Robert G. Yetman, Jr.

Caroline Kennedy – The Next Senator from New York?

Caroline Kennedy has apparently decided she should be the successor to Senator Clinton when it comes time to fill her soon-to-be vacant U.S. Senate seat.

Kennedy has been taking a lot of criticism for the manner in which she has expressed her interest in the position, criticism that includes the suggestion that she believes she’s entitled to the seat out of deference to her noteworthy political pedigree.  Many have fumed that she has no business receiving the job ahead of more seasoned professional politicians with significantly more experience.

While there is some dispute over how much Kennedy has really been “campaigning” for the slot (because of the circumstances, the seat will be filled by NY Governor David Paterson through his appointment selection, rather than through a special election), the truth is that many simply find it audacious that she would even see herself as a viable choice to begin with.  The audacity is considered to be all the more offensive precisely because this is not a slot that will be contested through the election process, but rather one that will be filled by the governor’s hand-picked appointment.

I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments of those who so strongly object.  What’s funny is, Kennedy has further injured the perception of her by others with respect to this matter by making statements like, “I came into this thinking I have to work twice as hard as anybody else.”  Apparently, then, Kennedy herself accepts she’s abjectly unqualified to be a senator – why else would she profess to need to work twice as hard as the rest of the senators?

For Republicans, I think the timing of Kennedy’s quest is great.  On the heels of Sarah Palin’s utter drubbing by the mainstream media on the basis of her own perceived lack of experience and qualifications to be vice president, we now have Kennedy who, although taking some shots here and there on the same basis, is by no means absorbing the pounding administered to Palin.  That double standard has been ridiculously easy to spot, and has even been noted by many Democrats.  Look, we can use all the good ammunition we can get for future engagements.

(In the end, Palin has come by her political credentials honestly and transparently on the field of battle.  Kennedy, mystifyingly, has determined that it’s perfectly OK for her to claim a high-profile U.S. Senate seat simply because she wants it, and because she’s, well, a Kennedy.) 

I believe the implications here are bigger for Democrats than many may otherwise think.  Their savior-elect has yet to formally take office, but must nevertheless now wear, for at least the foreseeable future, the stench associated with classic backroom Illinois Democrat politics.  Now, if Democrats (Gov. Paterson, specifically) appoint the neophyte Kennedy to Senator Clinton’s empty throne, it will further embed in the minds of Americans the idea that Democrats are all about nepotism, special favors and backroom deals…right at the outset of the Obama administration.  As a Republican, I hope it happens; 2010 is not that far away, and I would love to see as many of the lunatic left thrown out on its collective ears as possible in the mid-term elections; anything to help that come to fruition is just dandy with me.

Caroline Kennedy for U.S. Senator! 

Robert G. Yetman, Jr.  Editor At Large – www.ChristianMoney.com

Tags: caroline+kennedy,+senator+new+york,+kennedy+family,+new+york+politics,+robert+g.+yetman,

Wealth Envy…in Vail, Colorado?

Someone in Vail, Colorado is selling a premium parking space for $500,000, and I think it’s pretty cool. 

I like that stuff.  Excess.  It’s what makes us, in part, who we are as Americans; citizens of a country that still affords even the little guy the ability to “get there” if he wants to. 

I don’t believe I’ve ever been guilty of wealth envy in any serious way, although I know lots of people are.  Garden-variety wealth envy is one thing (i.e., “Gee, I’d love to have a big house like he has”), but it carries a more ominous tone when it begins taking root as a basis for government-sponsored wealth redistribution.

Back to the parking space…   

A Terry Quinn of nearby Eagle, Colorado has taken great offense at the placing up for sale of this space for $500,000, and recently wrote a letter to the Vail Daily, entitled Why There are Socialists and Other Kinds of Lefties Department that said, in part, “There are wealthy people who are clueless - or indifferent – about the effect their extravagance has on others less fortunate.”

I’ve always had a problem with this concept of “fortunate” vis-à-vis the wealthy.  I don’t personally know any people who are wealthy because they were struck by a special bolt of lightning or otherwise lucked into the money.  Clearly, those people do exist, but do so in such small numbers that they are statistically insignificant as a demographic.  The wealthy I know became that way by working hard and taking chances most of the rest of us are unwilling to take.  Good for them.

What’s especially ironic about Quinn’s expression of indignation is that it illustrates the relative nature of all of this.  Quinn is himself an attorney who lives in nearby Eagle, Colorado.  Do you know anything about Eagle?  Just for fun, I priced houses for sale (remember, we’re in the worst recession in the last four decades, at present) in Eagle.  I chose the standard three bedroom/two bathroom model as my search criteria.  In Eagle, you can presently find three for sale…three…for under $500,000.  Two of those are currently listed at just a hair below $400,000, and one is just a smidgen beneath $500,000.  If you want a better selection, you’ll have to begin your search at $500,000 plus.

It’s from this community that someone is carrying the battle standard on behalf of the great unwashed like me?  An attorney from a community where the going price, in this hyper-recessionary economy, for a three bedroom/two bathroom house is well above $500,000?

Look, maybe I’m being a little unfair to Quinn.  I don’t know that he specifically envies the seller of this space (who is apparently a local ski icon), but I think it is fair to suggest that he means to go to bat for the rest of us who, in his mind, must be jealous.  Well, I’m not, and I doubt I will ever be able to afford a parking space that sells for $500,000.  I don’t begrudge anyone wealth, fame, or success of any kind.  Seeing it worn by others only confirms that I’m living in the right country, and that some level of it may be achieved by me if I’m willing to do what those folks have done on behalf of themselves.

I’m probably more jealous of anyone who can afford to live in such a beautiful community like Eagle, Colorado in the first place than I am of someone who has a $500,000 parking space to sell.  Perhaps that means I should write my own letter to the Vail Daily to complain about the inappropriateness of the very existence of Mr. Quinn.   

Agree or disagree; please register comments below.

Robert G. Y etman Editor At Large – www.ChristianMoney.com

Tags: vail+colorado,+wealth+envy,+christian+financial+advice

Should KFC Have Fired the Bird Bathers?

I like Jane Wells, she of cable business network CNBC.  I’ve always found her to be intelligent, engaging, and insightful.  She was born a year before I was, which means we are essentially the same age.  I mention that to help illustrate that oftentimes perspectives on declines in civilizations have essentially nothing to do with generational differences.  More about that in a bit.

Wells wrote a piece for CNBC this week that talks about some Kentucky Fried Chicken employees in Anderson, California who were fired for posting photos on the Internet that showed them stripping down and bathing in the bathroom sink.  KFC promptly fired the transgressors, and did so saying, “KFC has zero tolerance for violations of our operating standards, and our franchisee has taken immediate action by terminating the employees who were involved.”

Wells goes on to write sympathetically about how it’s no big deal, her own kids make a habit of sticking lots of foul things in their own mouths, and we should be more concerned about how unhealthy KFC’s products are, anyway.  That said, she seems to contradict those sentiments by saying at one point that “…fast food chains should adhere to stringent standards…”  Maybe Ms. Wells could use another look at a dictionary; according to American Heritage, stringent means: “imposing rigorous standards of performance; severe.”  If she’s in favor of that, she’s in favor of KFC’s response.

When it comes to behavior, particularly as it relates to food preparation on behalf of the public, what’s wrong with stringent, anyway?  Wells claims she’s in favor of it, but apparently isn’t, really.  While Wells is apparently fine with what appears to be her children’s perpetual tendencies to stick anything and everything into their own mouths, perhaps she’ll forgive me if I’m not quite so unguarded about that which ends up in mine.

Look, let’s just keep the bars high, OK?  When we do so, we expect some failure to measure up, but the point is that the higher you keep them, the less egregious we’ll typically find the failures to be.  What’s so wrong about that?

I’ll be accused by some of reaching here, but to me, the reaction of Wells is another in an endless supply of examples about how we continue to decline as a culture.  More specifically, it’s a good illustration of where it begins, in the everyday sense.  Marginalization is typically a subtle process; it’s a “no big deal” here, followed by a “no big deal” there, and the next thing you know, we are left wallowing in a society that has no legitimate expectations of decency whatsoever.  If my son had ever done something like this, I would have physically assaulted him, and he knows it.  That’s why he, in part, never did.  Perhaps Jane Wells should take note. 

Agree or disagree; please register comments below.

Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large – www.ChristianMoney.com