Posted on 01/11/2009 6:54:27 AM PST by presidio9
When community groups and the Board of Education were caught in an acrimonious dispute over an arts program, education officials brought in a fixer: Caroline Kennedy.
The daughter of a president and niece of two senators listened attentively, asked probing questions and proposed various scenarios to resolve the dispute. Under her prompting, a compromise was reached.
"People were pushing themselves back from the table and folding their arms," recalled Stephanie Dua, chief executive officer of the Fund for Public Schools. "She was very good at defusing the situation. ... She has a very easy style about her but she's very sharp."
The episode is an intriguing glimpse into how Kennedy might fill the role of U.S. senator if she is appointed to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton.
In a series of interviews with The Associated Press, friends and colleagues of Kennedy painted a picture of a reserved but intelligent and tenacious woman who writes her own speeches and who, despite her vast wealth, still takes the subway.
Those interviewed did not provide an impartial view but, with several speaking publicly for the first time about their relationship, they offered a rare look inside the private world of a woman America fell in love with decades ago as she rode her pony over the White House lawn.
___
Much was made of Kennedy's decision last January to support Barack Obama's presidential campaign, but she is no stranger to politics. Paul G. Kirk Jr. remembers meeting her at the age of 16 or so, soaking in as much as she could while on the campaign trail with her uncle Teddy.
She was "lively, engaged, inquisitive," said the family friend and former head of the Democratic Party. "She might hear two or three people ask the senator the same question if he
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...

"a reserved but intelligent and tenacious woman who writes her own speeches and who, despite her vast wealth, still takes the subway."
If O’bummer can be POTUS, then she can be queen of the known universe.
Add up the abilities of all Kennedys (save for the superb felonious talent of the “Ambassador”), and we still would only asymptotically approach “normal”.
That group contains a collection of genes that would be best separated, walled off, and preferably sent into the sun.

And, she baked cookies for her childrens' kidnergarten classes
Sounds reasonable to me; settle a few ruffled feathers in a commitee meeting over art class funding and you’re qualified to be one of the 100 most powerful people in the United States - without the usual rigamarole of voting and such.
> If Obummer can be POTUS, then she can be queen of the known universe.
One of the many downsides arising from the election of His Excellency is that the bar has been set extraordinarily low for anybody pretending to “High” Office in the US henceforth. Now, all you need is either a pedigree of some sort, or a few well-placed acquaintences. You need no natural ability or talent or experience: these things will be created for you from scratch by the media.
Taking the subway in NYC only shows common sense. In rush hour it could take you three times as long to get somewhere especially.
More nonsense.
I go to fifteen or twenty Yankees games a year. I guess that means I live in the South Bronx. Where’s my government cheese?
This can't be about Carolyn because she is none of these things!
This so sweet by teeth hurt!
"Soaking in" on the trail with uncle Teddy? The jokes just write themselves.
I mean, like, you know, even she doesn’t know how qualified she is, you know.
1. He was caught cheating at Harvard when he attended it. He was expelled twice, once for cheating on a
test, and once for paying a classmate to cheat for him.
2. While expelled, Kennedy enlisted in the Army, but mistakenly signed up for four years instead of two. Oops, the man can't count to four. His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to England (a step up from bootlegging liquor into the US from Canada during prohibition), pulled the necessary strings to have his enlistment shortened to two years, and to ensure that he served in Europe, not Korea, where a war was raging. No preferential treatment for him like he” charged President Bush received.
3. Kennedy was assigned to Paris, never advanced beyond the rank of Private, and returned to Harvard upon being discharged. Imagine a person of his “education” NEVER advancing past the rank of Private.
4. While attending law school at the University of Virginia, he was cited for reckless driving four times,
including once when he was clocked driving 90 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood with his headlights off after dark. Yet his Virginia driver's license was never revoked. Coincidentally, he passed the bar exam in 1959, amazing!!!
5. In 1964, he was seriously injured in a plane crash, and hospitalized for several months. Test results done by the hospital at the time he was admitted had shown he was legally intoxicated. The results of those tests remained a “state secret” until in the 1980’s when the report was unsealed. Didn't hear about that from the unbiased media, did we.
6. On July 19, 1969, Kennedy attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. At about 11:00 PM, he borrowed his chauffeur's keys to his Oldsmobile limousine, and offered to give a ride home to Mary Jo Kopechne, a campaign worker. Leaving the island via an unlit bridge with no guard rail, Kennedy steered the car off the bridge, flipped, and into Poucha Pond.
7. He swam to shore and walked back to the party, after passing several houses and a fire station. Then two friends returned with him to the scene of the accident. According to their later testimony, they told him what he already knew, that he was required by law to immediately report the accident to the authorities. Instead Kennedy made his way to his hotel, called his lawyer, and went to sleep. Kennedy called the police the next morning and by then the wreck had already been discovered. Before dying, Kopechne had scratched at the upholstered floor above her head in the upside-down car. The Kennedy family began “calling in favors”, ensuring that any inquiry would be contained. Her corpse was whisked out-of-state to her family, before an autopsy could be conducted. Further details are uncertain, but after the accident Kennedy says he repeatedly dove under the water trying to rescue Kopechne, and he didn't call police because he was in a state of shock. It is widely assumed Kennedy was drunk, and he held off calling police in hopes that his family could fix the problem overnight.
Since the accident, Kennedy's “political enemies” have
referred to him as the distinguished Senator from Chappaquiddick. He pled guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, and was given a SUSPENDED SENTENCE OF TWO MONTHS. Kopechne’s family received a
small payout from the Kennedy's insurance policy, and never sued. There was later an effort to have he
r body exhumed and autopsied, but her family successfully fought against this in court, and Kennedy's
family paid their attorney's bills... a “token of friendship”?
8. Kennedy has held his Senate seat for more than forty years, but considering his longevity, his accomplishments seem scant. He authored or argued for legislation that ensured a variety of civil rights, increased the minimum wage in 1981, made access to health care easier for the indigent, and funded Meals on Wheels for fixed-income seniors and is widely held as the “standard-bearer for liberalism”. In his very first Senate roll, he was the floor manager for the bill that turned U.S. immigration policy upside down and opened the floodgate for immigrants from third world countries.
9. Since that time, he has been the prime instigator and author of every expansion of and increase in immigration, up to and including the latest attempt to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. Not to mention the Pious grilling he gave the last two Supreme Court Nominees, as if he were the standard bearer for the nation in matters of right. What a pompous ass.
10. He is known around Washington as a public drunk, loud, boisterous and very disrespectful to ladies. JERK is a better description than “great American”.
Yea, Ted Kennedy. He would be the last person on Earth I'd want my kids to model, and I'd just as soon leave the rest of his corrupt family out of politics, too.
OH. my. god. Send her to the Middle East. Peace is just waiting for her.
What a pile of squat.
You have to arrive one hour before game time and the line forms at the exit of the D train.
LOL
I think Caroline Kennedy has made a mistake by going after this appointment. If Kennedy were to run for office, many people would give her points for at least being willing to sell herself to the electorate. Instead, she’s asked to be appointed to the Senate despite having demonstrated no strong interest in politics before Hillary Clinton’s seat became available. (Kennedy’s voting record is spotty and she’s given little money to Democratic candidates. Her interviews since announcing interest in the Senate seat expose her political convictions as vague, beyond the declaration that she is a Democrat.) I think Kennedy’s presumptuousness is embarrassing and I will resent it if Paterson appoints her to the Senate just because she’s a celebrity looking for a new hobby.
Don’t forget, his dad praised NAZI Germany...
“Democracy is finished.” The ‘Old Man’ was right . . . just 70 years early.
Friends? More like party hacks ...
Paul G. Kirk, Jr.
..
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21672
Newberg is a onetime associate of Ari Emanuel, the brother of former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chair Rahm Emanuel. She is a longtime party activist, and began her career as an aide to Senators Robert F. Kennedy, and Congresswoman Bella Abzug, among others.
You mean she was always drunk?
“It’s insulting to be told we should admire someone for taking public transportation.”
Hey. Give her credit. She actually got shoulder to shoulder with “those people,” you know, the vast unwashed peasants.
Do these writers ever read the drool they utter?
I’m holding a sale on pitchforks and torches.
Don't mistake this for sticking up for Uncle Shamu, but what's the big deal wih the plane crash. He wasn't the pilot, so who cares how drunk he was. The man has operated in a constant state of intoxixation for over 45 years.
Since our newest Senator Kennedy is more comfortable with Vineyard accents, she thought you said "THE train". Please clarify.

Leaving the island involves turning left on the paved road to the ferry. Turing right onto the dirt road takes you nowhere.
Either Ted was really drunk, or he had no intention of leaving the island.

I watched some kind of video online a little while back where a reporter was doing a report from some reception or event. Way behind her, one could see the distinctive white haired buffalo-head of Kennedy. He was mingling with a crowd around the Hor D'oeuvres table.
In an unmistakable gesture, the the head jerked backwards as the mouth opened to make the pathway from the mouth to the stomach became a straight line. A big, fat meaty hand with a crystal tumbler appeared above the upturned mouth and emptied the contents (clearly not water) in one fell swoop into the gaping maw.
Even from that distance (maybe 50-75 feet) from the camera to the person, it was clear that it was Fat Teddy tossing down a Chivas and Water in one gulp.
I have read "Senatorial Privilege" by Leo Damore a few times, most recently about six months ago. It is a disgusting tale of wealth, cowardice, power and corruption. It is extensively researched, and to anyone who only has a passing knowledge of the incident such as "...he drove off a bridge and his passenger drowned..." it is a real eye-opener.
Ted Kennedy is one of the people who hold the keys of power that have resulted in this arrangement where this shallow spawn of JFK is going to be handed a senatorial seat. That is a done deal, folks.
Both, probably.
Oh, that settles it. I withdraw my objections in the face of those sterling qualifications.
But it's important that the situation be painted in advance so when it occurs, the sheeple can see for themselves that it--and the outcome--is predicted.
While I'm not thrilled about the prospect of another Senator Kennedy from NY, this is actually why I have also gotten used to it. I will continue to mock Caroline, but I hope she gets the seat. It's not like Patterson isn't going to pick an obnoxious liberal right. And either Peter King or Rudy Giulianni is going to need all the help he can get to unseat her. So it might as well be someone who can be branded as an elitist or a child of privledge in a couple of years. An unelected but incumbant Kennnedy will probably be easier to beat than Andrew Cuomo.
“Since our newest Senator Kennedy is more comfortable with Vineyard accents, she thought you said “THE train”. Please clarify. “
Oh alright. Carolyn please send the driver to 161st street to get some government cheese we can hand out at our help the poor event.
http://www.memorymentor.com/what_does_folded_arms_mean.htm:
Studies have shown that when a person folds his arms not only has he negative thoughts about the other person, he is also paying less attention to what is being said.
Exactly. That is precisely why I said that. This whole thing is a kabuki dance.
I am from Massachusetts, and I can tell you...it is the political machine, and it targets starry eyed old women who still fantasize over JFK, kool-aid drinking lefties of all ages, and liberals who are interested only in power.
It works...between those three factions, he has been and still will be elected until nature takes him out of office.
Thus has it always been.
I think they were talking about people’s attitudes in the meeting BEFORE she opened her mouth and the “Kennedy Magic” impelled them to link arms, sing Kumbaya and pass whatever critical art legislation there was.
MOCKING HER IN SONG - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGMINlNbtwc

She carries on the Kennedy tradition between her "under age" legs. Let's hope she survives to adulthood and does not go for drives with Uncle Teddy.
At least she is displaying an acceptable finger, too.
Likely a signal to her girlfriend...
....lemmings I tell ya, lemmings!
saltnlemons
...SHE WAS ON “CRACK”!!!!
SALTNLEMONS
If only Samanatha would write such platitudes about Sarah.
It’s funny how when you want to find out about someone, the press interviews the friends, if the subject is a liberal, but they interview the enemies, if the subject is a conservative.
Yeah, but it sure isn’t written that way!
LOL! Remember...we are reading the equivalent of a journalistic “Lewinsky” here. They don’t need no steenkin’ writing skills!
Such a good point — last fall every little liberal dipstick in Alaska suddenly received a platform to attack and smear Governor Palin, yet I don’t recall seeing much of anything from the 80+% supportive of her, and from her closer friends and allies.
A vacuous liberal twit with the “Kennedy” names wants to be appointed to the US Senate (avoiding the challenges of actually running for elective office) and the Mediascum can’t seem to find anyone who knows anything unfavorable about her. She’s a living Saint.......
Yeah, I kinda figured it would be that way. Senator Lugar (R, IN) has been in office for decades and is a pure RINO now. We face the same inertia here with him as you face with Teddy. I intend to work my butt off to get him tossed out of office even though I worked as an economic adviser for him in his first senate run.
Somehow Caroline’s litany of “like... you knows” in a recent interview make her look more like some airhead valley girl than a serious member of the US Senate. However she may be a very good compliment for Senator Al Franken.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.