks good. Whereas Dowd, looks like a Drag Queen, who has stayed much too long at the party!
LOL!
Oh my God - drag queen!! LOL!!!
I always just thought Dowd(y) was high on hair spray.
That Veronica Lake come hither look, as channeled by Dowd is really scary stuff.
rolling
Yes, I think C Clinton vs.C Schlossburg in 2010. It will be no contest because by then New Yorkers will be over the whole slimy Kennedy thing and would love to have another Clinton in the Senate.
Dowd’s a puppet for the NYT, she writes what they tell her to write, that’s why they’re almost bankrupt because of hacks like her who get prizes for that crap.
The whole Dowd article reeks of the frustrated aspiring toady. She is obviously trying very hard to endear herself to the Kennedy clan. If Caroline were not sweet, and as threatening as a rabid pitbull, we would still get the same worshipful words from Dowd.
Dowdy spouts:
Well, you know then maybe the Senate isn’t the place for either of you.
This “Great Melting Pot” has plenty of people other than Brits who come from countries with dynasties.
Great post Ani.
Schlossberg & Dowdy, like vacuous, YOU KNOW!
Isn’t it amazing that this “intelligent” widely read woman tries to jokingly advance the idea that a love for an aristocratic dynastic system is somehow genetic? There is a deep snobbery lurking in this whimsy, and Dowd’s ass-kissing of the Kennedy clan is direct evidence of this.
oowawa -
You’re so right - ass-kissing gone wild.
Creepy Dowdy - a self-professed wordsmith making excuses for an ivy league lawyer who can’t speak well?
Get your outdated hair out of your eyes Dowdy. Schlossberg is no princess.
Just the product of barkeeps, rum runners and politicians.
LOL!
trixta -
When Creepy Dowdy tries to play coy behind her 60’s era hair - all I can think of is Cousin It.
OH NO YOU DIDN’T…
“Cousin It?”
ROFLMAO.
Her “magic capital?” Her “guts?” Dowd is a complete joke. I stopped reading her in March, and refuse to pick up that toxic trash. I hope you send this article to her Ani–not that it will matter. She is beyond help, her CDS is Stage IV. What has Caroline Kennedy EVER done to display her “guts?” Lived off her trust fund? She’s never had a JOB!!! A 2 yr. part-time volunteer position (on her own schedule) for the Dept. of Education is hardly noteworthy. I heard a clip of Paterson on the radio from his Nightline appearance this week. He also compared CK to HRC, saying Hillary was criticized for being out of state. It’s so disingenuous to speak of them in the same sentence. HRC had been a nationally recognized practicing lawyer; and had 30 years of in-depth public service experience in the areas of children’s & women’s rights, human & civil rights, education, health care, and economic development. She was also the president’s closest adviser and envoy for 8 years. Don’t insult our intelligence. If Paterson does this, it will confirm that our political system is devoid of credibility.
Well stated, fif.
Thanks so much for the excellent article. I knew there was a reason that I threw a recent subscription request from the New York Times in the trash. I cannot tolerate Maureen Dowd.
I personally have nothing against Caroline Kennedy either but surely in the entire state of New York, cannot they find someone more articulate and qualified than Caroline? I too sprinkle my private conversation with “you knows”. However Caroline was giving a public interview. She obviously wasn’t prepared for possible questions, nor is she prepared to step into Hillary’s Senate seat.
Dowd & Marcus are transparent. This is all about the “Village.” Caroline is acceptable for their “standards.” HRC was middle class and lived in AK. Palin is from AK. Obama panders to their elitists sensibilities. Narcissism, know thyself.
and let’s not forget those other two - andrea mitchell and the pompous sally quinn…
if we knew CK, like ‘they’ know CK, we would, you know, see how impressive she is…
fine, as Welcome Back Carteh says: | 2009-01-08 20:04:16
Politics is not for the shy, especially these days. Let Sweet Caroline (Dumb Dumb Dumb) run for the House first.
*************************
exactly…go learn the ropes and gain experience and get tested and try winning an election…like everyone else you are in competition with…
maybe begin with seeing what a full time job is like first…not to mention just walking into a job you have no resume or experience for that pays over $160,000…let someone who is qualified take that job…get out of the way and get in line…
Oh, one more thing: Paterson said, “I will not be bullied. I will pick someone who can BE Hillary Clinton in 8 years.”
I don’t know what the hell that’s supposed to mean either. I sure hope he is thinking of Gillibrand, Maloney, Cuomo or several other deserving ELECTED representatives. If he is intimating that CK could ever be Hillary Clinton, he is a fool. Where is the brilliance, passion, strength and dynamism of HRC? You could dress her in pantsuits for 8 years, and she will NEVER be HRC’s equal.
…really interesting comments. Did not Dowd win a Pulitzer?
I think myself that Dowd is a one-trick pony. And her one trick was Bush. And it’s over.
I’m not sure than one-trick ponies, who always go for the obvious, can begin to comp the nuances of an Obama.
I’m trying to forgive myself for thinking the OTP were bright, just because they castigated Bush (and agreed with me).
CK’S ‘you knows’ have nothing to do with ‘reticence.’ They have to do with the fact that she’s as dumb as a brick with not one accomlishment to her NAME and Harvard is increasingly becoming an embarassment for producing Wall street crooks, criminals,(Ted K.) unable to speak extemporaneously teleprompter readers and Kennedys who have trouble passing the bar the first 3 times. Paterson is another puppet who’ll do anything BO has already told him to do.
There are bags of hammers, buckets of hair, boxes of rocks, and posts that are more articulate and intelligent that CK, but that would be an insult to hammers, hair, rocks, and posts and so I apologize in advance to any offense taken.
uh….you know, I think…uh, you know, like they’ll like understand and stuff.
If Caroline wishes to RUN for office so be it…I dont think Brookline Barbie has the brains and vocabulary to run a talk show on AM radio for one hour, let alone do debates with Cuomo-Maloney-Suozzi&etc in a campaign where open mikes rule the day.
From here , The Little Mermaid makes Sarah Palin look like Margaret Thatcher. The DNC deserves her, but NY residents deserve better.
At least JFK jr was a better public speaker than CK, and tried a business venture with his magazine George.
If CK wants to be Senator than she should run for it in 2010.
ahhhh….there IS hope brewing on the Camelot front…
read this from Thursday’s BUFFALO News…enjoy!
http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/543453.html
I know others have asked this, but I keep having to ask myself is this how it’s always been? Or have we just woken up, had our eyes opened wide by the primaries and discovered how awful the whole thing is? If this is “change”, I want the old ways back.
The corruption is nothing new, but the primaries usually do not go on this long so a lot more of the ugly underbelly was exposed this time. The DNC truly behaved disgracefully. And the media, with very few exceptions, is in a class of slugs all by themselves
True there has always been corruption - like voting graveyards, etc. But the caucus strategy WAS new this time in that they ran up the delegate count by going to the “red” states. One of Howard Dean’s geeks from his 2004 run figured that one out. Dean would have used it if he could have gotten out of the gate.
Obama is being applauded for that fraudulent strategy by the likes of Susan Ethridge. It would be acceptable if it had been run like caucuses are usually run - although even that is a stretch since each caucus had its own standards in the past. But, the Obama campaign bused people in from other states; the Move-On.Org young white males told their people to go and take them over. They often got rid of Hillary’s supporters telling them they didn’t need to be there, etc. There were thousands of complaints that were ignored by the DNC. Something HAS to be done about that!
Yep — as a victim of Obama’s caucus fraud — I agree.
Obama BOUGHT the state dem parties who were suppose to “run” the caucus — it was all signed sealed and delivered before we showed up.
It was the biggest farce I’ve ever seen.
Plus since the “ballot” is not secret all sorts of intimidation went on — and then those of us who voted for Hillary Clinton have been targeted as racists. Not nice is small rural areas.
FARCE votes — a farce election and a farce of a PE — and he will be a farce of a Prez. A world wide joke — eclipsing bush.
Isn’t it odd that, after all of the scandal, tragedy, etc. in the Kennedy family that we STILL act like they are above it all? Ted? Well, we know what he did. Along with all of the other nuts in the Kennedy clan with their problems from murder, to rape, etc. To continue to give some incredible exaltation to the Kennedy name seems a little silly these days.
Excellent article- your writing is always top drawer. Great writing and I learn and want to know more.
NOW:
10 minutes ago got a call from NOW. This really chipper girl started spewing script like a telemarketer and told me how amazing and how much That One cares about women’s issue. I remained calm. After she asked me for money, I said I would have but NOW did not endorse Clinton.
Next I received a scripted sigh along with some sentence that Senator Clinton is wonderful but we need to move forward. I then sadly said, “we could have had a woman President” and hung up.
I know it was not all about a woman president- but somehow I expected their support.
I wonder if NOW is endorsing Caroline. Didn’t Neil Diamond write “Sweet Caroline” for her? Ugh.
Essentially, the Obama ‘get over it’ line is coming from NOW telemarketers.
Damn that is bold!
Good answer….
Good response. NOW shot themselves in the foot with the Obama endorsement and support.
They were never interested in womens issues and neither was Obama. He just wanted to get elected.
Moving on? Shyt. All we’ve done is “bought” another four years of waffling and ineptitude.
I am of the opinion the none nuts Dems in Congress are beginning to behave like those none nuts did when WJC was elected. Many began harping about the economical package he was to offer up to Congress. Well, many Dems listened to the anti-Bill crowd of right wing zealots and when it passed the House by one vote and then in the Senate, gore had to place the tie breaking vote. Now I see some Dems are speaking out against Obama’s economic even before he takes office or calls the leaders in for a confernece to show them his plan.
I wrote all that to say I am sick and tired of or as my friend Bart calls them, “pink tutu wearing Democrats” that will not stand with Obama as those Dems did not stand with Clinton in 93. One wonders why the Dems do not speak out more on the 8 years of Clinton and all the good this country produced over this period. Hell, one would think Clinton’s 8 years were way worse then Bush 41 or Reagan’s 8 years. But a closer look tells me that Clinton’s 8 years were way better then Bush 41 and better then Reagan’s but one would never know that because the none nuts Dems do not speak up or out about Clinton’s 8 years of peace and prosperity.
Hell, even Obama did not start talking up the Clinton economy until the latter part of Spetember and October when things began to show just how bad the economy in this country really were. Remember, it was Obama that heaped praise on Reagan and forgot all about Clinton until the people began to understand just how bad a shape this country was in and began to think back to those days of prosperity under Clinton.
Dems need to speak out and often about those 8 years and if they would and slap a republic across the face with the true facts of the Clinton years verus the Reagan years then America might have a different view of Saint Reagan. Yes, I am mad and what I see thus far from the Dems, especially Reid and Polosi I do not like.
To hell with what Mo Dowd writes. It takes folks that actually know the truth that will speak out against people like her.
In my honest opinion William Jefferson Clinton was the best president in the last 50 years of this great country. Shalom
It’s amazing isn’t it?
8 years of peace and prosperity from a Democrat President, and the Democrats in power like to gloss over that like it didn’t happen?
Bill Clinton was the best President that this country has had in a very long time, and I really don’t like to use this word, but I think it’s truly fitting: haters.
I think that he has so many haters in the media and in D.C, and they are jealous of him.
Sure, we know he isn’t perfect, but these same people will praise JFK non-stop despite his indiscretions.
Pure jealousy, plain and simple.
I think history books will be a lot kinder to Bill than the press is now.
“…what you can do for your country.”
Could start with, like, you know, working in a soup kitchen, you know, or something, you know. Don’t expect to, you know, start with, like, you know, the Senate.
.
Maureen Dowd???
Why does that dumb waste of skin still have a job at the NYT??
She can hum “Flight of the Bumblebee” with her mouth full…
Because the NYT is a dumb waste of paper.