Gawker, you know, is trying, to suggest, you know, that Caroline is, like, you know, stupid or something, you know.
Leaving aside whether this is fair or not, I am astonished to note among otherwise quite unmerciful Gawker crowd the excessive moderation (i.e., total nonexistence) of attacks based on Caroline's bad looks. I am not interested in starting this, but I wonder if class is this time a barrier to a comment that could read something like this:
Never mind the numerology of "You know," as IQ indicator, she looks like a mummy that was just unwrapped. Stupidity for some may be defensible in politics (exhibit one: Palin). But is stupid and ugly adequate for being a representative of fashionista New Yorkers as global purveyors of Aesthetic Humanism?
@caligulash: Well, since you went there: She looks pretty well-preserved compared to many other Kennedy women. The dames of that clan simply do not age well; she looks good by comparison.
@Mafalda para Presidente: Yeah, now. But for centuries entitlement was the province of WASPs. We beat that out of them in the 60s and 70s, and now the people in the projects are entitled also. With a far less valid claim, so do the Kennedys, who represent those Irish who a century ago were expected only to drink and fight. Frankly I'd rather have a community organizer Senator.
I'm one of them Prestructuralists, what they called back in the day "speedreaders." We operate like in that movie title, synecdoche. We pick morsels from text like a pup at your picnic and escape with it across the lawn. You know what I derived from this NYT interview of the heiress-apparent?
@PandoraSpocks: Almost everyone reading this voted for Obama... in November. A lot of us felt differently in the primaries. Having endorsed Obama over our home state Senator - the wisdom of which is yet to be proven - is hardly a compelling qualification for someone who has never demonstrated any of the political skills a Senator needs to have.
Further, the Kennedy endorsements had a negligible impact on Obama's primary victory. Did you notice he lost Massachusetts and California? Where else would the Kennedy name be expected to count more than those states?
The problem with Kennedy isn't that she doesn't know upstate. It's that she's never showed any glimmer of leadership on anything beyond raising a modest amount of dough for the NYC schools from her fellow socialites. When you add in these comically embarrassing interviews, it's clear her selection would be a huge insult to New Yorkers.
@PandoraSpocks: your point is that a glorified PTA leader who supported Obama in 2007 is qualified and deserves appointment to the Senate by virtue of those facts.
Mr. Hippitty supported Obama early in election season and betcha he's in the PTA. No question he can be an effective Senator and he will likely do an excellent job for the state of NY.
I was originally in favor of appointing New York's first SILF, but since I saw Caroline's completely inarticulate interview in the NYT and her equally vacuous statements elswhere I think this job should go to Andrew Cuomo who is much better prepared.
@Mysterious Skin: Because he has no famous political family name? Or because you can still here the laughter echoing down Pennsylvania Avenue when people discuss his tenure at HUD?
Phrases such as "Like, you know" indicate a woman's insecurity with the subject matter she is relating. In linguistics they are known as 'social lube', a way of making the conversation easier for the other person to participate in.
If she knew what she was talking about she wouldn't have to keep second-guessing herself.
She needs to do a Toastmasters intensive course. I've been to a couple of meetings and they're very insistent on kicking away verbal crutches like "you know" and "um."
I think it's quite complimentary to assume our knowing is on a plane with hers. However, if this is so, we go into the sense and syntax of the Declaration of Independence itself. It is rumored that the copy actually sent overseas to King George had inscribed on it, just above a number of indecipherable scribbled doctors' signatures, this: "We hold these truths to be self-evident."
I can't help but think the holidays must really suck for her. She's outlived her entire immediate family. I wonder if her stumbling now is due to stress.
@AllsWell: Reminds me of the great line from the night of the birth of Tristram Shandy, when his father was explaining to his uncomprehending uncle the matter of strategy before some siege or other at which the uncle had appeared with the cavalry, and the father said, "You did understand the tactic, surely?" and uncle replied, "No more than my horse."
My favorite part is when she said that because she was Caroline Kennedy, she had to work harder for everything she's done (you know, getting into Columbia, Harvard, raising money from rich people for public schools). The interviewer goes "Excuse me, but are you saying that being the daughter of a beloved President and a political dynasty has made it harder for you to be successful? Harder than say, immigrants?" Then she began to backpedal. "Oh, uh, no, you know, just that, I, um, have to prove myself...because..."
@JinxyMcDeath: I think she speaks truth. Bonnie Circles, a lady from across the tracks in my home town, looked upon just those great tasks and said, forget it, it's impossible, for why should wealthy donors trust their easily-gained funds to me? So she never began, which is much the easier course, you must agree.
@AmberVetus: I should have been more specific...it was from her NY1 television interview which I randomly caught after my cable box freaked out and rebooted (why else would I be watching NY1...). And I was paraphrasing as I did not have a pen and paper readily available...but that's the gist of what she said.
12/28/08
Leaving aside whether this is fair or not, I am astonished to note among otherwise quite unmerciful Gawker crowd the excessive moderation (i.e., total nonexistence) of attacks based on Caroline's bad looks. I am not interested in starting this, but I wonder if class is this time a barrier to a comment that could read something like this:
Never mind the numerology of "You know," as IQ indicator, she looks like a mummy that was just unwrapped. Stupidity for some may be defensible in politics (exhibit one: Palin). But is stupid and ugly adequate for being a representative of fashionista New Yorkers as global purveyors of Aesthetic Humanism?
12/28/08
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12/28/08
"I'm, you know, actually, Andrew Cuomo"
12/28/08
She will likely do an excellent job for the state of NY.
Some press might say 'She doesn't know upstate at all.' A common problem for Manhattanites. She'll learn quickly -- Hillary did.
Can she be an effective senator? No question about that. Nearly everyone reading this voted for Obama and she came out for him early.
I could go on, but I think you get my point(s).
12/28/08
12/28/08
Further, the Kennedy endorsements had a negligible impact on Obama's primary victory. Did you notice he lost Massachusetts and California? Where else would the Kennedy name be expected to count more than those states?
The problem with Kennedy isn't that she doesn't know upstate. It's that she's never showed any glimmer of leadership on anything beyond raising a modest amount of dough for the NYC schools from her fellow socialites. When you add in these comically embarrassing interviews, it's clear her selection would be a huge insult to New Yorkers.
12/28/08
Mr. Hippitty supported Obama early in election season and betcha he's in the PTA. No question he can be an effective Senator and he will likely do an excellent job for the state of NY.
12/28/08
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12/28/08
If she knew what she was talking about she wouldn't have to keep second-guessing herself.
12/29/08
If you're black, the "you know" overusage resonates in another way:
RELATIVE
(Snarking at uneducated black people being interviewed on TV.)
Look at these idiots --ou know you know you know you know...
NEVER TALK LIKE THAT!
12/29/08
She needs to do a Toastmasters intensive course. I've been to a couple of meetings and they're very insistent on kicking away verbal crutches like "you know" and "um."
12/28/08
And nothing else until the re-write in 1787.
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I read the NY Times transcript and that 'immigrants' remark wasn't in there. What interview are you referring to?
12/28/08
This was in the Dominic interview.
[www.ny1.com]
12/28/08
12/29/08
Yes, great question by Dominic Carter.
12/28/08
Unh, 'scuse me, nice getting off to a good start with the press.
12/28/08
A rough guess on my part puts us two Saturday nights from the first Tina Fey impression of her.
12/28/08