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Eunice Kennedy Shriver, "A Feminist Before That Was Cool," Dies At 88
Please Stop Talking About Caroline Kennedy's Glass Ceiling
Michelle And Jackie O: Twins Separated At Birth?

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outlawradio
08/11/09

In reply to Eunice Kennedy Shriver, "A Feminist Before That Was Cool," Dies At 88
She was amazing. She inspired me to get involved in volunteering for the Special Olympics as a teen, and I got to know the athletes as people. We have more in common than what separates us. I'm forever grateful for that lesson.
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Paprika Jones
08/11/09

In reply to Eunice Kennedy Shriver, "A Feminist Before That Was Cool," Dies At 88
"IF that girl had been born with balls?"
Sir, I believe she had. Big ones.
Hell of a woman. RIP.
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dianersb was bit by a zombie
08/11/09

In reply to Eunice Kennedy Shriver, "A Feminist Before That Was Cool," Dies At 88
She was such a wonderful lady. My thoughts go out to her family and all those whose lives she has touched.
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rednrowdy
08/11/09

In reply to Eunice Kennedy Shriver, "A Feminist Before That Was Cool," Dies At 88
it's a sad day. for all of the kennedys failings, and there are many, at the end of the day they are extraordinarily wealthy people who couldhave done what many other extraordinarily wealthy people do and just sit around and be rich while quietly giving to charities for tax write offs. the kennedys did not do that, for better or for worse depending on your opinion, but about eunice, her son robert said it best: "my mom never ran for office, and she changed the world. period. end of story."
heaven just got another wonderfully tough lady angel in their ranks.
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bluebears
08/11/09

@rednrowdy: They played part of a speech she gave at the Special Olympics in 1987 and it was so touching. She really galvanized people to treat people who were mentally and/or physically disabled as human beings deserving of dignity. I don't think many people understand what a radical concept that was back in the day.
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Edited by bluebears at 08/11/09 9:56 AM bluebears was starred bluebears was unstarred

NefariousNewt
08/11/09

@bluebears: And still is.
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bluebears
08/11/09

@NefariousNewt: true. and sad.
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bluebears
08/11/09

In reply to Eunice Kennedy Shriver, "A Feminist Before That Was Cool," Dies At 88
I had tears in my eyes this morning listening to this news on NPR. She did so many amazing things, she really gave back to the community.
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NefariousNewt
08/11/09

@bluebears: Her greatest legacy is the Special Olympics. Having taken clients of mine to local SO events, and seeing how happy just participating made so many of the developmentally disabled, it was very heartening.
She will be missed.
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bluebears
08/11/09

@NefariousNewt: heh. see my comment above. :)
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krismry
01/23/09

In reply to Please Stop Talking About Caroline Kennedy's Glass Ceiling
Oh really, I had no idea anyone could aim any lower than the U.S. Senate for their first job, filled as it is with misfits, psychopaths, dunces, cowards, criminals and thieves of every stripe imaginable with no intellectual qualifications what so ever. Caroline was well connected enough to gather an excellent staff around her to start work, and it is the senate staffers who do all the heavy lifting in that job. Very few senators can actually read, nor do they need to know anything, because their staff rescue them at every turn. Always.
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Lymed
01/23/09

In reply to Please Stop Talking About Caroline Kennedy's Glass Ceiling
Caroline Kennedy is extremely lucky that she had the financial resources to choose to remain outside of the workforce and care for her family. There are many people, men and women, who wish to do the same and can't afford to. There may also be men with Kennedy's financial resources who feel they cannot stay home with their family because they are not women.
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vamusical
01/23/09

In reply to Please Stop Talking About Caroline Kennedy's Glass Ceiling
I pretty much agree with everything here, but really, the woman spends her whole life doing charity work, gaining public policy experience in the process (ask me if you don't know what I'm talking about), and you criticize her lack of employment???

And as much nepotism as she's gotten from being a Kennedy (a lot), she has also endured some NASTY shit from people who just assume she's been sitting on her ass all this time. I think she should've just aimed a little lower than United States Senator for her first public post.
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emilyanne
01/23/09

@vamusical: see that's my issue. And I have to say that I don't know that, to use an example being a corporate lawyer for wallmart and then first lady makes you any more qualified. I personally think Hillary was great, but by the standards being used on these posts she wasn't qualified initially.
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OhDeer
01/23/09

@emilyanne: Oooo, see, the difference is - Hillary RAN for the Senate. And the people of New York elected her.

She made her case - and she absolutely knew what she was talking about when it came to policy (not that I always agreed with her, but she had a position, for God's sake.)

These are not things we can say about Caroline Kennedy.
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vamusical
01/23/09

@OhDeer: What makes you think Caroline Kennedy doesn't know what she's talking about when it comes to foreign policy?
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OhDeer
01/23/09

@vamusical: Not foreign policy - any policy.

[NY Times]

She was constantly unable to answer basic questions about her positions.

Fine for someone running in their first race, maybe - with time to learn and grow. NOT OK for a potential SENATOR from NY.
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vamusical
01/23/09

@OhDeer: How does that article translate into not knowing about policy? In any way? She was basically asked about 6-7 policies, and shied away from answering about 2-3. Any politician would do that. So she's vague; that doesn't mean she was "unable to answer questions about policy".
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Kilotwat
01/23/09

In reply to Please Stop Talking About Caroline Kennedy's Glass Ceiling
While I don't necessarily think Caroline Kennedy would've been a good senator (a job that involves a lot of wrangling and maneuvering, and this episode illustrates she's no adept at it), I still have the utmost respect for her. She's been a private person who got deeply involved in Obama's political campaign long before it was a sure thing. I hope her reputation isn't permanently tarnished by her botched senate campaign, as I think she can still do a lot of good.
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drinkyrose
01/23/09

@Kilotwat: That's the thing. She almost had universal respect and admiration before, when she was media-shy, somewhat mysterious, nice philanthropist Caroline Kennedy. After this disaster, it would be a shame if she's regarded as the Democratic version of Sarah Palin.
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brendastarlet is on it
01/23/09

@rose0red: it sets up her comeback, though. Like Bill Clinton's speech to the '88 convention.
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Jamie Sommers
01/23/09

In reply to Please Stop Talking About Caroline Kennedy's Glass Ceiling
I'm laughing over here at the absurd notion that I (or any other woman) should feel some sort of kinship or sympathy for a multi-millionare who has never been steadily employed in her field (law) for any period of time and been on the "mommy track" with nannies who, because of her familial political connections, believed she could suddenly leave the "mommy with nanny" track to casually assume one of the most prestigious political offices in the country as successor to a woman who raised a family while working at a high paying, high pressure law firm and working for a non-profit and helping her husband's career and then working her ass off to win the job.

If you want to talk sexism facing women like Hillary Clinton, fine. If you want to really discuss the challenges facing American women, great.

But HRH Princess Caroline isn't fit to wipe HRC's shoes or be compared to any American mother, wife, woman who makes these real, tough decisions on a daily basis without the benefit of money or family connections.
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yvanehtnioj
01/23/09

@Jamie Sommers: You have been friended.
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Elizabooth
01/23/09

In reply to Please Stop Talking About Caroline Kennedy's Glass Ceiling
It is harder to get a top-level high-paying job if you're a woman who has left the workforce for a considerable time to raise your children. And I hate to say it, but that's as it should be. A gal (or a guy) has to put in the time and get the experience -- I for one don't want a total rookie representing me in the senate. That's not to say that a woman who spent time as a stay-at-home mom can't be a senator, she just has to work her way up and perhaps seek such positions at a later date.

Calling this kind of stuff (as well as the Palin criticisms) sexism is calling wolf. We've got to save the card for when we actually need it.
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RainbowBrite
01/23/09

@Elizabooth: I agree completely. And if we start counting child rearing as relevant experience, than all the fathers out there can add that to beef up their resumes too.
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emilyanne
01/23/09

@Elizabooth: I agree although I have to say I question that Hillary Clinton had the experience before becoming junior senator (yes, yes she was elected but still being first lady isn't actually the same as being the President no matter how much influence you have).
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Jamie Sommers
01/23/09

@Elizabooth: Excellent point. It isn't like there is some sort of age limit. To the contrary, most of the female politicians we see now waited until after the kids were grown to run for office but spent time working in grassroots or in other pol's campaigns so that they had some experience and were known by the time they started running. Take, for example, Nancy Pelosi or Ann Richards.
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PhillyLass
01/23/09

@Elizabooth: Agreed-- but CK doesn't even fall into that category. Her considerable wealth has made it possible for her to work only intermittently. I believe her lack of steady employment preceded her motherhood. Moreover, she has nannies and servants who handle a good deal of what many women on the 'mommy track' do for their families, so her time away from the workforce was comparatively leisured.
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RainbowBrite
01/23/09

In reply to Please Stop Talking About Caroline Kennedy's Glass Ceiling
I'm sorry, but being a parent (mother OR father) does not qualify you to be senator.
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linnyt is a walking cliché
01/23/09

@RainbowBrite: or VP
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NefariousNewt
01/23/09

In reply to Please Stop Talking About Caroline Kennedy's Glass Ceiling
As I said earlier today, she came to the realization that years outside political circles did not giver her the chops to handle the rough-and-tumble of the Senate, especially now. The Senate is not for the faint-of-heart, and while intellectually she could have handled the politics of it, I doubt she could have put up with the lack of privacy and the constant demands. That, and watching her Uncle Ted have another seizure probably acted as a wake-up call.
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linnyt is a walking cliché
01/23/09

@NefariousNewt: i agree except for the ted part. he's had cancer for almost a year and the family must know that seizures go with that territory. the senate gives you brain cancer? i don't think so.
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NefariousNewt
01/23/09

@linnyt: I didn't mean it like that, only that seeing her uncle struggle like that has no doubt made her wonder whether it's worth giving up her comfortable life for the battleground that is the U.S. Senate. Ted's years in the Senate have certainly worn him down -- perhaps she doesn't want to fall into that trap, nor does she want the job only to turn around two years later and decide she doesn't. She's doing what's best for her and that should be enough for anyone.
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brendastarlet is on it
01/23/09

@linnyt: my sense watching this from the middle of the country is that it was a good idea -- on paper. But it was up to her to make her best case. Let's not forget that her Uncle Ted was in the same position in 1980, in the famous Roger Mudd interview, and he couldn't explain why he should be president.
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Diziet_Sma
01/23/09

In reply to Please Stop Talking About Caroline Kennedy's Glass Ceiling
HELLO. A WOMAN GOT THE JOB.
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truckasaurus
01/23/09

@Diziet_Sma: BUT NOT THAT WOMAN! Clearly a case of Kennedy-specific sexism. I just wished I lived in a world where all Kennedys were treated equally. Sob.
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Diziet_Sma
01/23/09

@truckasaurus:

$35 and a six-pack to my name!

Six pack!

;)
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PhillyLass
01/23/09

In reply to Please Stop Talking About Caroline Kennedy's Glass Ceiling
It's relevant to add that, by all accounts, she was a shiteous political operative for the ten minutes she had her hat in the ring. She was weak on the issues and pretty snarky and dismissive of the reporters dispatched to cover the story.
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Eunice Kennedy Shriver, "A Feminist Before That Was Cool," Dies At 88

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