Caroline Kennedy and the Kennedy sense of entitlement

Caroline Kennedy and I are exactly one year apart in age. I remember being jealous of her because she had that adorable pony named Macaroni and I wanted a pony more than anything!

I am also blonde and female and of Irish American extraction. That is where our similarities end.

I was too young to really understand what it meant when her father was killed. I am sort of ashamed to admit my father was relieved JFK had died "before he messes up things more." (He was also relieved with RFK was shot, dad didn't like the fact that RFK was in bed with Cesar Chavez.) I remember thinking the riderless horse, Blackjack, was the coolest thing ever.

To this day I am still not sure of the implications of JFK's killing. Would we be better off today? Would we be worse off had he lived? Every night, watching Chet Huntley and David Brinkley bring the nation up-to-date with the carnage in Southeast Asia, my dad blamed JFK for the war in Vietnam. He was no fan of the Kennedys in any way, shape or form, despite being Irish Catholic himself. Dad was outraged Ted Kennedy got away with leaving Mary Jo Kopechne to drown at Chappaquiddick.

I watched, semi-amused, as one Kennedy after another in my generation "answered" the call to public service. Funny thing was the public they served wasn't me. Tax and spend, which is easy to do if you personally have all of the money in the world, lawyers to fight your having to pay taxes, and really, you have never worked for anything. When JFK, Jr. failed to pass the NY bar exam right away, I wondered if his family had bought his way through college. I was saddened when he died though, too young, and he'd barely found his direction in life.

I suppose one could argue that poor Caroline has finally found her calling in campaigning for Hilary Clinton's senate seat. Hey it's cheaper this way! No campaign funding; no buying expensive television time. She doesn't have to really reveal herself to the citizens of NY. What does Caroline stand for? I have a feeling she is like every other Kennedy before her... tax and spend. Redistribute the wealth, from working families to those sitting on their butts waiting for the checks in the mail. What are her qualifications? Oh yeah she's got an Ivy-league education and has been a fundraiser for NY schools. (Doesn't fundraiser sort of sound like "community organizer" to you?) She's never had to work a day in her life, has never wanted for anything (except perhaps her father, because no child deserves to grow up fatherless), and has no idea how real people like you and I live.

Congress and the Senate are a collection of out-of-touch well-to-do people who may have forgotten about worrying month-to-month how to pay their rent. They have forgotten that not everything in life is deductible or reimbursable. They don't worry about the consequences of not showing up to work every day or putting in an 8-hour day (or worse). They don't worry about their kids' educations because they are all in private school (or they can afford to live in a neighborhood that has the very best schools... another tangent here, why weren't the Washington, D.C. schools good enough for the Obama girls? Don't they live in a good neighborhood?).

Wouldn't NY state be better served by having a senator who has lived the real life, who has worried about paying tuition and rent or a house payment, one who doesn't get to jet off to exotic vacations at the drop of a hat, one who doesn't have a rural hideaway (what is she hiding from anyway?) and who worries about day-to-day living like you and I? I wish we could get someone like that as a representative for California, but with the stupidity that abounds here, how much longer are we stuck with Dianne Feinstein and her majesty Nancy "my plane's not big enough" Pelosi? (Yes, I know DiFi is contemplating a run for Cali governor ...)

I am *still* waiting for that damned worker's comp carrier to approve my facet neurotomies. I have been dealing with this since Halloween. What would have happened to me if I'd had a job outside the home and were unable to get to work for this long? The one thing I want in the worst way this coming year is gainful employment outside of the home, a writing/editing job where I get to work with adults and help promote something I believe in. The odds are against me though ... 50-something, disabled, and white.

I will try to be outraged on a more regular basis. I am scared for this nation. Anyone care to bet our incoming president faces impeachment proceedings during his 4-year "presidency?"