To eliminate any possible confusion, this is pornstache Roger Simon, not pimp-hat saintly Pajamas media founder Roger Simon. He has a recent article comparing Roland Burris with Caroline Kennedy:
How come Roland Burris has had such an easy time getting to the U.S. Senate while Caroline Kennedy has had such a hard time?
Could it be that the race card trumps the gender card in U.S. politics?
Or could it be that being appointed to the Senate makes it easier to get seated than not being appointed? It goes downhill from there:
But one thing has always struck me about the Kennedy family: The women don’t get in trouble, but they also don’t get elected to higher office.
He goes on to bring up Kathleen Townsend Kennedy as an example of a Kennedy who was not elected to higher office, even though she was Lieutenant Governor of Maryland. Now, according to Wiki, within her generation, two Kennedies have served in Congress (Joe and Patches) and another in the Maryland State Senate (Mark), so Kathleen held the highest office of any of her generation of Kennedies (of course, in previous generations, there were almost no women of any kind in politics).
And then there’s this:
A better comparison for Palin to make would have been the patty-cake treatment Roland Burris has gotten from the press.
What planet is he living on? On this planet Burris was (rightly) savaged by the press.
(via)
ricky
This has got to be one of the stupidest offerings from an incredibly stupid man.
Jen R
Roland Burris has had an easy time getting to the U.S. Senate?
It’s nice when somebody signals so early in a piece that you don’t need to bother reading the rest.
SnarkIntern
I don’t understand.
DFS
I dunno, the true porn ‘stache is a lot thinner than that. I vote he be dubbed "soup-catcher Roger Simon."
Zifnab
*fap* *fap* *fap* Race Card! *fap* *fap* *fap* Sex Card! *fap* *fap* *fap* Kennedy! *towel* *towel* And ready for print.
So I hear tell there was a police shooting in Oakland, another round of bloody fighting in Gaza, and that whole debate of torture still raging. Nice to know Simon didn’t get distracted.
Maybe next week he can notice that if you think its hard to be nominated as a black Senator out of Illinois or a woman Senator out of New York, don’t even try being a Jewish Comedian out of Minnesota. You can win the freak’n vote and they still won’t seat you.
evie
Burris has been savaged by the press? When?
Keith
Harry Reems scoffs at your assertion.
Brick Oven Bill
I would like to congratulate you DougJ. Just five days ago you were skipping my words, two days ago, you responded to an observation, and today, I am pleased to find a very subtly veiled reference to, what I think, could be me in the body of your text. At this rate, we will be pitching horseshoes and cooking pizzas together in the back yard by spring.
In any case, let me first of all thank God for this, this decision by Governor Blago. This is a good decision. Roland Burris is worthy. He has not in 20 years of public service had one iota of taint on his record. As a public servant, he is an esteemed member of this state and of this community.
DougJ
@evie: Google “burris tainted”.
Dungheap
@DougJ: I presume that’s porn ‘stache related.
JenJen
Pimp-hat Roger Simon kinda looks like Pimp-hat Mikhail Gorbachev.
And darn it, another thing that really sticks in my craw is the constant comparing of Sarah Palin to anyone, anyone at all. How trying to get appointed to a US Senate seat in one state compares trying to win votes across the country to become a heartbeat away from the Presidency escapes me.
The Daily Show nailed it last night: "Blamey Whinehouse."
joe from Lowell
You gotta admit that’s a pretty fly hat.
John Cole
Apparently pasting copyrighted material from PJ media was not enough for DougJ, and now we are moving on towards full frontal assaults on the founder.
This should get interesting.
DougJ
I was careful to say I didn’t mean him!
John Cole
@DougJ:I am reasonably sure they don’t read me anyway.
DougJ
@John Cole: to be perfectly honest, I greatly prefer Roger L. Simon to pornstache Roger Simon.
John Cole
And I
might be a loseram a loser, so keep that in mind when I say I actually like the hat look.I saw a younger guy wearing one the other day while I was walking to the barber shop. It was really weird, because he was well put together and wearing a hat like it was 1956 all over again, and I was thinking to myself how much I liked his look before remembering how much I hate wearing hats. I was constantly in trouble in the army for not keeping my cover on at all times.
Is Mad Men popular enough and mainstream enough that we will see a revival of these lids?
DougJ
The hat look works if you’re a mystery writer. The only thing that beats is a patch over the eye.
Zifnab
Oh my god, if you’re just going to chat like this in the comments section why don’t you two get your own blog?
low-tech cyclist
How come Roland Burris has had such an easy time getting to the U.S. Senate while Caroline Kennedy has had such a hard time?
Could it be that the race card trumps the gender card in U.S. politics?
Yes, that’s incredibly stupid. It’s really "Could it be that a done deal trumps one that’s still in play?" (A. Well, duuuuuuuuh.)
The reason why Burris had as easy a time as he did, was that the first time most of us heard of him was when he was already appointed in an apparently quite legal way by the guy who still has the authority to make that appointment.
Whether or not you liked Burris, whether or not you liked the idea of Blago appointing the next Senator from Illinois, there wasn’t anything to be done about it.
Caroline Kennedy, OTOH, hasn’t yet been appointed, and has been ‘running’ for that appointment ever since it became likely that Hillary would be moving from the Senate to the Cabinet. If we don’t like the idea of Caroline Kennedy as the next Senator from New York, there’s still time to raise a ruckus about it, and hope that the Governor finds the arguments against Kennedy persuasive.
Done deal v. not a done deal. No comparison. The amazing thing is that Burris faced as much in the way of roadblocks as he did, because those trying to keep him from being seated really didn’t have a leg to stand on. While Kennedy still has no claim at all on the NY seat, just the hope that the Gov will appoint her, rather than Cuomo or someone else.
maxbaer (not the original)
@John Cole:
The more my hair recedes, the more I like hats. I’ve been thinking fedora, but I’m hoping Obama will start the trend first. It would be a reverse Kennedy.
evie
DougJ — The MSM generally used the word "tainted" when parroting our fabulous Dem leadership or to say "once-removed" (i.e., since Blago is corrupt and probably a criminal, anyone he appoints will have a taint). Calling Burris "tainted" hardly qualifies as savaging.
You want to see media savaging? Look at the way Caroline Kennedy has been treated. But then, it’s nearly pro forma to savage women candidates.
Rainy
Hmm, let’s see Roger. I would think it is because Patterson hasn’t chosen anybody yet.
Nikki
Kennedy Townsend didn’t get the governorship because she forgot who her constituents were. Prince George’s County and Baltimore City pretty much choose the winner. Ehrlich picked Steele. Claiming to want to bring bipartisanship to MD, but actually aiming for the White House, she picked a white former Republican as her running mate. PG County and Baltimore either stayed home or voted for the black guy. Four years later, O’Malley picks Brown and steps into the mansion.
Had absolutely nothing to do with gender; it was all about race.
gravie
Plus Kathleen Kennedy Townsend was pretty much of an uninspiring, nebulous candidate who ran a really lousy campaign, even without the white Republican running mate factor. She seems like a nice lady, but a leader– no. I did vote for her, though, because a vote for Bob Ehrlich was a vote for the devil.
Marc
Nikki gives Ehrlich’s pandering Michael Steele pick too much credit. PG and Baltimore didn’t vote for Ehrlich/Steele–you can check the 2002 and 2006 election results here and see that the Ehrlich vote in PG and Baltimore City wasn’t more than a percentage or two higher against KKT than it was against Martin O’Malley four years later. And O’Malley actually got fewer votes in Baltimore, yet he trounced the incumbent and KKT couldn’t even take the open seat.
PG County and Baltimore City rarely choose the winner in Maryland elections; the DC suburbs and Baltimore usually balance out Western Maryland and the Eastern shore and the battleground is the Baltimore suburbs. Ehrlich absolutely slaughtered Townsend there, but O’Malley pulled close enough that he was able to win with his votes from the DC suburbs and Baltimore.
Gravie is right: the 2002 gubernatorial elections weren’t about gender or race, they were about Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the campaigner so lousy she lost a state with a 2 to 1 registration advantage for Dems. (They were also about outgoing and incredibly unpopular Democratic governor Parris Glendenning and a generally terrible climate for Democrats that year, but blame where blame is due.)