idiocy from the Boston Globe

[MBS]

I really, truly cannot understand why Vennochi still has a job at this newspaper.
It's a long, long descent from the still-missed insights of Nyhan and Tom Oliphant. .

First, there was her tacky death-watch for Teddy, speculating about replacements from the moment he was diagnosed, and continuing through his funeral. Now she's back to her all-time favorite topic.:mad:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/09/10/will_kerry_seize_his_moment_to_shine/

Here's a brief sample.. I couldn't bear to copy the rest. :argh: :mad:

Will Kerry seize his moment to shine?


CAN Senator John Kerry ever escape Ted Kennedy’s shadow?


Can the Reflecting Pool ever get out of the way of the Washington Monument? Can Pepsi ever beat Coke?

There’s something about Kerry that makes it hard to crown him number one senator from Massachusetts, even though he now is.

He was first elected to the US Senate in 1984. Yet, after more than two dozen years in Washington, he is still saying it sounds “presumptuous’’ for him to take up Kennedy’s mantel.

No one thought it presumptuous for Matt Cassel to step up after New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady went down with an injury last season. Fans knew Cassel was not Brady, but they still wanted the second banana to fight as hard as he could for the team and the top job.

. . .

Kerry is something of a hard-luck story, wrapped in the trappings of Washington power.

An LTE would be a good thing right now. I'm wrapped up in work pressures-- anyone else care to step up?
(Oh, and don't bother to read the blog comments from the usual suspects).

[Inuca]

1. She takes a comment that

is meant to show respect and admiration for Kennedy and morphs it into something negative. Idiotic.

[karynnj]

2. Exactly -

Not to mention, Kennedy was just (rightly) spoken of as the best legislator of all time - with the only competition being Daniel Webster.

The thing that is really stupid is that she doesn't get that Kerry won his party's nomination, with no help from the media and little from the party (Gore and Hardin supported Dean and Clinton unofficially, but publicly supported Clark). Then he would have won had the election been conducted fairly. The fact is though that everyone in 2008 ran on something close to things he favored in 2004. Now, his foreign policy ideas may eventually turn the country from a half decade's bad policies. This would have been easier had he become President, but the chair of the SFRC does give him a significant voice. Just because the economy is the dominant issue does not mean that we are not in 2 wars and dealing with multiple crises.

Kerry's endorsement of Obama was also far bolder and riskier than Obama's decision to throw his hat in the ring. For Obama, running had few real risks - and the CW was that HRC had it sewn up, but it could either make him VP or, at least, given him future visibility. It is also very possible that without the Kerry endorsement, the Clintons would not have gone so negative and Kennedy might have stayed neutral - and without either endorsement, HRC would have clinched on SuperTuesday. (It is easy to forget how close to SuperTuesday the 2 Kennedy endorsements were.)

In addition, the BG needs to decide whether being a senior Senator means anything - as they pointed out a day or so after Kennedy died, that it would not change Kerry's assignments in the Senate. This after years of pointing out that he was just a "junior Senator". They then felt it necessary to point out that Markey, not Kerry was the dean of the delegation. The idea that a Kennedy potentially running in the future could eclipse Kerry is laughable - because of Kerry's many real accomplishments and because seniority means something.

Their guiding rule seems to be, that if Kerry doesn't have something - it is important - like being dean of the delegation. Yet if he has it, it is not important - such as a young Kennedy sometime in the future becoming the JUNIOR (but most important) Senator. The media even diminishes the amount of support Kennedy gave Kerry in 2004 - saying that Obama was the first endorsement - then saying Kerry didn't really count because he was from MA - but, Kennedy was incredibly active in supporting Kerry - far beyond what he did for Tsongus or Dukakis. Kennedy also endorsed Gore in the primary - before NH. They then ignore Kennedy supported Kerry almost immediately in 2005 for 2008.

She is right about one thing. Even in death, Kennedy will still be a point of reference. As a legislator, Kennedy will be hard, if not impossible to beat. However, is that really a contest? They were on the same team. In addition, there were times when Teddy did not look as important as he really was.

[Inuca]

3. Dean of the delegation?

The most senior member? That's what it means?

[karynnj]

4. The person there the longest

I never ever heard it referred to before in Congress. I've heard it used to describe pundits - but even there it never meant the most influential.

[wisteria]

5. How disrespectful of Senator Kennedy's memory and of Senator Kerry.

Apparently, she is pushing for the minority Republican readership in MA. You know the RW always needs to hate someone.

I tried to reply on the site, but I received error messages. I will try again later.