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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sunday Night Open Thread

Sunday Night Open Thread

by John Cole|  January 26, 20147:07 pm| 120 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Had a rough day today- bunch of panic attacks out of nowhere starting when I woke up this morning at around 9 am. Weird how disruptive and terrifying and awful they can be when you haven’t had any for a while and you have to recondition yourself to just breathe and realize it will all be over soon.

At any rate, those passed this afternoon, so I spent the day getting some work done and hanging out with the dogs, and am probably going to watch a little bit of the Pro Bowl and then True Detective.

I just watched the NBC Nightly News, and there was a spot featuring Chelsea Clinton, and my gut reaction was “fucking nepotism,” but unlike Luke Russert, she actually did a good job and has a really soothing and pleasant voice, although her delivery at times was a touch stilted as if she was talking to people with hearing problems or using English as a second language. That’s little stuff- she’ll get better. I remember always having the impression that she was an awkward looking kid, but she really has become an attractive, nice, and decent young woman.

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Reader Interactions

120Comments

  1. 1.

    gogol's wife

    January 26, 2014 at 7:10 pm

    I guess you’ve given up on Downton Abbey, and never got into Sherlock?

  2. 2.

    Culture of Truth

    January 26, 2014 at 7:11 pm

    I’m giving True Detective a chance but it seems like nothing is happening. Good actors but it’s confusing and slooow.

  3. 3.

    cathyx

    January 26, 2014 at 7:12 pm

    Just relaxing with a glass of wine and then on to dinner. I have no TV plans tonight.

  4. 4.

    jharp

    January 26, 2014 at 7:13 pm

    Huge fan of Chelsea Clinton.

    She seemed very normally a little awkward as a child but has grown into a smart and elegant woman.

    Here is to hoping she becomes the better of both of her parents.

  5. 5.

    Pete Mack

    January 26, 2014 at 7:15 pm

    So, what do you think? Chelsea Clinton/Megan McCain in the new version of Crossfire? I think this has real legs…

  6. 6.

    Alison

    January 26, 2014 at 7:17 pm

    Yeah, Chelsea obviously benefits from her name, but also strikes me as a very genuine person who cares quite a lot about the causes she supports, and who would be doing this kind of work even if she were Chelsea Jones, daughter of nobodies.

    And of course it would not matter in the least if she hadn’t, but I do fucking love that she turned out so lovely after all the disgusting nastiness that GROWN FUCKING ADULT MEN said about her looks as a kid. I’m the same age as she is and I also had an ugly phase around then, and it broke my heart to imagine her getting the same shit I did but on a stage that was like 100000000X bigger. I mean, how petty and low can you be, an adult teasing a little girl going through puberty.

  7. 7.

    Bruuuuce

    January 26, 2014 at 7:18 pm

    Just saw the very end of the Chelsea Clinton report. Her topic was one Li’l Luke would never touch (or not without a cynical call to dismantle the program) and she did a creditable job of presenting it as a positive thing. I’m interested to see what she covers in the future.

  8. 8.

    Anne Laurie

    January 26, 2014 at 7:19 pm

    Too hip to watch the Grammys, Cole? Even for the weddings?

  9. 9.

    batgirl

    January 26, 2014 at 7:19 pm

    Anyone see this beaut from Davos in the NYT’s today?

    For those wanting to experience real hardship (for an hour or so) there were multiple sessions each day that attempted to simulate what it is like to be a refugee in a camp. During these sessions actors dressed up as soldiers stormed in, pretending to beat up another actor dressed up as a refugee and firing fake gunshots.

  10. 10.

    raven

    January 26, 2014 at 7:19 pm

    True Detective is slow like the Wire was slow.

  11. 11.

    chelsea530

    January 26, 2014 at 7:19 pm

    @jharp: She has two good parents.

  12. 12.

    Glocksman

    January 26, 2014 at 7:22 pm

    In a sense it is nepotism, but not in the sense of Bill or Hillary calling up NBC and saying ‘hire my daughter’.
    Instead its ‘she’s a Clinton and her name alone will draw eyeballs’.
    If she was Chelsea Cole, NBC wouldn’t have even talked to her.

    Nothing wrong with that, but her name certainly got her foot in the door.
    That said, if it turns out she can’t do the job they won’t keep her no matter what her name is.

  13. 13.

    the Conster

    January 26, 2014 at 7:23 pm

    Matthew McCounaghey is amazing in True Detective. He lost all that weight and it stripped him bare and he is a revelation. When Woody Harrelson is the straight guy, well we’ve got something interesting to watch. Yes it’s slow, but I feel it’s going to be totally worth it to watch. It’s Top of the Lake meets True Blood without the supernatural and with swamp Florida. I’m totally in. Like raven said, it’s got great dialogue that you have to listen to, like in The Wire.

  14. 14.

    Villago Delenda Est

    January 26, 2014 at 7:25 pm

    I remember always having the impression that she was an awkward looking kid, but she really has become an attractive, nice, and decent young woman.

    John McCain and Rush Limbaugh, on the other hand…

  15. 15.

    Violet

    January 26, 2014 at 7:26 pm

    Chelsea Clinton did a piece on that short-lived Brian Williams news magazine show “Rock Center”. She was really stilted and it was kind of awkward. It made me kind of uncomfortable watching her because she didn’t seem comfortable. She does seem like a nice young woman.

    Jenna Bush Hager, one of W’s daughters, does occasional bits for the Today Show. She’s much more bubbly but I can’t stand her voice so turn off the TV if she’s on it.

  16. 16.

    MeDrewNotYou

    January 26, 2014 at 7:26 pm

    What, you mean she’s not the White House dog?

    She’s a little older than me and I remember growing up thinking she was kind of cute. I also thought Bill would be awesome as your girlfriend’s dad. (Not like that Obama fella. I feel sorry for Sasha and Malia since I’d be terrified to meet him when dating his daughter.)

  17. 17.

    FlyingToaster

    January 26, 2014 at 7:27 pm

    @Glocksman:

    That said, if it turns out she can’t do the job they won’t keep her no matter what her name is.

    And yet Luke Russert is still on the air.

  18. 18.

    Villago Delenda Est

    January 26, 2014 at 7:27 pm

    @Glocksman:

    That said, if it turns out she can’t do the job they won’t keep her no matter what her name is.

    If only her last name was Russert, she wouldn’t have to worry about that, either.

  19. 19.

    Glocksman

    January 26, 2014 at 7:28 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Neither one of them will become an attractive, nice, and decent young woman.

  20. 20.

    Glocksman

    January 26, 2014 at 7:32 pm

    @MeDrewNotYou:

    It’s not her Dad I would have been worried about, it’s the burly guys in dark suits, earpieces, mirrorshades, and guns following her around that would concern me. :)

  21. 21.

    Villago Delenda Est

    January 26, 2014 at 7:32 pm

    @Glocksman:

    Neither one of them will become an attractive, nice, and decent young woman human being.

    FTFY.

  22. 22.

    Mudge

    January 26, 2014 at 7:33 pm

    @Violet: Worse than Erin Andrews?

  23. 23.

    JPL

    January 26, 2014 at 7:34 pm

    Jenna Bush is often on the Today show giving deep analysis on how her clothes fit. At least she come across with more sincerity than master Luke.

  24. 24.

    p.a.

    January 26, 2014 at 7:35 pm

    @batgirl: please tell me you really meant the Onion, not the NYT. This was real?

  25. 25.

    Violet

    January 26, 2014 at 7:35 pm

    @Mudge: The sports interviewer? I only know her from Dancing with the Stars and that interview last weekend and the fact that some creep guy took pictures of her in her hotel room without her knowledge and then sold them or something. No idea how she is at her job.

  26. 26.

    cathyx

    January 26, 2014 at 7:38 pm

    Paul, quit dying your hair. It doesn’t make you look younger, it makes you look foolish.

  27. 27.

    Thoughtful David

    January 26, 2014 at 7:39 pm

    But it is effing nepotism, and reminds us every day that the US is not a meritocracy. There are about 299,999,999 other people out there who would love to have a chance to do a spot on NBC Nightly News, and who will never get the chance. So why does Chelsea? Because she’s the Clintons’ daughter. If she were Chelsea Dinwiddie from East Pinestump, NJ, she would have no chance.
    Same of course is true of Jenna Bush whatever. And Luke Russert. And William Kristol. Total effing nepotism.
    The US is not a meritocracy. We must do everything we can to make it more of one, and ignore these offspring of the rich and famous. All of them.

  28. 28.

    Mudge

    January 26, 2014 at 7:39 pm

    Chelsea went to Stanford. She has a brain. She has to decide on a career and she has. No matter what she chose someone would say “legacy”. Neither Clinton is in the news business, unlike Luke Russert’s father. Or right wing punditry like William Kristol’s father.

  29. 29.

    Anya

    January 26, 2014 at 7:41 pm

    @Pete Mack: Megan McCain is a lying asshole. She never encountered a right wing meme she didn’t support.

    But you know who else turned out to be a wonderful person and a great citizen, Barbara Bush (W’s daughter). I met her at a number of charity events (my MIL works on some of those causes) and she’s really lovely. Her primary cause is children’s health.

  30. 30.

    shelly

    January 26, 2014 at 7:42 pm

    It’s almost impossible to be hiply-cynical about TV these days. There really is too much good stuff on television.
    (Well, there are all those cable reality shows where everybody seems to be competing to be the white-trashiest.)

  31. 31.

    jharp

    January 26, 2014 at 7:42 pm

    @chelsea530:

    Yes she does. Two extraordinary parents. I have high hopes for Chelsea Clinton.

    I think she has a lot to offer.

  32. 32.

    Suzanne

    January 26, 2014 at 7:43 pm

    @Alison: I am Chelsea’s age, and am similarly curly-haired and was also zitty. I remember feeling so bad for her when I heard some of the jokes about her as a young teen, because I knew I was just as ugly, and that I was mortified about it and she must have been, too

    However, my sympathy only extended so far. I didn’t get into Stanford. ;)

  33. 33.

    Mudge

    January 26, 2014 at 7:43 pm

    @Violet: Her voice is excessively annoying…that is not good for an interviewer. No sports sideline interviewer is good at their job. It is a job than anyone with quality soon leaves for better things.

  34. 34.

    cathyx

    January 26, 2014 at 7:43 pm

    @Mudge: By that theory, Bush went to Yale and Harvard, so I guess he must have a brain too.

  35. 35.

    Roger Moore

    January 26, 2014 at 7:45 pm

    @Glocksman:

    It’s not her Dad I would have been worried about, it’s the burly guys in dark suits, earpieces, mirrorshades, and guns following her around that would concern me.

    And whether they’re willing to keep a secret from her dad?

  36. 36.

    raven

    January 26, 2014 at 7:50 pm

    @efgoldman: Wait till you see McNulty and Bunk measure the bullet holes in the apartment.

  37. 37.

    Thoughtful David

    January 26, 2014 at 7:50 pm

    @Mudge: I did not say Chelsea wasn’t smart, nor that she hadn’t worked hard. But Stanford has about 20,000 students, probably all as smart as Chelsea and as hard working. Let’s say Stanford has graduated about 75,000 students in the last 15 years. And yet only one of them (maybe more, but we can probably guess < 10) has s spot on NBC Nightly News.
    She got the spot because she's a Clinton, not because she graduated from Stanford and worked hard.
    And I like Chelsea Clinton. She seems to have turned out to be decent young person. But America is not a meritocracy. That's my point.

  38. 38.

    Mudge

    January 26, 2014 at 7:50 pm

    @cathyx: I believe Bush was a legacy admission with less than stellar credentials long before Daddy was president. Chelsea could have gone anywhere. Bad analogy.

  39. 39.

    Pogonip

    January 26, 2014 at 7:52 pm

    I am reading an interesting book about how, after literally decades of effort, cult leader Warren Jeffs was finally jailed. Answer Them Nothing, by Debra Weyermann. Will continue to read tonight. Nothing else planned. That is all. John, I hope you feel better. Goodnight, all.

  40. 40.

    Violet

    January 26, 2014 at 7:53 pm

    @Thoughtful David: It must kind of suck to be the kid of Presidents or other important people. You get a ton of doors opened for you, but even if you work hard and are really good at what you do, everyone questions why you have your job. They figure it must be because of your parents, not because of you. And if you mess up then all eyes are on you. Anonymity has it’s benefits.

  41. 41.

    Mudge

    January 26, 2014 at 7:54 pm

    @Thoughtful David: Chelsea will bear this cross her whole life. See Carolyn Kennedy. As I said, no matter what profession she chose someone would yell about preferences and they may all be true, but she is under a much more critical microscope than anyone else at NBC News.

  42. 42.

    WaterGirl

    January 26, 2014 at 7:55 pm

    @raven: I wanted to watch True Detective with my friends who have HBO, but my friend nixed it because she read a review (in the ultra conservative News-Gazette) and it sounded like all the men have issues with women. ??

    Plan B: find someone who while let me use their email address to log into HBO GO!

    Edit: at least they liked Homeland, so we have watched all seasons of that at their house.

  43. 43.

    cathyx

    January 26, 2014 at 7:55 pm

    @Mudge: Chelsea is just like Bush in her ability to get into any school because of her name, grades had nothing to do with it. I know you don’t want to hear it, but it’s true. And I agree with Thoughtful Dave, she only stands out because of her name. I’ll bet there were a quite a few other students who performed better than her, had better grades than her, but didn’t even get an interview because they weren’t related to a former president of the United States.

  44. 44.

    Violet

    January 26, 2014 at 7:56 pm

    John, sorry about your panic attacks. They suck.

  45. 45.

    Suzanne

    January 26, 2014 at 7:57 pm

    @Violet: While I can understand that there are downsides, I would still elect to have the benefits of rich, famous, influential parents. It also sucks to be one of those thousands of people who works just as hard and yet didn’t have those doors open.

  46. 46.

    WaterGirl

    January 26, 2014 at 7:57 pm

    @Glocksman:

    That said, if it turns out she can’t do the job they won’t keep her no matter what her name is.

    You can’t be serious! I have two words for you.

    Luke Russert

    Edit: I see others beat me to it!

  47. 47.

    Violet

    January 26, 2014 at 7:59 pm

    @Suzanne: Yeah, I agree. The benefits definitely outweigh the downsides.

  48. 48.

    JPL

    January 26, 2014 at 7:59 pm

    @Violet: A close friend’s husband was quite successful and because of his color, his achievements have been questioned. It might be a different comparison but we do question the achievements of those who we perceive had help along the way.

  49. 49.

    raven

    January 26, 2014 at 7:59 pm

    @WaterGirl: Like when the madam tells Woody that men don’t like it when they can’t control women? I’d watch if for yourself and decide. It’s certainly rough.

    eta I posted that picture back yonder?

  50. 50.

    raven

    January 26, 2014 at 8:01 pm

    @cathyx: How the fuck do you know?

  51. 51.

    Mnemosyne

    January 26, 2014 at 8:02 pm

    @Thoughtful David:

    The entertainment industry has never been a meritocracy. Hollywood studios in the classic days were notorious for being ways for the studio heads to keep their families employed. Some of them did a better job than others (Roy E. Disney, Walt’s nephew, helped usher in the second golden age of Disney animation with The Little Mermaid), but it’s always been all about who you know and who you’re related to.

    If anything, Chelsea Clinton’s job is proof that TV “news” has been completely subsumed by the entertainment industry.

  52. 52.

    WaterGirl

    January 26, 2014 at 8:03 pm

    @raven: I don’t get HBO, so I can’t watch it myself. :-(

    Where back yonder?

  53. 53.

    gnomedad

    January 26, 2014 at 8:04 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    And whether they’re willing to keep a secret from her dad?

    If The West Wing‘s portrayal is accurate, they are required to do so.

  54. 54.

    Mudge

    January 26, 2014 at 8:05 pm

    @cathyx: And of course you have proof. And you just “know” others performed better. Give me a few names. Stanford tends not to admit students who could not suceed at Stanford. Of course she was a President’s daughter..should she go to Mississippi State so that she would avoid your accusations?

  55. 55.

    raven

    January 26, 2014 at 8:05 pm

    @WaterGirl: Last thread.

  56. 56.

    kc

    January 26, 2014 at 8:05 pm

    She may be attractive, and decent, but your first instinct was right. Fucking nepotism.

  57. 57.

    JPL

    January 26, 2014 at 8:05 pm

    double post

  58. 58.

    JPL

    January 26, 2014 at 8:05 pm

    What’s with the opening number for the grammy’s? I hope the floor is clean.

  59. 59.

    Mnemosyne

    January 26, 2014 at 8:06 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    All the men have issues with women, but the women are all portrayed as full characters, even the ones who would usually get stereotyped (mistresses, prostitutes, etc.) Woody Harrelson’s character has a really interesting conversation at a brothel with its madam, who presents an unusual perspective on what would really be in the best interests of one of her “girls.” (I think I avoided being spoilerrific.)

    ETA: raven and I are talking about the same scene, just to be clear.

  60. 60.

    aimai

    January 26, 2014 at 8:07 pm

    @Thoughtful David: Jeezus christ–you do realize that most of those stanford students wouldn’t necessarily think that being on tv is the be all and end all of existence,don’t you? its true that a lot of people have no higher aspirations than to be a talking head on tv but most of the people I grew up with certainly did. Frankly, being a TV talking head is an enormous step DOWN for anyone with serious ambitions politically or in terms of working in law or finance or anything else. For fuck’s sake her father was president and her mother was a Senator and Secretary of State. Do you really think they are clapping their hands and going “oh, goody! she’s on TV?”

  61. 61.

    WaterGirl

    January 26, 2014 at 8:09 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I really wish I could see True Detectives!

    @raven: Saw the photo, thanks a bunch.

  62. 62.

    Mnemosyne

    January 26, 2014 at 8:11 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    The good thing about HBO is, they put all of their series out on DVD after the season’s over, so you won’t have to wait forever. :-)

  63. 63.

    Ahh says fywp

    January 26, 2014 at 8:11 pm

    @Alison: This. So freaking hard.

    Rush is the original misogynistic pig, an insult to hogs everywhere.

  64. 64.

    raven

    January 26, 2014 at 8:14 pm

    @aimai: I remember when Andrew Luck was interviewed. Everyone knew he was going to sign a huge NFL contract. He said, “No one here cares one way or the other, they are too busy working on their own degree to care about some football player”. (or words to that effect.

  65. 65.

    Gordon, the Big Express Engine

    January 26, 2014 at 8:14 pm

    @efgoldman: so envious of you in that you are experiencing that show for the first time. In the middle of repeating season 4. Best show in history ofTV.

  66. 66.

    catclub

    January 26, 2014 at 8:14 pm

    @raven: Fuck, fuck, Fuck, fuck.

  67. 67.

    cathyx

    January 26, 2014 at 8:14 pm

    @Mudge: Do you have proof that her grades are what got her into Stanford?
    Let’s see here. If I were in charge of admissions, I wouldn’t care what Chelsea’s grades were because she will bring in a ton of money to the school by attending it. She will give the school great publicity and all the big money people will want their kids to go to Stanford too. We never heard what kind of grades Chelsea got when she attended or before she attended. I’m guessing she was an average student.

  68. 68.

    raven

    January 26, 2014 at 8:15 pm

    @cathyx: Or, now you are “guessing”. You’re full of shit as usual.

  69. 69.

    Mudge

    January 26, 2014 at 8:16 pm

    Let’s be clear about a few things. Nepotism is hiring a relative. Chelsea was not hired by her parents. She is the daughter of Bill and Hillary and that is well known. If Stanford decides to admit her because of that and NBC news decides to hire her because of that that is their business as long as the parents are not on the phone lobbying. There is no indication they were. If Chelsea is able to parlay her name into a good career, she is lucky and good luck to her. If she is no good…send her on her way.

  70. 70.

    gwangung

    January 26, 2014 at 8:17 pm

    @Glocksman:

    It’s not her Dad I would have been worried about, it’s the burly guys in dark suits, earpieces, mirrorshades, and guns following her around that would concern me. :)

    Actually, the person to worry about is their MOM.

    Think about it.

  71. 71.

    Allan

    January 26, 2014 at 8:17 pm

    I for one can’t believe that NBC News hasn’t snapped up one, or all, of the Romney boys yet.

  72. 72.

    raven

    January 26, 2014 at 8:17 pm

    @catclub: Ed Burns wrote that scene, it was rooted in his dialogue when he was with the Electric Strawberry.

  73. 73.

    cathyx

    January 26, 2014 at 8:18 pm

    @raven: Where’s your proof to the contrary?

  74. 74.

    jl

    January 26, 2014 at 8:19 pm

    Sorry Cole had panic attacks again. I used to have them, but they got rarer and rarer and haven’t had one in several years. I think when you get older your brain starts to fall apart, and is no longer sharp and alert enough to generate panic attacks. I think I read that someplace. Today’s happy thought for Cole.

    As for the nepo gang, nepotism is a given, and I don’t see the point in arguing about that.
    I’ve seen a few of Chelsea Clinton’s news reports, and at least she tries, or at least she understands what it takes to really try to do a news report and seems to give it her best shot. I think that is better than the Lukester.

    I don’t really understand what Meghan McCain or Jenna Bush think they are trying to do so won’t make any comments about them.

  75. 75.

    Mudge

    January 26, 2014 at 8:20 pm

    @cathyx: Hey..you go live your life by your guesses. My guess is that you are a brainless ideologue.

  76. 76.

    cathyx

    January 26, 2014 at 8:20 pm

    @Mudge: That’s the point, she isn’t lucky. The only thing she was lucky in was picking Hillary and Bill Clinton to be her parents. Her name got her in the door. That’s not being lucky.

  77. 77.

    raven

    January 26, 2014 at 8:21 pm

    @cathyx: I’m not the one running off at the mouth with this bullshit: “Chelsea is just like Bush in her ability to get into any school because of her name, grades had nothing to do with it. I know you don’t want to hear it, but it’s true. “. Don’t try to snow the snowman. If you “think” or you are “guessing” that’s one thing. Representing your goddam opinion as a fact is another.

  78. 78.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    January 26, 2014 at 8:21 pm

    @Mudge:

    Being directly hired by a relative is one form of nepotism, but another form is being hired on the strength of your family’s name. I’m sure Chelsea is reasonably good as an on-air personality, but I seriously doubt that someone of her age and education would have been hired for that position without being a Clinton.

  79. 79.

    gwangung

    January 26, 2014 at 8:22 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    The entertainment industry American business world has never been a meritocracy. Hollywood studios in the classic days were notorious for being ways for the studio heads to keep their families employed. Some of them did a better job than others (Roy E. Disney, Walt’s nephew, helped usher in the second golden age of Disney animation with The Little Mermaid), but it’s always been all about who you know and who you’re related to.

    FTFY.

    Stanford gets you in some doors. Having the right name gets you in other doors. Having both gets in many more doors.

    And that’s ALWAYS going to be the case; that’s human nature.

  80. 80.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    January 26, 2014 at 8:23 pm

    @cathyx:

    So you have access to all of her report cards?

  81. 81.

    Roger Moore

    January 26, 2014 at 8:24 pm

    @cathyx:

    We never heard what kind of grades Chelsea got when she attended or before she attended.

    That’s odd, because I remember that she graduated from high school a year early, and that people at the time said her grades were good enough to get into Stanford regardless of who her parents were. She has certainly gotten a lot of advantages from her family connections- she did attend an elite private high school, and her work history looks like exactly the kind of nepotistic [correction: cronyist] crap we need to be eliminating- but I’ve never heard any serious suggestions that she was academically unqualified for Stanford.

  82. 82.

    cathyx

    January 26, 2014 at 8:25 pm

    @Mudge: So Megan McCain and Liz Cheney got their breaks into politics and media because of their skills and wonderfulness. Right?

  83. 83.

    gwangung

    January 26, 2014 at 8:26 pm

    @cathyx:

    Let’s see here. If I were in charge of admissions, I wouldn’t care what Chelsea’s grades were because she will bring in a ton of money to the school by attending it.

    A) Admissions doesn’t talk to development.

    B) Clinton, even with his hundred millions, is a piker when it comes to wealth for development. They’ve got thousands of him in that wealth class.

  84. 84.

    Narcissus

    January 26, 2014 at 8:27 pm

    Re: Panic attacks, I have OCD, and no matter how well I’m doing, whenever I have an “episode” it always, always surprises me. It’s like, “Oh yeah, I have to deal with this shit.” But that’s better than dealing with it every moment of every day, which I did before I got medicated.

  85. 85.

    raven

    January 26, 2014 at 8:27 pm

    The Clintons’ only child — a National Merit semifinalist — had her pick of nearly every top-flight college, and was said to have considered Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown and Northwestern as well as her mother’s alma mater, Wellesley College, and her father’s, Georgetown University.

    Clinton graduated in 2001 with highest honors and a B.A. in History.[21][24] The topic of her 150-page senior thesis was the 1998 Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland.[

  86. 86.

    raven

    January 26, 2014 at 8:28 pm

    @cathyx: Keep talking Mitt.

  87. 87.

    jl

    January 26, 2014 at 8:28 pm

    I looked up definitions of ‘nepotism’ and they vary quite a bit. Some specify unmerited preference for family members, some extend that to friends, some just say unmerited preference based on family or kinship (and vague about whether it is specifically within one family).

    Maybe ‘cronyism’ or ‘aristocracy of fame and wealth” are better words. They go well with ‘crony capitalism’. The U.S. these days has plenty of crony capitalism and aristocracy of fame and wealth.

  88. 88.

    Baud

    January 26, 2014 at 8:30 pm

    I don’t have rich or famous parents. I’ve gotten where I am today mostly as a result of my good looks.

  89. 89.

    WaterGirl

    January 26, 2014 at 8:31 pm

    Cole, maybe you do better when you travel spur of the moment. Too much time to think about the upcoming CO vacation? Sometimes I am my own worst enemy, maybe you, too?

  90. 90.

    trollhattan

    January 26, 2014 at 8:33 pm

    Never had panic attacks until one night, I decided to shave my cat’s ass!

    Sorry, but I kanna resist.

    Chelsea will ultimately succeed or fail on her own merits, because the goddamn Koch brothers sure ain’t hiring her. I’m willing to give her a break because of how poorly she was treated when the White House kid. Certain people should be ashamed of themselves.

  91. 91.

    burnspbesq

    January 26, 2014 at 8:34 pm

    @cathyx:

    Do you have proof that her grades are what got her into Stanford?

    Apparently you’re unaware that there is a Federal law that prohibits dissemination of that information.

  92. 92.

    trollhattan

    January 26, 2014 at 8:34 pm

    @Baud:

    You too? Dayumn–high five!

  93. 93.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 26, 2014 at 8:36 pm

    @John Cole top:

    Had a rough day today- bunch of panic attacks out of nowhere starting when I woke up this morning at around 9 am. Weird how disruptive and terrifying and awful they can be when you haven’t had any for a while and you have to recondition yourself to just breathe and realize it will all be over soon.

    Awful. I’ve been there and it is terrifying. Do be sure it is a panic attack and not a heart attack (many years ago, I self-diagnosed as p.a. and it turned out to be cardiac). However flippant and even offensive we can sometimes be in the comments, John, most of us love and appreciate and admire you. Hang tough, or, alternatively, curl up fetally under the covers surrounded by Steve and piglets, and just wait for it to pass. We’re here, whenever you emerge.

  94. 94.

    scav

    January 26, 2014 at 8:37 pm

    It does seem a bit overboard to assume that the children of smart, capable, successful parents, children that have also benefitted while growing up with the environment provided by same parents (plus their basic genetic contributions) must necessarily be idiots and unable to do / achieve anything on their own and are inevitably spongers sucking at the teat of blah blah kill kill kill the socially and academically worthless slime. The existence of selfish idiots raised under those conditions doesn’t mean they all are.

  95. 95.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 26, 2014 at 8:39 pm

    @cathyx: No, you’re right, until Chelsea Clinton went there no one had ever heard of that obscure West Coast university, Stanford. It was a brilliant coup by the admissions and fundraising departments, because she really put that place on the map.

  96. 96.

    raven

    January 26, 2014 at 8:39 pm

    @scav:

    They got the shapely bods
    They got the Steely Dan T-shirt
    And for the coup-de-gras
    They’re outrageous

  97. 97.

    The Sailor

    January 26, 2014 at 8:40 pm

    @cathyx: I don’t know her HS grades, and neither do you. But a moment’s Googling would tell you:
    Clinton graduated in 2001 with highest honors and a B.A. in History.[21][24] The topic of her 150-page senior thesis was the 1998 Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland.[24]
    […]
    In 2003, Clinton was awarded an M.Phil. in International Relations.[29] [from Oxford]
    […]
    In the spring of 2010, Clinton completed a Master of Public Health degree at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health[32][33] and she began teaching graduate classes there in 2012.[34]

    Starting in 2010, Clinton began serving as Assistant Vice Provost for the Global Network University of New York University, working on international recruitment strategies.[31] She is the co-founder of the Of Many Institute for Multifaith Leadership at NYU and serves as its co-chair.[35] In 2012, Clinton received an award from the Temple of Understanding for her “work in advancing a new model of integrating interfaith and cross-cultural education into campus life,” together with Imam Khalid Latif and Rabbi Yehuda Sarna.[36]

    Yeah, it was aaaaaallllllll nepotism.

  98. 98.

    raven

    January 26, 2014 at 8:43 pm

    Chicago!

  99. 99.

    scav

    January 26, 2014 at 8:57 pm

    @raven: Your point being?

  100. 100.

    raven

    January 26, 2014 at 8:58 pm

    @scav: They were on the Grammy’s!

  101. 101.

    Stella B.

    January 26, 2014 at 8:58 pm

    My husband met a FOB at a conference once. He had known Bill since elementary school and Chelsea since she was a baby. He said that Chelsea had her mother’s brains and her father’s charm. He predicted a bright future. I suspect she did quite well at Stanford.

  102. 102.

    scav

    January 26, 2014 at 9:00 pm

    @raven: Ah, that thing I’m not watching. got it. You can have all my share of what bods there are.

    ETA, is that the dress code for whatever that wedding is?

  103. 103.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 26, 2014 at 9:00 pm

    @cathyx: I am guessing that Stanford turned you down.

  104. 104.

    KRK

    January 26, 2014 at 9:10 pm

    Chelsea Clinton is an intelligent young woman with a great education who could have had (and still can have) any door open to her professionally and yet her first step out after getting her Masters from Oxford was to go work for behemoth international “management consulting” firm McKinsey (patooey) and then a hedge fund. Seriously? I had law school classmates head to McKinsey 15 years ago and not one made any bones about it being solely for the money and prestige, as no one of any political persuasion believed they were going there to make the world a better place. I have no problem believing she was qualified for the job(s), but I sure can judge her for wanting them in the first place.

  105. 105.

    Svensker

    January 26, 2014 at 9:11 pm

    John, hope the panic attacks get better. That’s some rough stuff. Breathing and remembering that they will pass, even if it feels like the middle of endless hell right then, is the way to go. Hugs.

  106. 106.

    Ruckus

    January 26, 2014 at 9:12 pm

    @trollhattan:
    I see now what my main problem in life has been.
    Damn, did I chose the wrong parents. Wait, does good looks skip a generation? OK that explains that.

  107. 107.

    Ruckus

    January 26, 2014 at 9:16 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Sure has that stench doesn’t it?

  108. 108.

    Suzanne

    January 26, 2014 at 9:21 pm

    @raven: I was a National Merit Scholar, not just a semifinalist, and did not get into Stanford. I have no doubt that Chelsea was qualified, but I also have no doubt that her prominence and her parents’ power opened up that opportunity for her more fully.

  109. 109.

    seaboogie

    January 26, 2014 at 9:45 pm

    Hey Cole – get your doc to prescribe some Ativan (generic – Lorazepam) to have on hand, just in case of those attacks. I rarely take one, but it’s a big relief to me to know that I have them in my arsenal, just in case it becomes too much, and that alone helps me to relax a lot more easily, even without taking one.

  110. 110.

    Ruckus

    January 26, 2014 at 9:57 pm

    @Suzanne:
    This.
    Some of us have more opportunities than others. My dad owned his own business he wanted me to learn the craft and take over. It has given me a skill set that keeps me employed today. I’ve moved away from it twice but having that opportunity and making something of it is my doing. Few of my friends had that. They got educations and jobs or they excelled in sports and that opened doors. For most of us we still had to walk through them. Family fame and fortune opens more doors but in the end it is still up to us to walk through and make use those opportunities, not just take advantage of them.

  111. 111.

    Christine

    January 26, 2014 at 10:27 pm

    @KRK:

    I also found her choices after Oxford pretty depressing. Hedge fund? Ugh. Going from public health to that is strange to me.

  112. 112.

    joel hanes

    January 26, 2014 at 11:13 pm

    @cathyx:

    Chelsea Clinton took her Stanford BA in history “with highest honors”

    Stanford doesn’t hand out undergraduate honors to famous names; one must earn them.

    I have learned little about the content of Ms. Clinton’s character in this thread; I have learned somewhat more about yours.

  113. 113.

    mai naem

    January 26, 2014 at 11:25 pm

    @cathyx: Chelsea Clinton was a National Merit Scholar and attended a top rated HS. I have a friend who go into Princeton, primarily because she was a National Merit Scholar(she was in the top 1 percent of an ok public HS but not the valedictorian or salutorian.) She also had invitations to apply to Harvard, Yale and Dartmouth based on her being National Merit Scholar.
    BTW,what would you like Chelsea Clinton to do? She was born to a couple of famous accomplished parents. Is she not supposed to after the opportunities she has? Furthermore, she’s still pretty young. We have no idea what she’s going to do in the next two decades. Hopefully she’ll end up like Jay Rockefeller or one of the Kennedys working on public policy stuff and making a difference.

  114. 114.

    Keith G

    January 26, 2014 at 11:41 pm

    @Christine:

    I also found her choices after Oxford pretty depressing.

    Who the fuck care besides you and a few others? You, KRK, and others are making her into a commodity who seems to have little intrinsic value except in the way that she conforms to your expectations.

    Pathetic.

  115. 115.

    yoohoocthulhu

    January 27, 2014 at 12:43 am

    @Roger Moore:

    Not to mention, when Chelsea started at Stanford, Bill Clinton was still a peon in terms of wealth. It was only after his presidency that he’s made his (modest, by rich person standards) fortune.

  116. 116.

    dww44

    January 27, 2014 at 10:48 am

    @shelly: For someone who only has basic cable and whose channels and programming keeps getting shifted to more expensive packages, I keep seeing remarks like this about the golden age of TV and I am wondering where all that wonderful TV is.. All we get is a version of reality TV or reruns on virtually every channel. And the weekend offerings are the pits.

    Heck our cable company has even pulled C-Span after pulling C-Span2 a couple of years ago. Never offered C-Span III. I called C-Span on the most recent pull a few months ago and they were absolutely sick about it. Said the cost to the cable companies was minimal, but they don’t bring in revenue. Also, too, our cable bill has not decreased even though they’ve pulled 10 or so channels since the 2009 digital conversation when for the 2 years prior they assured their subscribers that we had nothing to worry about because we were their customers.

  117. 117.

    Bart

    January 27, 2014 at 11:50 am

    “That’s little stuff- she’ll get better.” Uhm, hasn’t she had this job for a couple of years? And is she really uniquely talented to perform it?

  118. 118.

    Death Panel Truck

    January 27, 2014 at 12:46 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    nep·o·tism
    noun \ˈne-pə-ˌti-zəm\ : the unfair practice by a powerful person of giving jobs and other favors to relatives

    Doesn’t say anything about there being more than one form of nepotism. Don’t try to make up your own word definitions to suit your purposes.

  119. 119.

    Ted and Hellen

    January 27, 2014 at 1:44 pm

    It IS fucking nepotism! You think Ms. Clinton is the best possible choice for that position out of the thousands against whom she competed for the job? Christ, this is half the reason the world is so fucked.

    As for your panic attacks, are you being or seeking treatment? You better not be “toughing it out” or some such other Marine bullshit. As a Vet, you have the entire Medical Industrial Complex at your feet. Use it. please.

  120. 120.

    Herbal Infusion Bagger

    January 27, 2014 at 5:46 pm

    @gwangung:

    Clinton, even with his hundred millions, is a piker when it comes to wealth for development. They’ve got thousands of him in that wealth class.

    What they said. Stanford’s the epicenter of Silicon Valley, and has been a major player in biotech as well.

    I remember the Wall Street firms recruiters recently bitching one year that they didn’t like Stanford B-school any more because their students bargained too hard with them and would turn down offers from them in favor of tech startups.

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