Jane, did you see my comment yesterday about how crazy this is getting with the Kennedys? The Enquirer (I know, but I sort of trust them because of O.J., Edwards, etc.) is reporting Ted wants his wife to have his Senate seat, but his son and nephew each think they deserve it.

Mornin’ Jane,

no less a personage than Our Mighty Orange Overlord concurs

sternly worded e mail from Hildebrand in 5 . . 4 . . 3. .

Ahem…why is it that there appears to be this “if there’s an open seat in New York, a Kennedy just has to fill it” thing going on here? I know it might be a tough sled to find a Dem who can do the job AND get reelected in two years(I’m still rooting for Hinchey…he pronounced the Bush/Cheney Administration ‘the most impeachable in history’ over two years ago), but Kennedy is just not ‘the one’.

Geez. That’s completely disgusting. As someone said yesterday (you?), let’s just change the senate’s name to the House of Lords and be done with it.

Caroline Kennedy in Malone, New York?

Chure, ese.

eye opening to read responses to Jane’s original post over at HuffPo. some folks simply can not let go of their precious ‘pictures’

uhhh.. what glenzilla said sometime last week concerning “legacy politicians” .. and all that .. and i thought i’d read elsewhere where CK had said “thanks but NO thanks” ..

Well if not her does anyone have anyone better in mind? New York politics is not my thing.

Just what are her qualifications? What has she done that shows she can be a Senator? Whats her educational and career background?

a-yep .. found it ..

nepotistic succession .. glenn greenwald

I am no proponent of one family having continued power in America, thats why we fought the revolution, but the Kennedies have been very good advocates to the working class and the poor. On the other hand, there is no guarantee that all or any of these next Kennedy ‘potential’ senators will be continue this tradition. So I dont know if Caroline will be good or not, but I am happy that New Yorkers will not have that carpet bagger Clinton representing them, or should i say representing herself.

I tend to agree, if she has a genuine desire to hold an elected office, let her run for it and try to get elected. In the meantime, Hillary’s replacement should be someone who has already demonstrated the requisite skills.

here’s a page on Toby’s pick Congressman Hinchey

and here is Jane’s Original Post- comments include info on some of the other contenders

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Kennedy

Charity work, Fundraiser, wrote some books, attorney we have had worse. has anyone read her books?

What is her position on the issues?

If you take race and gender out of the equation, then Hinchey is the best one, period (and no, he is NOT my guy; I have the odious Mike Arcuri, who voted FOR FISA and FOR the bank bailout AND sent me two extremely patronizing emails regarding his positions on both. If you are going for race and/or gender, then there is no one from Upstate presently(the mayor from Buffalo notwithstanding - but I can’t see him carrying anything except for his own country in a re-election, frankly). In that case, as I have said before - get the strongest candidate you can, no matter from where they located presently and let them work really really hard to get to learn Upstate issues well and show that they can represent Upstate well in the next two years. That is all that is required. Upstaters are not ideologues - but we do expect the people who represent us to know Upstate and to fight for us. Hillary Clinton, for all she is seen by some as a ‘carpet bagger’ - did the homework and has worked very hard for Upstate.

I liked The Right to Privacy but it’s been over 10 years since I read it, will have to revisit

Exactly. She has done nothing to allow us to discern that. And furthermore, we know enough not to believe whatever she says (common approach to all pols of all parties; nothing personal about her), and she has no record on which we can judge what she does against what she sez.

She’d done a lot of good work. Right now she sets her own agenda. I don’t know why she’d want to trade that for the grind of being a junior senator. I hope it isn’t based solely on an understandable but misguided desire to keep a member of the family in the Senate after Ted steps down.

The link you posted is bad. Try this instead.

I’d love to see a real progressive in a statewide race. I don’t know how Hinchey campaigns or raises money. Suspect he’s not too good at either because he hasn’t had to. But would be very interested in seeing how his message would be received.

Who owes her what? What does the competition owe the people making the choice? I assume Obama and Paterson are talking.
I assume from the leaking of the story that Rahm wants her in.

I’ve got no problem with any of the Kennedys holding public office, but I do have a problem with their being appointed based on their name (just like I would with anyone else.) If they can get elected, fine. (Yes, the family name and money are a huge advantage there, too, but at least other candidates can counter that with local knowledge and years spent building connections.)

OT
Barney Frank live on cspan2 at housing conference is speaking against home ownership for poor people. Said that pressing it had been a great mistake.

OT - 40 years ago today John Lennon was gunned down by an attention seeking nutjob.

In the parts of my area that he represents, he does a very active job fundraising - there is an artist, Anthony Brunelli, who moved up from New York, who throws a big fundraising thing for him every year. The thing about Hinchey is this: he doesn’t look slick; he doesn’t act slick, he knows what is important and is sensitive to the whole Upstate/Downstate/City thing. He’s also a known quantity upstate; I think he’d do well. His only issue for me is the whole “high school social studies teacher - checked sport coat and greased hair” thing. I’ve spoken to him several times; he’s passionate about the issues that we hold dear. My only question is: except for gender and race, why hasn’t he been put on the list? Doesn’t he want it?

Don’t know the answer.

Does Hinchey have anyone pulling for him he seems like a sound pick. Caroline has a good book according to cb12 but I would need to know more about her on the issues.
That and will she work at her job.

40?

i tried to find the krugman link for you, saw it today in the comments, can’t find it again.

anything about mortgage broker fraud?

Has Coline written her required political autobiography yet? Heh. Can’t have the job until she fulfils the entrance requirement.

Yeah, that’s wrong. 28 years ago. I obviously can’t count.

My only question is: except for gender and race, why hasn’t he been put on the list? Doesn’t he want it?

Maybe he doesn’t have any clout with Obama and Paterson. I think Caroline’s name was leaked to pressure Patterson and he is resisting so whom or what does he want?
Who is offering him what?

Not so much. What I originally reported, he shortly afterwards put it in the context of having more & better rental housing for the poor. But his whole speech is filled with awkwardisms, i.e. launching into the subject in the most unfavorable light to the progressive POV, then lamely explaining the context. He should have started by talking about the malfeasance of the financial industry & then go into the other stuff. Yuck.

At least he’s villifying the use of TARP funds now.

Nope. Gunned down 9 December 1980, that’s 28 years ago.

At least he’s villifying the use of TARP funds now.

Meaning he’s villifying the way Paulson has used them, without identifying Paulson by name. Why not?

I found it, thanks. Video will be posted later, but I’ve got it bookmarked.

Plus I’m a day off. Sheesh.

thanks. i’ll have to catch it later - i’m listening to the hearing on credit default swaps now.

That is the point; New York State really can’t afford someone who needs OJT, which means that we need someone who is already in Congress and knows the drill AND who is a good fighter. That is frankly what make Hillary Clinton utterly invaluable as NY Senator. Schumer is going to vote for state stuff, but he’s more passionate about downstate - that’s his meat and potatoes. Hillary Clinton really ‘got’ Upstate. Anyone who wants this job has to also want: corn dogs, spiedies, and Buffalo wings at the State Fair, traveling in the snow, learning and showing off agricultural skills(milking goats is the easiest, shearing sheep is the hardest), and understanding the Upstate economy and industries AND the Upstate/Downstate issues. All of this does not even come naturally to Upstate residents who run for stuff, though usually people think that they already know it and give them a free pass.

Hillary has said she is not going to resign until she is confirmed. 111 will start Jan 6. I don’t think anything will be done until after this happens. Is Hillary pushing for anyone and how much stroke will she have.

The fact she hasn’t suggests that this was not planned. Does she even have a power base beyond her families rep? Younger voters are not that into the Kennnedy’s they are not as star struck.

Hell, most of ‘em don’t even know who the Kennedys are.

If you take race and gender out od it NADLER is the best choice. And he has prior Judiciary Committee experience which would help fill that slot Ted Kennedy just vacated

Are any other names still being floated or did Caroline sweep the others from the news?

You mean 28 years ago.

Looks like I owe you a drink.

Krugman’s speech was interesting to me as an economist because he went through the history of thought on his field. Others would probably find that interesting too.

He also had some great charts & maps on location of manufacturing activity. Toby, you’d love it because part of it went right along Erie Canal. Said it was the same from when it started in the 18th C until 1960s (which is when I left Buffalo because I did not want to work in manufacturing, not even in an executive role). But it is all changing today.

However, he didn’t say enough about why (going back to the old Ricardo theory of trade, i.e., comparative advantage, from the intervening theory, i.e., economies of scale) and he said nothing about the implications.

That could be a problem if she later on tries to run for office.

cute word usage. “renewal of interventions” instead of ‘bailouts’.

subprime mortgage abuse now. debt was safe cuz people payed bankers back.
said surprise surpris people less careful with other peoples’ money than they are with their own.

overrated debt, now underrating debt.

rewrite the laws that govern mortgage loan services. need decisions, noone has the power to make them.

mentions b of a lawsuit. whether b of a has the right to forclose.

still on –who has the authority?

flip wilson defense-geraldine, the devil made me do it.
another high priority is to reduce the (unintelligible, damn )
neighbors being affected by foreclosures.

comm investment act, if only entities covered by cra had made mortgage loans we wouldn’t be in this .

reform the service model. legal form where the mortgages are held. private sector innovates, dies of it own weight. successful goes well, max value minimum harm, new entities and didn’t regulate them….late 19th century, trust model. industrial enterprises.

goes into historic financial models.

benefits of securitization without the detriments.

questions now.

I’ll post it properly tomorrow morning. *g* Don’t get a second chance to get it right very often.

ny 50 was to selise’s 30

southern—heh.

Nadler too NYCcentric.

LHP - Ah, JErrold Nadler - yes, he’s got gravitas for sure - but will he want to give up what he has in the House to ‘do the good deed” for New York State? I tend to cheer for Maurice because he’s got the Upstate/Downstate thing covered.

I’ve heard Andrew Cuomo mentioned.

Still floating: The mayor of Buffalo, Caroline Maloney, Andy Cuomo (but I thinks that’s dead in the water), Tom Suozzi,Christine Gillibrand

RFK JR bowed out.

Well, FWIW, if the nephew that wants Ted’s seat is Joe, he at least has some qualifications, having been elected to Congress a few times (Tip O’Neill’s old district) although the state has about a half dozen currnet congressmen that are more liberal than Joe.

If the son that wants the seat is Patrick, he’s SOL as a current representative from RI. If it’s Teddy, Jr, the same reason to be against him exists that exists for being against Caroline? What has he ever done other than have the accident of birth.

FWIW as well, Teddy, Jr was also rumored to want Tip O’Neill’s seat in ‘88. One of the reasons his cousin Joe won that seat (besides the Kennedy name and the half dozen other liberals running at the time splitting the vote) was that Joe actually had some business accomplishments behind him when he ran.

Hey, I’m the one who said that yesterday! I’m a bit of a dog with a bone on this one.

Why is Cuomo out?

Thought it might be you & gave you as much credit as I could without bothering to go back & check. Want you to know that I’m not crediting you when I speak to people offsite. *g*

Bobby Jr is the smartest of the bunch, not wanting to get into that business. He’s got all the cred and influence he needs to do what he wants to do.

You would think that Al Gore had been whispering in his ear. How are teh kittehs today?

Other than this guy in Buffalo, Upstate’s really got a bunch of blue dogs.

And I never even heard of Hinchy until TW brought him up a few days back. The dem votes are in NYC and LI and Westchester (OK and Buffalo) w/o name recognition and a fundraising base down here, I don’t care how good your are at sheep shearing, you ain’t getting elected statewide.

Upstate may WANT someone from up there, but the votes and the money are downstate

This is from the Wiki link I posted a few comments back. Might not be up to date but they still seem to consider Cuomo the frontrunner.

Some think that New York State may appoint a minority Senator such as Byron Brown, Gregory W. Meeks, Fernando Ferrer, H. Carl McCall, William C. Thompson, Jr., José E. Serrano or Nydia M. Velázquez. Prior to Paterson’s ascension to the governor’s office, Cuomo, Paterson and Brown were the three names most often mentioned. However, Andrew Cuomo is now the front-runner for the seat and the next most likely candidates are Velázquez, Steve Israel, Nita Lowey and Meeks. Prominent women who have been mentioned include Carolyn B. Maloney and Caroline Kennedy.

Frank’s painful to listen to.

I’d be inclined to think the same about Caroline. Don’t know why she’d want the job.

Hinchey’s the guy for the district where my house is. Never heard a bad word about him.

Actually gunned down Dec 8th. Lennon was 40 years old at the time.

Lowey’s taken herself out, according to LHP.

I don’t KNOW that he is out, but Patterson people gave blind quotes a week or so ago along the lines of “andy’s not helping himslef planting all these stories in the paper” essentially telling him to STFU.

Does not sound like his high pressure tactics were well recieved.

Yep - you are right about where the votes and money are, and perhaps Upstate we are a bit delusional and like to be “made to think” that the person who is running ‘gets it’. I’m not saying the person has be from Upstate, but that does give Hinchey a bit of an advantage - Suozzi has some genuine experience in that he ran for governor, so he’s been ‘above Yonkers’. Suozzi is probably the best of the bunch in that sense - he’s seen Upstate face to face.

Things are calming down. Even had a couple nose to nose contacts last evening with no growling or hissing. Life is good.

That’s what I thought you were referring to. Cuomo supporters have been mum since. I suspect he’s working behind the scenes.

Nita Lowey dropped out.

more barney

housing provisions in economic stimulus bill….no chance to keep from falling, but can pick it up a bit.

keep limits up.

near-term spending affect, increase funding for public housing authorities, not new construction.
increase in money for foreclosure reduction in communtities.

protect renters, from landlord foreclosures.(how you ganna do that?)
==next question–

tax credit, no point of they don’t pay taxes.

housing bill in july, tried to put things in it. etc. discussing rangel and himself getting same hate mail from republicans. housing and tax credits. subsidies until people people start making profits again.

—q-

answer-1st bankruptcy, commodity futures, not under juristiction of the committee. agriculture committee, to split jurisdiction, he said they should get edible, he gets evrything else.

bankruptcy going to be under juidiciary.

said a lot more, didn’t get it.
—q—-

indemnification—holding holders responsible. find a way to indemnify the services and it stays with them, yes.

over.

Carl McCall would be an interesting choice -
“H. Carl McCall (born October 17, 1935, in Boston, Massachusetts) is a former Comptroller of New York State and was the Democratic candidate in the 2002 election for state governor. He is an ordained minister, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for numerous corporations. He received a (B.A.) degree from Dartmouth College in 1958. Prior to 1958, Dartmouth matriculated four African-American students per year; a limited affirmative action program doubled that number to eight McCall’s freshman year. He was also educated at the University of Edinburgh, and is the recipient of twelve honorary degrees…McCall was a member of the Board of the New York Stock Exchange from 1999 to 2003. Currently, he is a member of the Fiscal Control Board for Buffalo, New York. He also serves on the Boards of Directors for TYCO International, New Plan Realty, and TAG Entertainment Corporation, and as Chair of the New York State Public Higher Education Conference Board.”
He’s also a really tall guy - who knows, maybe he plays b-ball?

So on the one hand, Paterson’s camp criticizes Kennedy as not being assertive enough, then criticizes Cuomo for promoting himself…

Man, I sure turned that into a clusterfuck. Bottom line is he’s still dead.

ooo, nose to nose. We once had an incident that involved a kitty of ours, a strolling cat and a screen door. The screen door lost.

I think SD and dmac were both ahead of me. Buy us all a drink. And Lennon was shot on the 8th, I typod the 9th.

I’ve seen the results of that type encounter but never the encounter itself. Glad, too.

oh yeah, that’s why it was so hard to transcribe, had to close off most of my brain and just type. had to leave out the ’space mountain’ reference in regard to paper holders, and other talk. wow. he should be on that ozzy commercial where he texts people. said this is‘high priority’ then absolutely i swear didn’t say a real word. and mumbled. kinda funny.

I’m having a hard time discerning what Paterson is looking for. Personally, I’d think electability should rank pretty high, since whoever it is will have to hit the ground running for the special election in 2010.

So is Generalissimo Francisco Franco.

The legacy system that produced Caroline Kennedy also came up with George Bush. Kennedy went to Harvard and Columbia Law School and I wonder if any of us seriously believe that being JFK’s daughter didn’t help her get into both. The same thing could be said about her other activities. Without the family’s wealth, celebrity, and connections, how many of us think she would have even the limited résumé she does?

Would she be a competent and effective Senator? Who knows? She might be. It’s hard to imagine any legacy candidate worse than Bush, but is this really what we want for our democracy. dakine01 pointed out yesterday that if her name was something else would we even be having this discussion. If Caroline Kennedy wants to run for office, I wish her luck and I agree too that her name would be a big advantage. But to appoint her to the Senate is simply to perpetuate the same rot in an already closed incestuous system that listens only to itself.

He’s in his 70s. A little old to be a junior senator.

I served on an economists panel he put together when he was NYS comptroller. I think highly of him.

Nope, you had the right day of the month, I didn’t proofread me typing.

I’m not suggesting that he’s not great—I have no clue and will be guided by you and TW inthat regard.

I’m just saying that no one can lay out how he gets re-elected in 2010.

Where do is votes come from? Where does his $ come from?

Basically, 5 minutes after the new Senator is appointed, that person starts running for the 2010 election. Iportant considerations are
Does this person either have money already sitting in a campaign account or has shown the abiltity to raise big moaney fast.

Right off the bat, you can cross off most of that wiki list.
Leving you with Maloney, Cuomo and Suozzi (I don’t know about Brown’s fudnraising)

2) does this person have a vote base with big #s of votes?
That leaves you with Coumo Suozzi and Brown

3) does this person have/had a coamapaign organization statewide.

That leaves with: Coumo and Suozzi, and Coumo appears to have pissed Patterson off with his heavy handed tactics. (McCall had a statewide organization but flubbed his governor’s run and is not the best fundraiser)

I’m not saying that’s how it will turn out, but if Patterson picks somebody who is weak onthe re-election front, the NYS GOP will throw EVERYTHING it has at that race in an attempt to resurrect itself.

Pete King is supposedly siiting on a couple million bucks of campaign cash. Rudy can riase money in a hurry. Chris Cox is still out there and this would be right up his ally.

Re-electabilty on short notice basically trumps all else

I think Paterson has so much on his plate right now that he doesn’t know WTF he wants. He’s just got ‘made’ governor, has been trying to rebuild the place because Spitzer pissed off everyone and caused a lot of havoc, has a state that frankly is going into the tank from revenue loss and now having to fill Hillary’s seat. I’m sure there is part of him that if a janitor bumped into him in the hall and said, “I’m a registered Democrat and I’ve got relatives in DC that I can bunk with,” he’d give it to that person. He’s still trying to figure out what it means to be the freakin’ governor.

i was just being a smart-ass to southern dragon, to lighten myself up, cuz i remembered it, where i was, etc.
a tester for the phone company at that time, my cell-mate and i couldn’t believe it. he was very john lennonish. to the core. what an awful day. can’t imagine how awful for those that knew him.

a few years back i had a friend gunned down, one of a kind person, and i found out.

a mentally ill person snapped and shot her, too. it’s sad for everyone involved.

Ohboyohboyohboy. Kashkari’s gonna give a speech at 3pET. Wonder if he’ll enumerate all the people he’s hired, which is all he did in his last presser.

Wow - he’s really that old? I met him when he was running for governor - seemed very dynamic but again, I’m so short and he’s so tall that I probably missed the top two-thirds of him anyway.

He started his governors run investigation, by spending a ton of time inBuffalo–and has family there. that’s why I think figuring out what’s up with the mayor from Buffalo is key to figuring out how this will pplay out.

Meanwhile, I think Caroline Kennedy would make a fabu Ambassador! And it’s what she originally wanted, so why not give it to her? It’s a traditional thing to give to important campaign supporters, so in that sense, she’s Earned it.

I agree with you about Hinchey’s base & fundraising, and said as much in my first comment on him. Furthermore, he looks like a hick, and so wouldn’t go over well in NYC & burbs. But it’s nice to daydream for awhile.

You must remember my telling of lunch with El Jefe.

You posted his birthdate yourself!

No question she’d make a better ambassador than Grandpa Joe.

I know - it would be perfect for her. Shoot - look what Shirley Temple Black did with her first little gig.

No, which one, Fidel?

Heh. Caller on cspan2 is saying now that we have an incoming D government, discussions on cspan have turned rational and intelligent again, like they used to be.

Not until the 2nd sentence…

I had just moved to Denver, staying with friends, it was snowing like crazy, I walked in the door after job hunting and it was on the news. People went nuts.

No, Franco.

Maybe I’ll give it another try. Had all I could take leading up to the election.

They put out a good spread?

Heh.

I try to read what I quote before hitting submit, but I’ve got caught out from time to time.

McCall is an interesting guy to talk to, but not one of those natural politicains that walks up to toal strangers reflexivly and interoduce himself and just starts a conversation.

he told me once that he was maybe too shy to be a politician and seemed somewhat surprised that he had done as well as he did at it.

He is often the best informed person in a conversation, but I got the impression it was because he prepped for things very carefully, rather than just being generally well informed on a broad range of topics.

Always nice to have elected officials who are willing to do the homework.

Ohboyohboyohboy. Kashkari’s gonna give a speech at 3pET. Wonder if he’ll enumerate all the people he’s hired, which is all he did in his last presser.

Doesn’t he have to testify before Congress sometime soon? Some advance spin?

BTW, you haven’t lived at our short stature until you’ve been alone in an elevator with John Kenneth Galbraith. And since he’s been deceased for awhile, I guess you’ll never have that pleasure. Think McCall might be 6′4″ and Galbraith was 6′7″. Have no idea why I think I know that.

A sad day for everyone. Cold Turkey.

I’d definitely have to bring my own step ladder for that!!!!

I agree with your characterization of McCall. In the meetings I did with him and about a half dozen other economists, he asked good Qs and paid attention, but didn’t seem to be up on the subject in advance.

selise would know. I don’t know offhand.

Worked with a guy who was 6′10″, a foot and a half taller than me. Made me feel very small.

Very simple fare. I was a young single sailor and was with a chief and his family on a fishing holiday near Madrid. We were looking for a spot in a campground and managed to get off the campground and found a nice spot along the river. Got all set up when Land Rovers with a bunch of Guardia Civil pulled up. Told us we were on Franco’s property and that we’d have to go with them. Took us up to a modest house, which I’m told is now a museum. We’re standing around and this short, bald rotund guy comes out. Everybody snapped to and we were introduced to Generalissimo Franco. Had a nice lunch on the patio and he gave the chief a letter allowing him to camp there any time he wanted. Quite pleasant.

My 116 for your 105.

Wow, that’s quite an experience. He must have had pretty good security to have spotted you so fast.

New looseheadprop upstairs

David Asman, head of Fox’s cable business channel, is up on mortgage conference. Let’s see if there are any new wingnut talking points.

Oh phew, turns out he’s only moderating a panel.

And his tag has him listed as an anchor, not as an executive, so maybe he’s not head of it.

The sky is preparing to fall - need $350 billion to plaster over cracks, need it here, need it now, before congress goes home.

i was 21, surrounded by people who didn’t ‘get’ it. except for aaron. we got each other through the absurdity of it.

============
and the kennedys as senators thing–i’m perplexed, paterson is making the pick? huh? i know he ‘officially’ makes it, but no way can it be his call.he’s kinda down on the pecking order of party decisions, isn’t he?

and rfk’s son max kennedy was very involved with the obama campaign, and just wrote a book. don’t know how involved he is in politics, was just interviewed a few weeks ago can’t remember which show.. he made visits to obama campaign offices, he visited here during the last push of the campaign. i missed him by 5 minutes

It’s intimidating too be sure.

Back in the dark ages, I picked up a Houston Oilers tight end at a restaurant in Denver (the night before their first pre-season game there). We went dancing. I asked him how tall he was and he said: 6′4-1/4″. I guess that extra quarter inch makes a difference in sports.

One did not want to mess with the Guardia Civil. Quick search of links doesn’t give me info on them during that time. They’ve changed quite a bit since Franco died.

Doesn’t he have to testify before Congress sometime soon? Some advance spin?

i think wednesday - house financial services, but he’s not listed on the witness list. don’t remember where i saw his name now though.

Back to the quarry with the rest of the slaves.

That was the first thing that popped up in my mind too.

My former coworker was a really nice guy but even seated he was taller than me standing. He married another coworker who was about 6′3″. I suspect by now they have some extremely tall children.

Have a good afternoon. Thanks for sharing the anecdote.

i love it when you do that–scroll down and click on the words highlighted ‘We can’ be good for goodness’ sake.
http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/1781

Any of you watched the grit tv segment above on the Chicago workers?

Did it mention the governor has instructed all Illinois state agencies to suspend business with BOA?

may you find a diamond.

Is Dan Gerstein, Columnist Forbes.com the . . . . ? Laura Flanders has him on.

You’ve never met Julia, her husband & her daughter?

No.

No!, Dan Gerstein (Liebermans shill) is now shilling for Obama in the clip after the Laura Flanders segment on the Chicago workers.

Dan Gerstein is a political communications consultant and commentator based in New York. He formerly served as communications director to Sen. Joe Lieberman and as a senior advisor on his vice presidential and presidential campaigns. A regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal and Politico, he has frequently appeared as a political analyst on Fox News, MSNBC and CNN. Most recently, Gerstein, 41, founded Gotham Ghostwriters , New York’s only full-service, world-class writing firm.

That’s too much.

Haven’t had the pleasure.

Honestly, there’s no good “appointment.” These things should be done by special election. That said, I don’t think Caroline Kennedy would be or do any worse than any of NY’s US Reps, etc. She’s certainly good on many of the issues I care about - health care, etc. - and she did great for Obama on the campaign trail, so with a little practice I don’t see why she couldn’t do great on her own campaign trail.

Is it fair that her last name would get her the gig? No. But the truth is it wouldn’t be any less fair than whoever ends up with the job, because when it’s given through appointment, it’s always going to go by political favors, power, influence and money. How would that make Caroline Kennedy any better, worse or different than a US Rep or some other powerful NY politician or CEO? Mark me as someone who thinks CK is as good a choice as any other, and better than most, for the position - especially with someone like Uncle Ted up there for a bit longer to show her the ropes and provide useful contacts.

As one of those pesky Upstaters I’ll tell up front that I’m getting screwed coming and going on this one. For a while we’ve had this Senator who was only representing herself and giving us the gladhand and not much else. Now she’s moving onto SOS and leaving us in the lurch. We get a rookie with no seat time and unknown future. Thanks Democratic Party. Whoever they pick it had better be somebody ready to get their elbows in there and get Cities like Buffalo Rochester Syracuse whatever there is to be gotten. No excuses, no other job waiting, just get in there and make like a Democratic Ted Stevens and at least get my buck back instead to the pennies on the Dollar we get in this state. If Caroline Kennedy thinks that she wants to spend the rest of her life being my Senator maybe she’s got a taker but she better know there’s going to be lot of nasty work ahead of her.

OK, Jane, tomorrow you can tell us that Caroline recommended a friend for a job. There’s more to this than your supposed disdain for family dynasties. Is the woman just too charismatic, too intelligent, too gracious for you? Give it all up, Jane.

The Beatles said the same thing. Love Is All You Need