January 29, 2009 --

CAROLINE Kennedy is innocent - she did not have an affair with New York Times publisher Arthur "Pinch" Sulzberger Jr. The rumor that their friendship was the "marriage problem" referred to by aides to Gov. Paterson couldn't be true - because the divorced Sulzberger already has a girlfriend.

Sulzberger has been seeing Helen Ward, a vivacious woman he met on a trek to Peru about a year ago.

"No comment," Ward told Page Six yesterday, then added, "There is only one woman in Pinch Sulzberger's life, and that is the Gray Lady."

A Times spokeswoman said: "Mr. Sulzberger is not and never has been romantically involved with Ms. Kennedy." What about Ward? "I'm not going to comment."

Caroline Kennedy has been married to interactive designer Edwin Schlossberg since 1986. They have three children. Sulzberger - who became the Times' publisher when his father, Arthur "Punch" Sulzberger Sr., stepped down in 1992 - has been separated from his wife of 33 years, Gail Gregg, since last March.

Helen is also separated from her husband, Kevin P. Ward, executive director of the Aspen Science Center. A friend said Ward is unhappy with the breakup: "Kevin is crazy bitter about the whole thing."

The Pinch-Helen romance seems to disprove the speculation that flourished after Paterson's camp leaked that Caroline had "a tax problem, a nanny problem and a marriage problem." Bloggers erroneously named Sulzberger, who is friends with Caroline, as the cause of the "marriage problem."

As it happens, Helen has her own Kennedy connection. The Wards were said to be close friends with Caroline's late brother, John, going back to the days when John was dating Daryl Hannah, and they all went on a trip out West to go helicopter skiing.


Source: http://www.nypost.com/seven/01292009/gossi...

BLAGO AIN’T GOT NUTHIN’ ON THIS

Ever since Caroline Kennedy mysteriously withdrew her name from consideration for Hillary Clinton’s former U.S. Senate seat last Wednesday night, and Governor David Paterson’s surprise pick of Kirsten Gilibrand on Friday, many have wondered aloud: who the heck is Kirsten Gillibrand, and why did a Democratic governor choose a relatively unknown upstate Blue Dog whose voting record is more Republican than Democrat?

Well, that’s a very good question to ask. Why did Paterson pick Gillibrand, when it seemed Kennedy was the obvious choice? And why did the Governor turn so nasty towards Caroline after she withdrew from the race? Why would he authorize one of his PR flacks (who, it turns out, is a former Bush White House staffer!) to “anonymously” kneecap Kennedy, spreading damaging stories to the press about Caroline’s supposed tax issues, nanny issues, and marital issues (stories Paterson now admits were totally false)?

The answer may not be in anything that Caroline did to piss off the Governor. It was what she didn’t do.

Here’s the REAL crux of the Paterson/Kennedy/Gillibrand senate seat story that the mainstream media won’t touch with a 10-foot pole…apparently becaue they’re all too busy flapping their lips about Blago and his really great hair:

Senate appointee Kirsten Gillibrand’ s former law firm is Boies, Schiller & Flexner.

David Boies, the senior partner at the firm, contributed $25,000 to Gov. Paterson’s campaign committee on December 23, 2008, while the governor was considering Gillibrand’s candidacy.

Boies’ son Chris, also a partner in the firm, contributed another $25,000 on the same day.

Source: The Village Voice (Jan. 22, 2009)

OK, go back and read that again. That’s just the $50k we know of that went into the Governor’s re-election fund. There may be more we don’t know about yet from other sources close to Gillibrand.

The timing of these campaign contributions reeks. Dec. 23, in the heat of the Senate seat competition?

Not TOO obvious, eh?


BLEEPIN’ GOLDEN

That being the case, wouldn’t this make Paterson guilty of doing the exact same thing that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is currently being accused of? And more blatantly than Blago would have ever dared? (Which is really sayin’ something, as Blago is anything but subtle!)

I can hear that phone call now:

PATERSON: “I’ve got this thing and it’s bleepin’ GOLDEN! I’m not just gonna give that bleepin’ senate seat away for nuthin’!”

At a press conference last month, noting that Blagojevich has been under investigation for years for pay-to-play corruption charges, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald expressed his amazement that the activity would continue. “You might have thought in that environment, pay-to-play would have slowed down. The opposite happened. It sped up,” he said.

Apparently, no one warned Paterson to be careful since the heat was on. Or perhaps Paterson was warned and chose to arrogantly assume that he was ten feet tall and bulletproof. So far, Paterson seems to be. No one has even dared to raise a pay-to-play question regarding his senate pick…until now. So we’ll go ahead and rasie the question:

Is it conceivable that Gov. Paterson got miffed at Caroline Kennedy because she was not willing to give him “anything but appreciation” if chosen for that Senate seat?

Could it be that Kennedy was too smart (and principled) to grease the Governor’s eager palms and potentially get herself embroiled in an explosive political corruption case? And did the Governor get pissed off because Caroline wisely stood her ground, held on to her integrity, and turned the other cheek?



CAROLINE WOULDN’T PLAY BALL

From our initial investigation, we can find no evidence of any campaign contributions given to Paterson by Kennedy or anyone connected with her.

Caroline is well-known for her avoidance of making financial contributions to New York Dems in local races, and this New York Daily News article from December 25, 2008 (curiously published just two days after friends of Gillibrand gave the Guv $50,000) flat-out states that Kennedy’s unwillingness to “play the game” may cost her the senate seat:

Caroline Kennedy’s supporters say she could raise tons of money as a senator, but when it comes to writing checks to New York Democrats, she’s been largely AWOL.

This decade, other than a $1,000 donation to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the Camelot heiress has not financially supported any Democrat seeking city or state office in New York, records reveal.

Some say Kennedy, who is worth at least $100 million, missed an opportunity to curry favor among Democratic pols to establish herself as a serious political player as she lobbies Gov. Paterson for Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat.


NONE DARE CALL IT CORRUPTION

Starting to see what’s really going on here? Gillibrand was willing to pay-to-play, Kennedy was not.
Therefore, Gillibrand gets the gig. It ain’t rocket science. Just politics as usual.

Only difference this time is that the Governor of Illinois is being impeached for even suggesting (although not completing) such a transaction, while Paterson (who apparently did complete the transaction) is skating away like Tonya Harding. The local New York and national media plugs their ears and hums a tune, refusing to investigate any suggestion of Blago-type graft and corruption happening here. They hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

Thanks to the Kansas City Star for pointing out an issue that both the New York Post and New York Times heartily agree on — that NY governor David Paterson is now officially Worse than Blagojevich after the media circus that surrounded his naming a replacement for the Senate seat left vacant by Hillary Clinton. But still, that’s as far as the media is prepared to go. None dare call it corruption.

Hmmm…wonder if anyone has been tapping Paterson’s phone during this senate contest? They were certainly listening to Gov. Spitzer’s calls in an effort to catch him in a liason with a high-priced hooker. Seems to me the authorities might have wanted to keep an eye/ear on Gov. Paterson during this selection process, especially in light of the Blago scandal. Under those circumstances, a case could easily be made for probable cause.

So WHERE ARE THE PATERSON TAPES? And where’s the investigation? Where’s the outrage?



---(END EXCERPT)---

Full story, photos, reader comments at:
http://thekennedys.wordpress.com/2009/01/2...

UPDATE: More info on the “PR flack” the Gov’s office is now trying to blame the leak on:

Get this…she’s a former BUSH WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY!!!!

Oh yeah, that explains a lot.

Btw, this story is penned by the NY Daily News’ Elizabeth Benjamin (seen in our story here http://rfkjrforpresident.com/2009/01/24/op... /
getting smacked down by Chris Matthews on Hardball for publishing this crap in the first place). Looks like Lizzie is now desperately trying to cover her butt and do the right thing to avoid a libel suit as well:

Anyhoo, here’s the full story. Read it and weep!

From the NY Daily News:

Gov. Paterson’s decision to go nuclear on Caroline Kennedy was a hatchet job run by a pricey out-of-state consultant who specializes in political scandals, disgruntled administration sources said.

Judy Smith, a Washington-based PR guru and former Bush White House deputy press secretary, orchestrated the ill-conceived character attack on Kennedy, sources said Sunday.

There was an internal agreement among Paterson staffers to refrain from attacking Kennedy.

Then came the leaks from inside the governor’s office that Kennedy’s supposed tax, nanny and marital problems had tanked her bid for Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat - taking many staffers by surprise.

“There were radically different statements all coming out of the governor’s camp at the exact same time,” a Paterson adviser said.

The administration released a formal statement insisting no information gathered from candidates for Clinton’s seat led to Kennedy’s withdrawal.

Yet it was Paterson who signed off on Smith’s plan to release dirt on Kennedy, the sources said.

Paterson loyalists are bemoaning his willingness to listen to a hired gun with little knowledge of New York politics, undercutting his own staff and projecting the image of an administration in chaos.

Paterson first brought Smith onboard last fall after his top aide, Charles O’Byrne, resigned in the wake of a tax scandal.

“It’s crazy. This never would have happened when Charles was there,” the adviser said. “In his absence, there’s a power vacuum, and a bunch of people are all doing their own thing.

“This is really, really serious,” the adviser continued. “Permanent damage has been done.”

The adviser suggested a “racial component” was at work when Paterson decided to bring on Smith, the first African-American woman to hold the deputy press secretary position at the White House. She came at the recommendation of Lisa Davis, a celebrity/media attorney who is the governor’s childhood friend.

“People like Lisa and Judy stirred the pot a little bit, and has always felt the Spitzer people didn’t respect him, so when Charles blew up, the governor’s old-time core people rallied around him and felt he needed a team that better reflected who he was,” the source said.

Smith’s client list has included Monica Lewinsky, the family of murdered Washington intern Chandra Levy, Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson, who is battling corruption charges, and scandal-scarred former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry.

Paterson has used campaign cash to pay Smith’s firm, Impact Strategies, $64,367 since October, according to his Jan. 15 filing with the state Board of Elections.

The Kennedy fiasco has brought out the worst in the Paterson administration, revealing an executive chamber that is beset by infighting, lacking in leadership and in desperate need of a staffing shakeup.

“I don’t know who’s in charge there any longer,” one Democratic state senator said.

“David’s like a time bomb.”

And he employs former White House deputy press secretaries as his PR staffers?

What does that say about HIM?

MUDSLINGIN’


Tongues have been wagging since Wednesday about Caroline Kennedy’s “mysterious” midnight departure from the race to fill Hillary Clinton’s senate seat. Speculation and rumor has run rampant as to what was behind the move, and Kennedy’s “personal reasons” for ending her aggressive senate bid.

Some factions of Camp Kennedy and the New York Times initially tried to float the notion that Caroline dropped out due to her concern for Senator Edward Kennedy’s health. That, however, was swiftly refuted by sources close to Ted Kennedy, who himself was reportedly furious at any such reason being given.

Loosely translated, that’s the old lion roaring: “look, I might be sick, but I ain’t dead yet! Now cut out this nonsense and let me get some rest. I just had another seizure, for the love of Christ! Or hadn’t you heard?” (Well, actually, the whole world heard…being that it happened at President Obama’s inaugural luncheon, that one would be pretty hard to miss.)

Not surprisingly, a spokesman for Caroline Kennedy quickly got out there and told reporters that Caroline’s reason for ending her senate bid had absolutely, positively, nothing to do with Ted Kennedy’s cancer battle.

Allrightey, then! Glad we got that one straightened out. But if Ted’s illness isn’t the reason, what is?

Caroline refused to give an answer, but did say that she was getting sick and tired of all the ”mudslinging” going on. (Hey, if you’ve ever tried to get mud stains out of a pricey designer dress, you understand why she’s steamed.)

But wait a minute…mudslingin‘? Who’s slinging mud on Caroline, and what for? And what the heck was being said?

KNEECAPPED!

Less than 24 hours after Kennedy’s sudden about-face, the New York press (particularly the Post, who broke this series of controversial stories) started throwing some curious little tidbits out there. No actual proof being offered, of course. (Like, zero. Got a document you’d care to share, Mr. Dicker? Or are you simply content to cast aspersions without a shred of evidence to back your borderline libelous claims?) Stories began to leak about the so-called “real” reasons for Caroline’s hasty retreat: did she “forget” to pay her taxes? Did she “overlook” the legal status of her nanny? Was she…(gasp!)…having an extramarital affair?

As it turns out, these leaks were flowing from the loose lips of some unnamed, anonymous source “close to Gov. Paterson.”

Mmm-hmm.

Political operatives who have worked with him over the years say that the “source close to the governor” is often Paterson. An aide to the governor says he “seriously doubts” that Paterson was the source of the Post’s story. Regardless, Kennedy’s camp was livid. “We know there’s no vetting issue,” one of her allies told New York Magazine. “I know what’s in the disclosure form, and up through Wednesday at three o’clock, there had been no discussion of a vetting issue, no complaints from the governor’s counsel. And for him to include the idea of a marital issue is beneath contempt. There’s no marital issue!”

Fred Dicker, the reporter who supposedly “has the inside dirt” on Kennedy, made the rounds of every TV news program on planet earth this week. Perhaps his most memorable appearance was on Fox News, where he got knocked around a bit by, of all people, Bill O’Reilly (whose hero, believe it or not, is former NY senator Robert F. Kennedy):

(VIDEO CLIP AVAILABLE - SEE LINK BELOW)


And from the left side of the political spectrum, Chris Matthews also questioned the source of this reporting, which reeks of outright character assassination (would that make the NY media accessories after the fact?):

(VIDEO CLIP AVAILABLE - SEE LINK AT BOTTOM OF THIS STORY)



NOT-SO-SWEET CAROLINE?

SO SEZ `DA GUV

On Thursday, things got even uglier: Gov. Paterson himself took a swing at Caroline Kennedy at a private event the night before he tapped Kirsten Gillibrand for the Senate. (Well, hey, at least this time he had the cajones to say so himself, instead of sending one of his anonymous snarky minions to kneecap her). At the event, Paterson told guests Kennedy had been “nasty” to him and shown “disrespect” with how she bowed out, attendees told The New York Post.

The governor’s attack came just hours after his office issued a statement wishing her well and disavowing quotes from a that mysterious unnamed, anonymous “source close to him” who had told The Post Kennedy had never been in true contention for the seat and was “mired” in personal issues. (The taxes, the nanny, the rumors of infidelity, etc.)

Whew, those New York pols sure can play some dirty pool, can’t they? Blackmail, rumor-mongering and outright slander are the name of this game, folks. If you don’t kneel and kiss the Governor’s ring, you just might wake up to find a decapitated horse’s head in your bed the next morning. You may also find that people you thought were your friends are now acting like another part of the horse’s anatomy.

Although the Post’s reporting often leaves much to be desired, and the Caroline Kennedy drama is no exception, there was one editorial they ran this week which hit the nail right on the head. (And interestingly enough, we noticed it is penned by an anonymous writer, giving no byline.) The real issue here was not Caroline’s tax, nanny, or other rumored problems; it was Gov. Paterson, who clearly seems to have a leadership problem:

“If Gov. Paterson is so inept that he can’t arrange so simple a transaction as appointing someone to fill a vacant senate seat, what hope does New York state have of emerging intact from the fiscal crises now besetting it?

Make no mistake: Paterson’s endless procrastination on the matter of a Clinton succession - compounded by weeks of confusing, often contradictory signals regarding his intentions - created the circus that roiled Albany yesterday.

The governor is said to have told Kennedy last week that she was his choice - but that he was going to “keep the suspense up” by creating “a little misdirection” until he was ready to announce it.

That’s not leadership.

That’s incitement to anarchy. “


---(END EXCERPT)---

Story continues at:

http://rfkjrforpresident.com/2009/01/24/op... /

HUH?

Late tonight, Caroline Kennedy confirmed that she was withdrawing from consideration for the vacant U.S. Senate seat in New York, startling the New York political world after weeks in which she was considered a top contender for the post.

Earlier today Kennedy called Gov. David Paterson, who will choose a successor to former Sen. Hillary Clinton, to inform him that she was no longer interested in the post.

Late tonight she issued this simple-but-puzzling one-sentence statement:

“I informed Gov. Paterson today that for personal reasons I am withdrawing my name from consideration for the United States Senate.”

And that was that!

A person told of her decision said that Kennedy’s concerns about the health of her uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy, who suffers from brain cancer and was hospitalized after suffering a seizure Tuesday, prompted her to withdraw.

Others close to Kennedy felt that Sen. Kennedy’s deteriorating health, evidenced by his collapse yesterday, would all but force Gov. Paterson’s hand in appointing Caroline Kennedy to Hillary Clinton’s now-vacant senate seat.

Kennedy believed that the job was hers if she would accept it, the person said, but aides to Paterson would not comment on whether that was true.

Kennedy’s sudden withdrawl shocked the media pundits, who have been predicting her as a shoo-in for the seat. Apparently, they’re not the only ones who are stunned.

The news appeared to catch the governor off guard, throwing the Paterson administration into confusion and setting off conflicting news media reports. After frantic talks between the governor’s operation and Kennedy’s camp this evening, Kennedy appeared to waver on whether to withdraw, and was preparing a statement reasserting her interest in the job. But at about midnight, she decided to make clear she was taking her name out of consideration and released the statement saying so.

The timing is certainly curious, coming on the same day of Hillary Clinton’s confirmation as secretary of state.

No further clarification was given as to the nature of Kennedy’s “personal reasons” for withdrawl, and she declined to be interviewed.

Kennedy’s surprise move comes nearly two months after she, along with several members of Congress and leading political officials, began lobbying the governor for the coveted Senate seat. She attracted relentless attention and was viewed by many as the most likely choice for Paterson, given her national stature and ties to the incoming Obama administration.

“I’m surprised, I’m very surprised,” said Assemblyman Keith L.T. Wright, a friend of the governor’s who met with Kennedy in his Harlem office. He added: “I had just met with her last week and she told me she was in and ready, willing and able.”

---(END EXCERPT)---


Story continues at:

http://rfkjrforpresident.com/2009/01/22/br...

THE DAY DR. KING'S DREAM CAME TRUE

* EDITOR’S NOTE: On the day that America inaugurates its’ first African-American president, we wanted to take you back in time…a little over a year ago…to the night of Senator Barack Obama’s first victory in the 2008 campaign.

After Obama won the Iowa Caucus, we published a piece titled “The Night Dr. King’s Dream Came True.”

At the time, our prediction may have been a bit premature, but now that the historic moment is truly upon us, we wanted to share this deeply moving story with you again. Penned by our Founding Editor New Frontier, it captures all of the hope, optimism and joy that people around the world are feeling today.

Congratulations to President Obama, Happy Birthday MLK, and God Bless America!

Signed, Sealed, Delivered,

– Tiger Haynes,

Managing Editor

♥


“NOW IS THE TIME TO MAKE REAL THE PROMISES OF DEMOCRACY”

Dr. Martin Luther King, from his immortal ”I Have A Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC, August 28, 1963.



“THEY SAID THIS DAY WOULD NEVER COME”

- Barack Obama, Victory Speech in Iowa, January 3, 2008

♥

Last night, America changed forever — and for the better.
Last night, Democratic voters in Iowa shocked the world — and the political establishment.

Last night, 12 days before his birthday and in the 40th year since his assassination, the people of Iowa made Reverend Martin Luther King’s dream come true. They judged a man not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character.

Last night, Iowa Democrats honored the highest ideals that President John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy stood and fought for — the ideals that Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and so many other lesser-known but equally brave Americans gave their lives for. They handed Senator Barack Obama a clear and decisive victory in the first caucus of the 2008 presidential race.

Last night, history was made, a massive milestone reached in what JFK once called the long twilight struggle. The struggle is far from over; we cannot for one moment forget the sacrifices it took to get us where we are — right now, right here in America.

Few under the age of 30 who were fortunate enough to grow up in a largely colorblind and desegregated society can imagine a time when their black brothers and sisters could not even sit beside them at a public lunch counter. Not so long ago in this country, a black American simply seeking to attend a state-run university had to be escorted in by federal troops after riots erupted in the streets. The very act of casting a vote was enough to put one’s safety in danger. In 1961 — the year Barack Obama was born – merely asserting a citizen’s right to travel subjected the Freedom Riders to brutal beatings, assault with firehoses, and the teeth of Bull Connor’s unforgiving, bloodthirsty police dogs.

Few of us over the age of 30 could have imagined the reality of an African-American man being a serious contender for President of the United States in our lifetimes. Few could honestly believe that in the American heartland, in a state whose population is nearly 95% white, Iowans would choose a black man as the candidate best qualified to lead our country.

But they did. And it’s wonderful. Somewhere, MLK is smiling.


---(END EXCERPT) ---

Story continues at:
http://rfkjrforpresident.com/2009/01/20/th...

OP-ED: FIAT JUSTITIA RUAT CAELUM

(Latin for “Let Justice Be Done Though the Heavens Fall”)



By Jack Mosel

Contributing Editor


The phrase “let justice be done though the heavens fall” is probably best known to our readers as being spoken by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison during his 1967 trial of Clay Shaw for the murder of President John F. Kennedy (these words are also inscribed on Garrison’s tombstone).

But these words are as old as the scriptures, and the notion has been around for thousands of years. Fiat justitia ruat caelum is a Latin legal phrase, translating to “Let justice be done, though the sky may fall.” The maxim signifies the belief that justice must be realized regardless of consequences.

Although this legal argument has been used in court cases to justify overturning the conviction of Haywood Patterson in the Scottsboro Boys trial to the abolition of slavery in England, perhaps Immanuel Kant said it best in 1795: “Let justice reign even if all the rascals in the world should perish from it.”

So, why am I invoking this age-old legal maxim now, you might ask?

I am not talking about the issue of justice for JFK, or even RFK (though there is still much work to be done on both of those fronts). I am not addressing this editorial to RFK Jr., Caroline Kennedy, or any member of the Kennedy family specifically, although I wish they would lend us their voices. I am talking about our outgoing President and his entire administration, who look as if they will skate merrily back to the slimepits from whence they came without so much as a slap on the wrists for their numerous impeachable offenses, crimes against the Constitution of the United States, and indeed, against all humanity.

To promote real democracy as being worthwhile and un-reproachable even in the most dire of circumstances, we must take back our country from zealots and self-appointed dictators, evidenced from the crimes we have endured from the past eight years of dictoral rein from the Bush/Cheney legacy period… (Unquestionably) our darkest hours.

But simply electing a new president does not fix the problem. Nor will it make the past go away or be forgotten.

It is undoubtedly painful and almost embarrassing to me to describe my opinion and my country’s activities from repeated abuse over the last eight years on its own people and on its own rule of law. Many might feel that we should let bygone’s be bygone’s and let the Obama Administration get busy with getting all the mess back on track. I agree in theory, but the problem is… the extent of the carnage that was created (that which we know about) was so outrageous and so over the top, that I feel special mechanisms must be in place to re-visit these crimes and without prejudice, investigate and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, all the puppet’s and their masters’ in this hostile takeover, hit and run administration’s drive by, that has left our Constitution, our integrity, our economy and for many of our most patriotic lives in ruin. And that’s not even getting into the American soldiers who have lost their lives in Bush’s war for oil, nor does it account for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in the middle east.




Story continues at:
http://rfkjrforpresident.com/2009/01/14/op...

With the economy plunging, an Illinois political scandal brewing, and the Middle East igniting (again), this seems a rather ridiculous time for the media to be putting so much time, energy and precious column inches into analyzing Caroline Kennedy’s speech patterns. But hey — like, you know…this is supposed to be a slow news week, you know?

You know, it’s that time of year traditionally reserved for “best and worst moments of 2008″ fluff stuff and election retrospectives, you know, and we just think that…well, you know, maybe this year the media should be like, paying more attention to what’s going on in the world, you know. Because it’s not like any other year, you know, when We The Media can take a nice long nap between December 23 and January 2, because, you know, there’s like nothing going on, anyway…

No, this year, you know, we’re like, facing the greatest domestic economic crisis since the Great Depression, you know. While we were sleeping, the robber barons of Wall St. made out like bandits and left the American people holding the…you know….the bag, or whatever. Israel and Palestine are teetering on the brink of all-out war; and so are…like, India and Pakistan, you know. While our incoming President-elect is preparing to take the oath of in 21 days, our outgoing lame duck is passing out pardons like party hats in Times Square, and you know, somebody ought to be like, keeping an eye on him.

But you know, the press in this country really can’t be, you know, bothered with those uh, political things, because they’re too….like…you know, uh, political or something.

Besides, it’s a lot more fun to make fun of the way Caroline Kennedy um, talks…you know?

(END EXCERPT)



Full story with video continues at:
http://rfkjrforpresident.com/2008/12/31/so... /

RFK JR. IS GREEN, BUT NOT WITH ENVY

Bobby Kennedy Jr. is cheering on his cousin Caroline as she makes a run for Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat. But some Democrats still wonder why the “better-qualified Kennedy” isn’t laying claim to the office his father once held.

“Caroline is a smart woman, but expecting her to fight for New York in the U.S. Senate is like sending a butterfly collector into an NFL football game,” says a Kennedy intimate. “Bobby has proven his toughness in battling polluters and other arenas. The guy was willing to serve 30 days in jail to stop military exercises in Vieques, Puerto Rico.”

Another Democratic strategist concurs: “Bobby has a record of activism. Caroline has been involved in education. But she’s so shy. Your pedigree doesn’t qualify you to be a senator.”

Bobby did give serious thought to the Senate during a recent trip to Bhutan with wife Mary. When he returned, he consulted with his uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy, his siblings, and with Caroline. But on Dec. 2, he announced in The New York Times that he’d decided that, if Gov. Paterson appointed him to the Senate, the campaign for reelection in 2010 would mean he’d rarely see his family.

Friends say there were other considerations. “Bobby knew the Republicans would bring up his heroin bust and who knows what else,” says one source. “He could handle it, but he didn’t want to subject his kids to it.”

The Senate salary was also an issue. As Bobby told us recently, “I have six mouths to feed.” A friend notes, “The Kennedys are not as rich as people think they are. He’s finally making a decent living. He gives well over 100 speeches a year and consults for companies.”

Mostly, adds the friend, “Bobby’s happy with what he’s accomplishing. He doesn’t feel it’s his manifest destiny to be a senator.”

(END EXCERPT)


Story continues at:http://rfkjrnews.com/2008/12/24/rfk-jr-mor... /

A rumor no more...

Sounds like Bobby's down with the idea of Caroline replacing Hillary in the U.S. Senate:

http://rfkjrforpresident.com/2008/12/05/rf... /

STRIKE TWO!


Less than a month ago, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told the Huffington Post in response to rumors that he might be tapped to run President Obama’s EPA or Interior Department, “if asked, I will serve.”

Well, it seems that something has changed since then. Either he wasn’t asked, or was asked and after weighing the various options and potential consequences, decided that a cabinet post is not in his future.

Today, the NY Daily News is reporting that if asked, Kennedy most likely will not serve after all:

- Robert Kennedy Jr. sounds like he’s definitely taking himself out of the running for head of the Environmental Protection Agency. “I have six mouths to feed,” the eco-crusader told us at Monday’s Waterkeeper Alliance/Conde Nast soiree, where James Blunt performed. “But I’d love to be involved with anything the Obama administration does.”

Kennedy told the crowd he’s now “driving a Lexus hybrid. My daughters said it’s the first grown-up car I’ve had.”

So that, apparently, settles that! Looks like Mr. Kennedy won’t be going to Washington this year. Or next.

But what about that senate seat? Ever since President-elect Obama announced Hillary Clinton as his nominee for secretary of state on Monday, speculation has run rampant as to whether or not Kennedy would be appointed to fill out her term of office in the senate. But no, it appears he doesn’t want that gig, either.

JUST SAY NO

Yesterday, RFK Jr. telephoned New York governor David Paterson and asked that his name be removed from the list of potential appointees. Considering that he has often expressed a strong desire to reclaim the senate seat once held by his father, the reaction to Kennedy’s announcement has been a mix of surprise and disappointment among his many faithful supporters.

The push for Kennedy as Clinton’s replacement was strong; there was even a short-lived Facebook group organized to promote RFK Jr. for the Senate (Kennedy was the only contender to have such support).

But Kennedy isn’t alone in his mad dash for the sidelines. He’s got good company on the bench. On Monday, Nita Lowey (D-Westchester), once considered a prime choice, withdrew her name from consideration. And on Tuesday, former president Bill Clinton announced that he was “not interested” in occupying his wife’s senate seat when/if it becomes available. So that’s three down, hundreds more hopefuls to go...

Story continues at:
http://rfkjrnews.com/2008/12/03/rfk-jr-out... /

HAD ANOTHER "HOLY CRAP!" MOMENT...

While browsing through the various and sundry news reports marking the 45th anniversary of the JFK Assassination yesterday, I was struck by one strange but nonetheless glaring error which was reported by several major news organizations around the globe. From a curiously uncited wire service report:

"It was 45 years ago today that President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed as he rode in an open limousine in a motorcade through downtown Dallas.

The gunshots rang out shortly before noon as crowds lining the street watched in horror as the president slumped over in the backseat of his limousine, with fatal wounds to his head and neck."...

Okay , now take a closer look at the second paragraph. Anything jump out at you? (OK, besides the fact that the entire paragraph is one big sloppy run-on sentence.)

The wire copy reports that shots rang out “just before noon.” As anyone who has ever read a history book knows, President Kennedy was shot at 12:30 p.m. central time.

This wire story was picked up by local, national, and international news outlets around the world yesterday. All of them ran the erroneous text exactly as it appears above. Obviously, not a single copy editor at any of these media organizations who ran the article noticed or corrected the error. Even more troubling is that none of their readers or viewers did, either. (Or, if they did notice and complain, their comments and letters to the editor were censored.)

Even when I tuned in to hear Dan Rather talk about covering the assassination on Mike Huckabee’s primetime weekend FoxNews program, I was appalled to hear this exact same error repeated again during Fox’s top-of-the-hour news break at 8 p.m. eastern. This time from the lacquered lips of weekend newsbunny, Emerson College grad and Emmy-award winning anchor Julie Banderas:

“And on this day in 1963, the people of Dallas, Texas, lined the downtown streets for a glimpse of their young president as his motorcade drove past. President John F. Kennedy rode in the back of an open limousine, waving and smiling to the throng. Then, just before noon, the smiles in Dealey Plaza turned to horror as shots rang out…”

Oh, for heaven’s sake, I muttered to myself, can’t they even be bothered to get the basic facts straight on the 45th anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination, when the whole world is watching?

In any murder case — certainly in the most hotly-debated murder case of the 20th century — 30 minutes makes a huge difference. Had shots rang out “just before noon” as erroneously reported, the president would have been assassinated while deplaning Air Force One. (Kennedy’s plane touched down at Dallas Love Field just before noon.) The only motorcade in Dallas that day would have been the one rushing him immediately to the nearest hospital. He would have been pronounced dead by 12:30 p.m., and history would have been written very differently.

Yeah, in a parallel universe. The one inhabited by lazy wire service writers who make up alternate versions of history out of thin air. (Because there is not an encyclopedia in the world which reports JFK’s murder as having taken place before noon.) The fantasy world populated by copy editors at mainstream media outlets worldwide who are apparently too stupid (or at the least mentally-challenged) to fact-check a story. The universe filled with attractive talking heads (”anchor” is too complimentary a word for them) who are too dense and self-absorbed to know or even care if the story they are reading to millions of viewers is accurate.

JOURNALISM 101 CLASS IS NOW IN SESSION
The first thing an aspiring reporter learns in journalism school is that every story must answer five questions: WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, AND WHY? (Also known as “the five W’s”) The questions must be addressed in the first two paragraphs of the story (known as the “lede”), and the information must be accurate, based on information provided by at least two reliable sources.

In the case of President Kennedy’s assassination, accurate information which answers the first four questions is readily available from any library, history book, encyclopedia, newspaper archive, or a basic web search. This stuff ain’t rocket science. Any ten year-old taking a history exam could gather the following:

WHO? — President John F. Kennedy

WHAT? — Assassination

WHEN? — November 22, 1963 at 12:30 p.m.

WHERE? — In a motorcade traveling down Elm Street in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas.

Now, as for that tricky fifth question — WHY? — that’s the rest of your story.

WHY is the question the American people still want answered, even after 45 years.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to count on our press to find the answer to that one (a notion that certainly wouldn’t surprise longtime JFK conspiracy researchers). After all, if they can’t even give us an accurate account of WHEN the president was killed (a fact of the case which has never been in dispute), how could we expect them to do any serious investigation into WHY the president was killed?

(SNIP)...

Story continues at:

http://rfkjrforpresident.com/2008/11/23/op... /

NOVEMBER 22

Today marks 45 years since President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.

It is a time when all Americans (even those who were not yet born in 1963) stop to reflect on what our country lost that day – for we lost so much more than more than just a man — and we ponder what role that tragic event played in shaping the world we now find ourselves living in.

While it is important that we pause to remember the past, and to ask these questions about America’s future (he would want us to), let’s not allow ourselves to forget the man Jack Kennedy was. Because it seems that far too often, we focus our attention on his death and the many questions that still remain unanswered. Shouldn’t we instead remember his life?

Since this somber anniversary happens to fall around Thanksgiving, it just doesn’t seem appropriate somehow to be mournful. Rather, let us give thanks for all of the good things he brought to this world as a catalyst for change. Let us recall the way he inspired people around the globe; the hope and optimism he brought to the presidency. Let’s celebrate his vision, his strength, his courage, his razor-sharp mind, his grace, charm, and of course, that delightful, sometimes wicked wit.

This would be a perfect time to reach for one of your favorite books on the shelf and immerse yourself in some of his words. Listen to some of his best speeches. Because these things are the legacy he left us. His words will live forever in history and cannot be erased.

Naturally, we all have our own favorite books and speeches of JFK’s; I’ve certainly got a long list of works I find deeply moving and inspiring, but I’ll refrain from making any recommendations here because I feel that how each of us remembers him today should be a strictly personal choice.

But there is one little tidbit I want to share:

On November 19, 1963, just three days before his death, President Kennedy wrote this message for the rededication ceremonies of the national cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania:

“The goals of liberty and freedom, the obligations of keeping ours a government of and for the people are never-ending.”

Just one sentence, but this says it all. Written exactly 45 years ago, these words serve to remind us all that there is still so much work to do. Lest we forget.



President John Fitzgerald Kennedy

May 29, 1917- November 22, 1963



Story, photo and video gallery at:
http://rfkjrforpresident.com/2008/11/22/45... /

FROM THE RUMOR MILL

It appears that Senator Barack Obama is already thinking forward to January, and has some very firm ideas in mind as to who will serve in his administration.

According to Politico.com, a couple of Kennedys are on his short list, and RFK Jr. is one of them.

Citing “sources close to Barack Obama,” the article says that Caroline Kennedy may be tapped as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is being given “serious consideration” for Secretary of the Interior.

The list of other potential cabinet officials is long and fascinating, indeed - how about Sen. Gary Hart as Homeland Security Director? Bill Richardson as Secretary of State? Al Gore as “Ambassador at large on climate change” (hey, is that a real job?) and even a few Republicans as well, most notably California Governor (and Kennedy cousin-by-marriage) Arnold Schwarzenegger as Secretary of Energy.

If Obama wins the presidency next Tuesday, it looks very possible that for the Kennedys, an Obama administration could become a “family affair.”

Full story at:
http://rfkjrnews.com/2008/11/01/obama-a-ca... /

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