Monday, December 29, 2008

Reflections on Two Kennedy Women

There's been much in the news the past few days about Caroline Kennedy's decision to take a stab at a New York Senatorial seat. Many are critical of her lack of political experience. Some are calling the affair an American betrayal of its founding principles, namely the rejection of hereditary privilege.

Frankly, I find her a rather tragic figure. Her family's history is one of profound loss and pain. Her father was assassinated just a few days before she turned six. Her uncle fell to an assassin's bullet only a few years later. More recently, her brother, her only sibling, died in a plane crash.

Her Uncle Ted has been a controversial figure, having somehow, no doubt as a result of hereditary privilege, escaped any of the consequences one would expect had he been an ordinary sot, for his behavior following the car accident on the bridge in Chappaquiddick. His wife was an alcoholic. A Kennedy cousin accused of murder, and the family of a cover-up, was found guilty by the courts. In short, there is a lot of sleaze, which more or less lends itself to the notion that hereditary privilege is indeed at play. To top it all off, her oratory skills are worse than George Bush's, if that's possible.

She may be succumbing to the same pressure that propelled her Uncle Ted. The family expects their members to be involved in the nation's political affairs, whether they like it or not, which is largely how I view Ted Kennedy's career - fulfilling an hereditary role, and not particularly well at that, simply because it's expected of the Kennedy clan. They believe it to be their proper station in life. No. I think Caroline would do well to follow her mother's path. Be a Bouvier rather than a Kennedy.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. There was a woman who was stoic and loyal, yet not afraid to be her own person. She was no Hillary, that's for sure. She preferred to be out of the spotlight, largely for the sake of her children. She was strong and faced life's hardships with grace and courage.

I found this YouTube presentation, which seems to be the eulogy delivered at her funeral by Ted Kennedy. It sums up her life quite well, omitting only a few of the tragic bits, such as the miscarriages, the death of two infants, the philandering husband, the public's disapproval of her second marriage, the jealous step-daughter fighting over her claim to her father's fortune, and so on, none of which would be appropriate elements in a eulogy anyway, but every one of which contributed to and demonstrated her strong and steadfast character.

But the Democrats do like their best known dynasty, even if they deny the obvious pretension it betrays. I have to wonder if the Democrat elites and their fawning media will be as picky with Caroline as they were with George Bush? I frankly think her entry into politics could be the end of the Camelot mystique, but only if the MSM is truly non-partisan, which, of course, it isn't. So, she might just go for it, and she might just win, and the MSM will be dutifully, adoringly obsequious.

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