Hot Rod, Sweet Caroline, and Preacher Rick
by Kevin Van Dyke, Editor
December 22, 2008
When the highlights of the last few weeks are wiretaps, profanity, political dynasties, and invocation speakers, you know you’re in political dead season. As the awkward transition from fear to hope continues, here is my view of some of the highlights:
- Hot Rod on Tape
Yes, Mr. Ego himself, Hot Rod Blagojevich, was allegedly caught trying to sell the U.S. Senate Seat being vacated by President-elect Obama. To be honest, this wasn’t much of surprise to me. Blagojevich has long been known in my state of residence as an alleged opportunist crook. I know many who know the governor, and I honestly cannot attest to anyone ever offering good words about him as an individual. He has been a laughing stock, even among Democrats, for years. Before this scandal, he was said to be leaning toward taking his 18% approval rating into a run for a third term in 2010. There are not many good things that came out of this scandal, but at least we’ll be spared of that. Unfortunately, Blagojevich is showing no intentions of resigning, so this mess should drag on a little longer.
- Sweet Caroline’s Ambition
Caroline Kennedy, the once reclusive daughter of JFK that we knew so little about, is actively lobbying New York Governor David Paterson for the appointment to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate. Caroline finally came out of the her self-imposed political exile this past year, co-chairing President-elect Obama’s VP selection committee, and now has apparently caught the family political bug. This lobbying effort has apparently put Governor Paterson and another political legacy, Andrew Cuomo, in a real bind. Cuomo apparently believes the seat is rightfully his. Outside of these two front runners, there are several very qualified candidates, including representative Nydia Velazquez , the chair of the House Small Business Committee and first Hispanic woman to ever chair a full House committee. Although I would prefer someone like Velazquez, if Paterson is going to go with a big name to represent a state used to having big names to represent it, Ms. Kennedy and the Kennedy charisma make more sense than Mr. Cuomo.
- Preacher Rick and the Angry Left
And the left goes crazy… Many on the fringes of the left-wing blogosphere are already one step shy of calling for a primary challenge to President-elect Obama in 2012, in part because of who he selected to give the prayer at his inauguration. This ideological purity litmus test garbage is appalling. In the aftermath of this election, we’ve seen that there are just as many zany political purists on the left as there are on the right. Would Rick Warren as Secretary of HHS be nuts? Of course. But this, in my opinion, is a benign gesture to the millions of younger evangelicals who bucked the wishes of their parents and voted for President-elect Obama. Obama has stated from the beginning of his campaign that he would work with everyone. If you agree with him on 1 out of 10 issues, he’ll work with you on that one issue that you happen to agree on. As such, I don’t understand why so many on the far left are so surprised at this gesture. Obama has always been honest about wanting to do things exactly like this. Were people too caught up in the Obama mystique that they weren’t even listening to what he was saying?
I understand the need by many on the left to “get even” after all the harm that has been done to this country by ideologues on the right over the past eight years. However, seeking revenge for the sake of revenge is no way to make this country better. President-elect Obama is inheriting the worst domestic and international situation of any president in at least three generations. He’ll need the help of many on the other side of the aisle to adequately face these problems. Is health care reform worth a small gesture such as a prayer? It sure is in my book. As Kenny Rogers once said, “you have to know when to hold them…” It seems that President-elect Obama will do his best to build up goodwill among a wide array of Americans and save his political capital for more important issues. If you’re looking for someone that you’ll agree with on everything, Barack Obama is not your man. In fact, he never claimed to be.
[...] for it, hasn’t actually had anyone appointed to it yet. New York Governor David Paterson, who is apparently too scared to tick off either the Kennedy or Cuomo family, has waited nearly two months and still has not selected anyone to fill Hillary Clinton’s Senate [...]
A brief comment on Warren: People were not upset that Obama chose an evangelical. They were upset that he chose one that is anything but inclusive. Obama touts bringing everyone to the table as a way to move forward, while Warren is a firm believe in his way or the highway. This was the issue with Warren and it was played out both before the inauguration and after. Warren has told people of other faiths that they are going to hell. His own church openly excludes LGBT folk. His inauguration speech was exclusively Christian — calling forth the names of Jesus in several languages. Obama should have chosen a leader who believes in open discussions with others, not another my -way-or-the-highway partisan.