The Chris Moeller Archives

The people's aristocracy

Jesse Jackson's son in Illinois? Jack Kennedy's daughter in New York? Is it safe to say that modern political consultants consider Democratic party voters to be easily starstruck?

Registered Democrats have been trying to resurrect the so-called "Camelot" of the JFK presidency for almost half a century now, falling in line as often as possible behind the polished, young handsome candidate the likes of Kennedy's younger brothers Robert and Ted, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and now Kennedy's daughter in New York. For a country that fought such a well-publicized war for its independence from monarchy, America, Democrats or Republicans (see also: the Bushes) loves itself some family dynasty.

Voters can't be directly blamed for the recent talk about Caroline Kennedy being appointed to finish Hillary Clinton's New York Senate term, but the governor with appointment power is certainly attuned to the public relations blessing that would result. Everybody likes Caroline Kennedy. I like Caroline Kennedy. I promoted her for the position of Catholic Pope in 2005. Her policy statements this week reveal she'd be a much better senator than Hillary Clinton, but it's important to remember that Caroline has less political experience than Sarah Palin, and up to this point, she's lived a life sheltered from the average American to rival an Upper East Side heiress, which of course, she is.

If New York Governor David Paterson is opening up the interview process to candidates of Kennedy's limited experience, he would certainly find other equally-committed activists with lesser names, and ones with much more experience in the front lines of social change. And if Paterson doesn't choose to endorse the Kennedy "brand," he'll have the option of choosing state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the offspring of one of Paterson's predecessors as New York governor. In Delaware, Vice President-elect Joe Biden may be replaced in his senate seat by his son. Where does this affront to meritocracy end? We love our political franchises like we love our restaurant or soft drink franchises.

What this points to though, most of all, is the potential for even more abuse of power by both the executive branch and the two-party duopoly. No U.S. Senators should be appointed-- anywhere or by anyone. If New Yorkers decide they want Kennedy to be their representative-- and I'm as much a New Yorker as I am a Roman Catholic-- then so be it, but let them go to the polls and elect her as their next junior senator, not have her be given the seat through another series of backroom deals. Will Governor Blago's hijinks in Illinois teach us nothing? Of course, the escapades of that rodent are representative of the very reason political appointments have been so popular with our political class-- they allow the powerful to install subservients in vacant positions of power.

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President-elect Obama has already disappointed millions of Americans with his center-right cabinet appointments, whether it be keeping on Robert Gates, President Bush's Defense Secretary, naming the pro-war Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, selecting the anti-Palestinian Illinois Congressman Rahm Emmanuel as Chief of Staff, or most recently, naming the best friend of ethanol and corporate agribusiness, Tom Vilsack, to be Secretary of Agriculture. But no American constituency has already been battered as badly by Obama as our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.

Candidate Obama publicly opposed gay marriage rights during the primaries while palling around with South Carolina's homophobic black ministers, and now he's selected Reverend Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration, or should I say, our inauguration, next month. Warren runs a tax-free Political Action Committee disguised as a "church," might accurately be considered the Grand Wizard of the anti-gay movement, and is a man who has likened homosexuality to incest, rape, and child molestation.

"During the course of the entire inaugural events," said Obama, "there are going to be a wide range of viewpoints presented. And that's how it should be, because that's what America is all about. We are diverse, noisy, and opinionated." Noticably not invited though is any representative of the Christian Identity Movement, a national organization which holds the belief that non-caucasian people have no souls. Perhaps they aren't "diverse, noisy, or opinionated" enough.

Bigotry comes in all colors and I like to believe that the manifestation of Dr. King's dream for America doesn't end with a would-be president this given to what is either political expedience or outright prejudice.

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Who responds to online spamming? Not many. But a study unveiled last month shows that it doesn't take much. In a fake offering of a Viagra-like product over a 26 day period, only 28 sales resulted from a mass delivery to almost 350 million, a success rate of 0.00001%. That still translated however into an average sale of $7,000 a day, or $3.5 million a year.

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The mercury in Iowa thermometers did not reach zero degrees today. Winter is off to another brutal start, but fortunately, we're behind last year's wet pace. I'm ready for a Brown Christmas personally.

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Too bad Iowa can't borrow some mercury (groan) from one of her native sons. Actor Jeremy Piven, who graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, has left the cast of a Broadway play, claiming illness from mercury poisoning. Piven's doctor says the actor has regularly eaten sushi twice a day for several years.

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Quote of the day: from comedian Phyllis Diller's Christmas card this year, according to online sources,

"Money's scarce,
times are hard,
here's your fucking
X-mas card."

posted by CM @ 1:28 PM