The Clintons and the Kennedys

Please excuse my slightly odd introduction.

Sometimes, when I look at the world with despair, I think about …

I’ll Walk With You

Sara, disabled and using a wheelchair, is having a rough day. The harsh comments from a schoolmate makes it even worse. Ashley is a girl who wants to make a difference. She befriends Sara, helps her to feel good about herself, and ends up making a difference in Sara’s life. Ashley’s example helps teach children how to treat others with disabilities.

Set contains: 3 full body puppets, wheelchair, leg braces, crutches, hearing aids, glasses, cane, Mom Accessory set (not shown), CD with recorded script and original music, and teacher’s guide with discussion ideas and classroom activities to be used as a follow-up to the puppet show.

It’s easy to poke fun at this sort of thing, and full body puppets are pretty ridiculous, but the thing that makes me happiest in the world is seeing Ashleys sticking up for Saras. I suppose that’s why I’m so pleased to see Frank Rich stating the plain truth about the Clinton Machine.

But Saras also need to speak up for themselves. As Rich put it,

If Mr. Obama doesn’t fight, no one else will. Few national Democratic leaders have the courage to stand up to the Clintons

There are a few Senate Democrats who have backbone, including Ted Kennedy, the only endorsement other than that of Al Gore that matters at this stage. Observe, in marked contrast, the pitiful ranks of Clinton backers: Maria Cantwell, who bought her Senate seat with rent-seeking dot-com millions that evaporated as quickly as they were made, or Chuck Schumer, who is famous for hating Clinton’s guts. Robert Shakedown Menendez. Oh right, when the news broke that Ted Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy were backing Obama and not their fellow dynast, the Clintons dredged up a whole slew of lesser Kennedys, including a former lieutenant governor of Maryland who lost a gubernatorial race in an overwhelmingly Democratic state by spurning black voters and choosing a white ex-Republican as her running mate (foreshadowing?), and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. RFK Jr. famously argued that the 2004 election was stolen from his friend John Kerry by nefarious elements, possibly including gremlins. Now, let’s see, which other Kennedys have endorsed the Clintons … Seamus McKennedy, a Skid Row boozehound? Or Kennedy, the now-retired MTV VJ? Actually, it turns out that Kennedy is a libertarian, which complicates matters. The Clintons could try to recruit Spencer Ackerman favorites The Dead Kennedys, though that seems unlikely. My guess is they’re too busy working on Jerry Brown’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign. That, of course, doesn’t mean the Clintons can’t draw on the necromantic arts to win the endorsement of various actual dead Kennedys, like notorious xenophobe Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.., who I’m sure would be almost as appalled as the Clintons are by the prospect of Barack Obama as president of the United States.