The Kennedys: Dissing Hillary, Endorsing Barack, Ignoring Bush

In a New York Times op-ed on Sunday, Caroline Kennedy delivered a truly stunning and unassailable proclamation: Sen. Barack Obama would be a “President like my father.” There’s no denying her proclamation amounts to a slap in the face of all politicians (like Bill Clinton) who have spent decades touting themselves as heirs to JFK’s political legacy.

Here, in part, is what she wrote:

Given that, recall the hissy fit Bill threw after Obama merely suggested that Ronald Reagan was a more “transformative” president than he. Because only then can you appreciate what a devastating injury Caroline’s endorsement must have inflicted on his fragile ego. Not to mention the blow to Hillary’s imperial candidacy.

The insult was compounded moments later when Caroline’s uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), endorsed Obama as well. This could only have been exacerbated by reports that Bill pleaded with Kennedy in recent days to either endorse Hillary or stay neutral.

His desperate pleas are understandable — Kennedy is the only person in the Democratic Party whose influence rivals Bill’s, especially among poor whites, blacks, and Hispanics.

Remember Bill’s dismissive comment about Jesse Jackson winning South Carolina in ’84 and ’88? What he was really saying to the blacks of South Carolina, and implicitly to all black Americans, is “y’all can kiss my white ass because we don’t need you to win!” Given that Hispanics now outnumber blacks, he may be right.

Of course, no black had a greater duty to address this question than Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison. After all, she’s primarily responsible for injecting into black consciousness the patently absurd notion that Bill is “the first black president of the United States.”

“White skin notwithstanding, this is our first black president. Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children’s lifetime.“ [Toni Morrison in 1998]

Therefore, I’m pleased Morrison joined the Kennedys today in announcing her endorsement of Obama, as not only naturally but also politically far more worthy of this honor. I just hope the many influential blacks who parroted her self-abnegating praise of Bill Clinton will now follow her commendable lead by eating their words as well.

Meanwhile, does anyone care that President Bush is delivering his final State of the Union Address tonight? Anticipating the drama that has now unfolded in this year’s presidential campaign, here’s what I predicted about Bush’s 2007 State of the Union Address:

Was iPINIONS right or what!

NOTE: The Clintons are trying to counter the endorsements of the senator and Caroline by trumpeting endorsements by the children of Robert F. Kennedy (RFK). Unfortunately, this effort is greatly undermined by a report in the New York Times today that their mother:

Ethel, the widow of RFK, referred to Mr. Obama…as ‘our next president’ and likened him to her late husband.

Now, with the Kennedys proclaiming Obama the only legitimate heir to the political legacies of both JFK and RFK, let us pray that their endorsements do not turn out to be as much a blessing as a curse.