This morning, I awoke with a list of answers:
1. Because we respect her sadness — her beautiful family, all gone.
2. Because we are awed by the grandeur expressed in the lack of need to doll herself up. Have you ever heard the expression "WASP makeup"? I read it, perhaps in Vogue, in the 1970s. Do you know what WASP makeup is? Lipstick. It is we lesser women who see a need for more than a swipe of dull pink lipstick.
3. Because her wrinkled skin means a life lived, and we don't know exactly how this enigma lived. Did she loll about in the sun? Did she chain-smoke? Did she take drugs? Did she anguish?
4. Because if that's what 51 looks like, then don't we look young? We have an interest in perceiving her as the norm.
5. Because she's so thin. Thinness immunizes you from all sorts of criticisms about wrinkly skin and absence of glamour.
6. Glamour? There is no greater glamour than to be Caroline Kennedy. You can't layer glamour on top of glamour.
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64 comments:
Say six novenas and call me in the morning.
Caroline, why the long face?
Seriously, I recently read an article on Eunice Kennedy and Caroline seems to resemble her.
Glamour? Grandeur? Ya gotta stop buying into the media drug, professor.
She looks like she's spent her life working in an Alaska salmon cannery, except for the hair dye.
She's just another rich and powerful person who thinks she's entitled to lord it over the rest of us. Worst of all, like the rest of them, she doesn't know she's not wanted. At least Nixon knew when to quit. Really, if Illinois were an independent country, Blago would be doing the Mugabe mad dictator thing forever.
The most amazing this is how bad her PR has been. If she was a real player, she would have prepped the media battlespace with endless vapid news articles and photo features about her fabulous wardrobe.
Her cousin Robert, the environut, is a master at managing his image, but it didn't do him much good either, re: getting a job with Obama.
You can read what you want into another person's face.
What I see when I look at that photo of Caroline Kennedy is emptiness. The emptiness of an unfulfilling life, of not having the sorts of accomplishments others expect of you. A life made easy by wealth, and difficult now that the children are grown and there is little reason to remain at home.
Uh, isn't the main reason no one is making catty comments about her the same basic reason that talk show hosts didn't joke about Obama? It's because she's one of the liberal Annointed Ones (being the only surviving child of an Annointed father) and the liberal columnists like Maureen Dowd, and the liberal nighttime talk show hosts and their liberal writers, and the liberal comics, and the liberal SNL writers, aren't going to do more than a token riff on the flaws of an Annointed One anyway, and especially not about someone like Caroline Kennedy who they know couldn't stand up to ridicule, no matter how gentle, anyway. I don't think it's anything more complicated than that.
Now Mark, I have no doubt that Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson are dusting off the same questions they asked Sarah Palin in anticipation of an interview with Caroline Kennedy. The very same questions.
But they'll bring her comfy pillows and chamomile tea.
Quite simply, from the liberal POV, Caroline Kennedy is you know, one of us, and Palin is, well the wrong sort altogether.
What Pogo said, except it's more of a class thing than a political thing. Caroline Kennedy looks the average 50-something WASP matron, which is to say she looks like air, you can't (if you are a New Yorker on the fringes of society, like most reporters) even see anything to say about her. You could see 100 like her at a Chapin parents' cocktail party, or at the Maidstone, or wherever.
Of course, she's not strictly a WASP, but that's not enough of an issue to make a difference.
scars are trophies for men but not for women. well sometimes yes and no..., i think i feel the airpressure changing in my crotch.
Of course, she's not strictly a WASP, but that's not enough of an issue to make a difference.
She is no WASP. She's lace curtain Irish.
I am not getting why we would make catty remarks about Caroline Kennedy's looks.
No, she is not a beauty like Sarah Palin. But I happen to think that she's very sweet and normal looking. She has a warm look to me. Someone said "salt of the earth" look...I agree with that. Not unattractive at all.
I really love that she doesn't look like she obsesses about her looks.
If by "not obsesses" you mean "doesn't give a good goddamn", then I agree.
Her exterior is a perfect reflection of her dead-to-the-core interior. A woman without an original thought, you know, who, you know, has never had to, you know, ever do a blessed thing in her, you know, life.
By all means, she should become a senator. She has earned it, afterall.
Can I summarize for Michael_H, Pogo, Mark, and Original George (and my own views)?
She doesn't get catty comments about her looks because she's not a Republican. If she had a different party affiliation she'd be treated differently. She'd have the same resume, same ancestry, same views, and same looks, but she'd be treated way differently. End of story.
My wife is almost a decade older, and looks a thousand times better, even after more than thirty years of being married to me.
Do you know her, heywoot?
"I am not getting why we would make catty remarks..."
I think she's quite pretty, really, and no, we shouldn't do so.
But it is a study in stark contrast to the colonoscopy and dumpster-diving negative research Palin received.
Big Mike called it.
I am not getting why we would make catty remarks about Caroline Kennedy's looks.
...But I happen to think that she's very sweet and normal looking. She has a warm look to me
Since I've never watched her, I looked at you-tube videos of her and she looks perfectly fine, normal, for a 50+ year old.
Dems don't make fun of Dems if they are the right kind of Dems.
Hillary Clinton was the wrong type of Dem for enough Dems that it was okay to other Dems to pick on her.
The Dems and the media overplayed their Palin hand...now people expect them to hold themselves to the standard they created.
Thank you for that, Pogo. I agree with you and Big Mike on the stark contrast in media/pundit behavior.
Big Mike got it right.
Ditto on the better lookin' wife....
"She is no WASP."
I know, but she wears WASP makeup. It's a style.
1. Ann, why are you playing stupid on this? You couldn't possibly not know the answer.
2. A point on Palin. She was attacked because she was a conservative, Republican, abortion-hating, war-endorsing candidate. BUT another big reason was because the left immediately recognized that she was GOOD AT THIS POLITICS THING. Not that she was ready to be President (not that Obama or Biden are either), but that she had that rare whatever-it-is that excites people and moves crowds. Because of this, she had to be destroyed, not simply disagreed with, but pummeled. So they did. They (the liberal left) recognized her as a DANGER - red flags everywhere. Hey, that good looking young vibrant candidate is going to KILL us, if we don't do it to her first.
I think she looks fine. She seems as dumb as a post and shouldn't be allowed to fumble her way into Kennedy dynastic succession, but she looks fine.
Well, you can have all those BS excuses, or you can have the facts:
CKS is a die hard liberal from a liberal dynasty. She gets a pass on almost everything.
Sarah Palin is conservative, so we get POS liberals making conjecture that she didn't really have her own kid, that she wastes money on clothes (after she buys clothes because the same people ragged on her for being trailer trash).
This is about nothing other than the same democrats who believe in "free speech for me, but not for thee". They can abuse Palin for pretty, Kathleen Harris for some bad pictures that accentuate her makeup, but no one is allowed to go after a Caroline Skeletor Schlossberg or the most godaweful ugly woman on the planet next to Helen Thomas, Madilyn Albright.
Also, I have to object to the commentators who claim that Caroline Kennedy's life is somehow empty: life as a Park Avenue matron (beautiful apartment, upper-income professional husband, children in private school, well-dressed, successful friends and fun parties)is actually the pinnacle of human fulfillment. We upper-middle-class New Yorkers know the answer to the question the philosophers have asked about what constitutes the good life. We have examined all of human history and culture, and we have the absolutely best life that human beings have had or can have.
Of course, my wife is even prettier than Caroline Kennedy.
Look up Regression to the Mediocre. In short, some people are outliers on the bell curve. They are exceptional; beauty, brains, charm, stature, whatever. But their children will be close to the average. This is why hereditary aristocracies always fail.
Caroline is just an average woman, average looks, average brains, but she inherited wealth and a famous name and she's coasting on that right into the Senate.
At least Hillary had to sleep her way to the top.
I find it refreshing to see a famous, over-50 face on TV or in a still image that can still show some form of emotion. The never ending display of nerve-deadened, tight-as-a-drum faces presented in the media gives me the creeps.
At least Hillary had to sleep her way to the top.
I thought she used surrogates.
While no fan of the Kennedys, I like the way Caroline Kennedy looks. She looks authentic.
When we hate someone, as many did Palin, nothing about them is pleasing. Those opposing Caroline Kennedy's appointment do not appear to hate her. She has taken no positions to hate. She has done nothing to hate. We consider her undeserving, we may have contempt for the family, but I don't think we hate her. Catty comments come from hate.
Ann is right about the style of make-up. I was taught that make-up should make one look better, but not made up. If you could tell I was wearing it, I hadn't done a good job.
Because she's a democrat and she's one of them. You don't make fun of your own kind. I am no Palin fan but come to think of it and looking objectively Palin was much better looking than this pasty face dumb princess. I disagree with Palin for the segment of "dumb conservatism" she represented, but at least she had certain impressive accomplishments in local and state governments. On the other hand Kennedy has everything handed to her since her birth including this senate career. Come on Dems, please prove me that you are a better party than this.
Michael H nailed it. Once the children have flown the nest what's a lady to do? Lunch? And then what? She's bored. Think of the endless dreary afternoons. C'mon people, we owe her that senate seat.
She has taken no positions to hate. She has done nothing to hate. We consider her undeserving, we may have contempt for the family, but I don't think we hate her. Catty comments come from hate.
She has done nothing to merit "inheriting" a Senate seat. Period. Verbally, she comes of as vacuous and empty. Hopefully that isn't a reflection of her inner soul, although I believe given her upbringing and priviledged cocoon of a life, it probably is. She may be a charitably minded wealthy dilettante but since when did we become a country of titled and blooded Lords and Ladies? She doesn't deserve to be elevated without having paid her political dues and we as a country don't deserve to go down this path.
As to her looks. She looks like she could use a few pounds on her bones. She looks like a heavy smoker and unhealthy. She looks unhappy. She has also, unfortunately, inherited the Kennedy horse teeth. All of those things she could do something about.
The reasons that no one is making catty remarks about Caroline Schlossberg are so patently obvious and so disgustingly hypocritical that they need not be listed.
We do not criticize the "royalty". We do however take great pains to put the lower classes such as Palin in their place. Nasty upstarts. How dare she!! She must be crushed for the temerity.
Why aren't people making catty comments? She's a Democrat and a Kennedy, and the media has become Pravda. Its not hard to figure out. If there was an R after her name she'd be under constant attack.
Meeeow, Althouse.
She's wearing a lot more than lipstick in that picture.
There is a certain... look... to women born to wealth.
Genetics what they are, men only have to be rich, they may marry someone from the lower classes who is beautiful, but they are more likely to marry the daughter of a rich man who looks a whole lot like her father.
There's also the element of who we see on television and in magazines. We see the beautiful people (which helps us all feel fat and dumpy) and the rich people (which helps us feel attractive after all.)
Republicans and Palin remind me of married friends I've gone vacation with that inevitably meet another drunk married chick, throw caution to the wind and say stupid things, hanging out with their new love instead of being on the fishing boat, and just be the most insufferable idiot possible. Except Republicans don't appear smart enough to get on the plane back to reality on Sunday.
DBQ, I agree that she shouldn't be given that Senate seat. Sorry if I didn't make that clear. But even you don't seem to hate her. You hate the situation, you hate the previous dissing of Palin in the press, but I don't get the feeling you hate Schlossberg.
Come to think of it, I'm more interested in how the Schlossberg has increasingly disappeared from her name.
For a 62-year-old, I think she looks pretty good.
I agree with Henry Buck. At least she doesn't have that 'plastic surgery' face that actresses and other public-types get these days as soon as they hit forty. Everyone looks a little like Michael Jackson now! Caroline is not botoxed and collagen-lipped into wierdness, thank goodness.
Oh, that Senate thing? Why should this appointee be qualified, or, indeed, competent at governance. The rest of them aren't.
Geez, Garage.
Doesn't this and blago episodes show how screwed up demorats are? Their whole argument has always been they are better than repugs, but it didn't even take them that long to prove that they are as screwed up if not more. It's been real fun to watch the RATS after the mighty fall of the PUBES. The RATS have become the defacto party of ultra rich, media and social elites, blacks and hispanics and other wackos. I don't know how long they can keep all these interest groups together.
madman, both ends of the social scale live off the government tit. Which means that, in answer to your question, the RATS can keep the support of both the top and the bottom forever.
Especially since the PUBES show over and over again that they neither love nor support the middle of the social scale, ya know, the working whites that the two ends live off.
"Republicans and Palin remind me of married friends I've gone vacation with..."
You have friends? Surprising.
Hey Garage, Caroline is cuter than Hillary! Neener neener.
Sigh. The moving finger writes; and, having writ,
moves on & jumps over the quick brown fox, or something like that:
We’re on a new Caroline Kennedy thread.
In addition to your Top Six (too early in the morning for a Top 10?), I would add that it’s the politics of personal destruction. A Conservative/Libertarian has to be as intellectual & as articulate as Bill Buckley & as handsome/beautiful as Venus or Adonis. (And a good speller!)
And Liberals who do ad hominem attacks on Conservatives are considered to be Oscar Wildes. Even if they repeat their comparisons, as they do & even if their comparisons are kindergarten-ish
Funny, in addition to his undesirable, unspeakable character defects, Charlie Rangel is an inarticulate mumbler in his public appearances but such comments are apparently racist & off limits.
And no, I don’t know why the white (is that racist?) gloves are off for poor Caroline.
BTW, Rumor has it that Caroline K is so dense that she was going to change “Schlossberg” to “Mountjoy” because that sounded nice.
[No lessons on translation, please. Ich verstehe: Schloss (Shloß) = Castle; it's a joke for Irish-Americans like myself.]
You hate the situation, you hate the previous dissing of Palin in the press, but I don't get the feeling you hate Schlossberg.
No. I don't hate her. In fact I feel sorry for her. She was raised in priviledge and wealth, but that doesn't always make a person happy or grounded. She had a very difficult childhood and lots of stress from her mother, the press, the rest of the kennedy clan. Living in the limelight is not a pleasant experience.
Nevertheless, she should not be elevated on high merely because she swam in the Kennedy gene pool.
Hey Garage, Caroline is cuter than Hillary! Neener neener.
I don't know about that one. Think? I'm not really into the Maria Shriver skeletor look. I like curvy, volumptious women. Like Kim Kardashian's body is a damn near perfect work of art. Gaze, and behold that ass. Good Lord.
Oh, and the most important explanation:
She looks real, and is a genuine person - unlike all the overly made-up phonies that the easily distracted crowd is turned on by.
You can now continue.
Caroline looks fine to me. While she may be Irish, the WASP look is available to all affluent people in one form or another, and she pulls it off very well. Though I agree with Garage regarding the benefits of bodacious volumptuousness, however.
"And Liberals who do ad hominem attacks on Conservatives are considered to be Oscar Wildes."
Oh, surely you exaggerate. Because you must admit that calling a portly fellow "a big fat idiot" is clearly a brilliant bon mot worthy of a Senate seat.
That is what evil looks like.
Desiccated dried up prune evil, but evil none the less.
A judicious sprinkle of holy water will end this right now.
I hold no brief for the Kennedys. Teddy is a walking joke, and I find it absurd that Caroline thinks she should be able to walk into the Senate merely because she's decided she wants to.
But this stuff about her looks is childish, unnecessarily cruel, and in my view as a 61 year old male, inaccurate. I would not confuse her with Catherine Zeta Jones, but that's an unreasonable standard. Caroline is reasonably attractive; it's just that reasonable attractiveness is hardly a qualification for electoral office.
In the previous post, I was sufficiently disparaging of Caroline. Herewith some words of praise: Everyone is comparing her to Sarah Palin, but I think the proper reference point would be Elliot Spitzer. Spitzer was the scion of a (non-glamorous) dynasty. He was not called the Sheriff of Wall Street for nothing. He paid expensive public relations experts a fortune to craft that image. Underneath that horse face and expensive education, there was quite a lot of vacuity. He was clueless about the grand crimes being committed on his turf while gaining a reputation for vigilance and intelligence.... Why should the horse face features of rich men be read as determination and righteousness (ha!) while the horse face features of rich women are so quickly dismissed. Rampant sexism.....I don't think Caroline is any kind of politician, and she has done nothing to merit being senator. She, nonetheless, remains a star. Chris Dodd has lived up to the family tradition of mediocrity and corruption, and it passes unnoticed. The fact that Caroline inspires this much hostility is a validation of her appeal.
Well she has to get a new job since they cancelled Tales from the Crypt and she lost that gig.
There's no business like show business.
rdkraus - BUT another big reason was because the left immediately recognized that she was GOOD AT THIS POLITICS THING. Not that she was ready to be President (not that Obama or Biden are either), but that she had that rare whatever-it-is that excites people and moves crowds. Because of this, she had to be destroyed, not simply disagreed with, but pummeled. So they did. They (the liberal left) recognized her as a DANGER - red flags everywhere. Hey, that good looking young vibrant candidate is going to KILL us, if we don't do it to her first.
You give the Right-Wing Goddess far too much credit. As alienating as she is to independents, moderate Republicans, not to mention Democrats - she is a dream candidate for the other side. She could get 30% of America - fundies and hardcore conservatives, and lose all the rest. That means not only did she cost McCain votes outside the South and Alaska, but unless she REALLY changes and proves herself more than a poorly informed but photogenic pagent queen candidate - that's about all she can win if the 5-year journalism major somehow runs and survives the primary process in 2011-2012.
"that good looking young vibrant candidate is going to KILL us..."
Yeah, the Dems are about as scared of the Goddess of Republicans clinging to 30-year old mostly discredited ideas and talking points as the Reps were about the good looking young vibrant John Edwards who had women melting in 2004.
Palin is Lady Di for the non-gay Fundies and those to the right of Reagan.
As for Caroline, like Palin, she is another empty skirt (of even less accomplishment and knowledge). She doesn't need a facelift or lots of makeup because All the Doors that matter to her, in her world, are wide open to her Divine Goddess self. They have been since she was a preteen.
Some of the resident photoshop adepts can demonstrate it: put a male hairstyle on that picture and that is the face of a man. So we're stifling our inner cats because of the weird and nervous reverence we feel for hermaphrodites.
Some of the resident photoshop adepts can demonstrate it: put a male hairstyle on that picture and that is the face of a man. So we're stifling our inner cats because of the weird and nervous reverence we feel for hermaphrodites.
So...I guess I'm the only one who likes her teeth?
Because you must not critize SKELETOR!
I think she's very pretty.
I also think it's obvious, as others have pointed out, why there aren't catty comments. She's a liberal, not a conservative. Also, while Caroline is very pretty, Palin is gorgeous. The gorgeous often send cattiness into overdrive with certain people.
Looks like 51 years of age, with 71 years of stress.
The one really big thing I DON'T see in her face is vanity.
Those are some beautiful thoughts Ann.
But what are you talking about? Please explain for those of us to whom CK means nothing.
Not a snark, just truth.
From tragic heroes to ignorant clowns in a single generation. Surely, a record for speed of degeneration.
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