Khan

If you can't answer conclusively why you seek the presidency, chances are, your heart isn't in it.

I have about 15 screwball comedies I need to watch.

If Benghazi and the Damn E-mails were insurmountable obstacles for Team Hillary, I can only imagine what Chappaquiddick was for Team Teddy.

But look for FOB to tweet about the "record-breaking crowds". Good.

Ironically, Ted didn't start out wanting to be in politics. Ted originally expressed desires of becoming a businessman, perhaps owning a pro-football team or newspaper. However, Papa Joe said he needed to "get serious". Meaning, of course, he needed to get involved in politics and help build Joe's grand vision of an Irish Catholic political family dynasty. Once he started his political career, Ted grew into the public servant that Americans still admire (personal scandals notwithstanding). But I don't know whether the same would have awaited JFK Jr. had he become a politician as well. No matter how good he might have been, he always would have paled in comparison to Jack and Bobby.

Exactly. We are so screwed.

In the past, I have read that JFK Jr. seriously considered an acting career while attending Brown University, where he had performed in campus productions. IDK whether he was any GOOD at it, although close friends and biographers alike say he was promising. (And of course, there was also the name and the sex appeal, which often trumps (sorry) genuine talent in Hollywood.) But I could understand the lure of "disappearing" into roles that took attention away momentarily from the family name and good looks, as well as that of carving out one's own niche in a profession entirely different from his father's. However, Jackie, to whom he was extremely close, reportedly put her foot down -- people speculate it was due to JFK's infamous relationship with Marilyn Monroe -- and that was that. Which might have been unfortunate, in retrospect. He dabbled, for lack of a better word, in law (after flunking the bar I don't know how many times -- perhaps a sign that he was not quite cut out for the legal profession?); and of course, there was George magazine, which sought to bring together his family's passions for politics and publishing. But, you know, I never felt as if he was PASSIONATE about those pursuits...and frankly, I don't think he would have been passionate about running for office either. I mean, he would have done it eventually, because the pressure on him was just too great. However, people would have accused him of showing no enthusiasm for the job and running solely because he was a Kennedy and JFK's son and was expected to (and they wouldn't have been wrong). IMO, if JFK Jr. had been allowed to pursue acting, or even if he had had the courage to do so w/o Jackie's blessing, I feel like there might have been a sense of purpose that his life otherwise lacked.

If only those who had voted for him were as lucky. Rule number one, FOB: there's no such thing as a "day off" for the President of the United States. Not even when you're ostensibly on vacation. You take a day off, and people could die.

To me, it always seemed as if JFK Jr. was fighting against a career in politics because everyone had expected him to follow in his father's and uncles' footsteps, and the prospect of having to live up to JFK and RFK (and possibly coming up short) was unappealing. As Rick Perry would say, "Oops."

My takeaway from this article is that Democrats are bursting with ideas for how to stage their brilliant comeback, but lack the central figure and/or issue for the so-called troops to rally around. And that's what we need to do as a party these next few years: narrow in on what it is we can provide message-wise to those who think the Democrats have lost touch with the middle and working classes but who aren't ready to abandom them for good; and spread the word nationally about politicians at the local and state levels who, with proper grooming and such, can become the new faces and voices of the Democratic party. Yeah, for that matter, neither is attacking Meryl Streep or bringing SpellCheck to its knees. What can I say? John Fugelsang is lousy at political humor.

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying, Carl.

As Al Franken would say, "Oh my Lord!" (God, this IS turning into a segment of "The Al Franken Decade," isn't it?)

People were always going to vote for "Don the Con," because having a woman succeed a Black man as the leader of the free world was more change than the Barry Goldwaters and Phyllis Schlaflys could handle. Heck, even Black men couldn't get excited enough about Hillary to turn out for her like they had for Obama, because of the messy dynamic that has always existed between them and white women. (I certainly saw that dynamic firsthand at my elementary school, which was run exclusively by middle-aged white women who struggled in relating to Black students and their parents.) I think all that would have been true even if Hillary had been the second coming of Etta Plum. As a mild Bernie supporter, though, I must admit that Hillary's third biggest liability, after her history and her not reaching out more to the Rust Belt voters, was having voters from within her own party reject her even after Bernie basically had to swallow his pride and urge them to. They were just too pissed about not getting their free tuition and legal weed, as marceline would say, so they resorted to throwing away their votes out of spite.

So, it seems that Tony Orlando is set to perform at one of the inauguration balls. Unfortunately, Dawn will be unable to appear, due to their prior commitment with the Women's march. But seriously. You have Toby Keith and his mullet on the one hand, and Tony Orlando (without Dawn) and Paul Anka on the other (with 3 Doors Down in the middle, probably because there's no one else to draw in the youngsters). Even if I were a Republican, I'd still feel embarrassed as hell about this lineup for the inauguration festivities.

Hillary has had to spend the better part of her marriage cleaning up Bill's messes. That alone should win her the Nobel Peace Prize, the Medal of Freedom and the Profiles in Courage award.

But the e-mails, Vee. The e-mails. Oops. My mistake.

Actually, the "I'm not Tammy Wynette!" comment came before the Monicagate interviews, while Bill was running for his first term. In fact, that might have been our very introduction to the woman on the national stage. But you are right in that the Monicagate interview put her in the most awkward position (after Monica). One of the women interviewed in that NYT piece about female Trump voters said she couldn't understand why Hillary stayed with Bill after he had cheated on her. "Yeah, right," I said, "and if she had left him, you would have wanted someone to place a scarlet 'D' on her chest for 'Divorcee'." Lord knows I'm gonna catch hell for saying this, but should Bill kick off before Hillary runs again for any political office, she might have a better shot at winning. Death tends to boost a person's image, y'know? So people might develop a better perception of Bill and his presidency if and when he goes; and then Hillary could milk the grieving-widow-who-wants-to-restore-her-late-husband's-legacy act for all its worth.

ICAM. In fact, I've often said the same thing myself. I would have voted for Hillary Clinton in a second. Hillary RODHAM Clinton? Not so much. Believe it or not, I learned that the first time I watched "The Way We Were." Seriously, do you people read my FB page?

Exactly. Obama's legacy is at stake, so of course, let's bring in the White guy to save it. That would leave such a bitter taste in so many people's mouths. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: remove the Secretary of State tenure, including the Damn Emails and BENGHAZI!!, and you'd still have a candidate (Hillary Clinton) with baggage, but nothing the Clintons, either together or separately, haven't overcome before. Hillary never -- NEVER -- should have accepted that job. (Look at what it's done for John Kerry. That's right, it's done nothing.) You know, Americans should have been used to a wife wanting to be more than a wife. Isn't that the basic premise of "I Love Lucy"?

It's like what Obama told David Remnick: take his name off whatever legislation he wants passed, and ninety percent of the Republicans will vote for it. No, Obama's biggest "mistake" was being Black. [/DeeeDee]

You know which president I have come to admire? Theodore Roosevelt. To me, he was like Donald Trump, only with common sense.

I'm DVR'ing a two-part "Frontline" on PBS about the Obama presidency because I want to watch it all when I have the time to do so. Anyway, during the few minutes I caught last night of the first part, they talked about the emergency summit that President George W. Bush held with Obama, John McCain and other Congressional folk when the banking industry went belly under. (If you'll recall, that was during the time when McCain temporarily suspended his presidential campaign in order to deal with the crisis.) According to one of the persons interviewed for the documentary, at a particular moment during the highly charged meeting between the Democrats and Republicans, as McCain crumbled under the pressure and Obama essentially commandeered the proceedings over even Dubya, Bush reportedly turned to Nancy Pelosi, who was sitting on his right, and whispered, "You're gonna miss me." Shortly thereafter, Bush got up from his seat and walked out of the meeting, leaving the two sides to continue battling over whether or not to approve the $700 million bailout act. In a way, I see what Dubya was talking about. The guy was as intellectually incurious (tm Linda Ronstadt) as my ass is big, but for the Republicans, he really was like the catcher in the rye, keeping the party from going over the cliff. And now with him AND Obama out of office, the country is about to witness just how dangerous the GOP can be.

For the past several days, I have found myself imagining how I would feel if I were Barack Obama, preparing to leave office after eight of the most tumultuous years in any young leader's life. I would feel proud, of course, knowing that, if nothing else, I helped open a door that my brothers and sisters in the Black community believed never would be opened. Even if I had discovered that there was just so much I could do as president, and even if it seemed for the moment that we, as a nation, had taken a step backward, my intellectual side would believe, as Obama told us, that history does not always progress in a straight line; that it zigs and zags and often retreats before moving onto the next step. And yet... I keep returning to those images of Obama and Trump meeting for the first time after the election, and I can't help but wonder what must have run through his mind in those moments. I think that if I were in Obama's position, part of me would feel almost as if I had been sucker-punched by the very people I did my damnedest to help. I mean, you could have had Obama stand in the middle of Washington, D.C. as every dissatisfied citizen lined up and, one by one, kicked him in the nards; and I'll bet you that it wouldn't have hurt even half as much as Fat Orange Bastard being elected his successor. I know that I would leave the presidency knowing, as Obama must, that I did my utmost to uphold the Constitution and protect the people whose lives and livelihoods had been placed in my care. At the same time, however, I'd be lying if I said no part of me felt as if I had failed, somehow, to deliver the hope and change I had promised and bring this country closer together. I mean, I'd have to have my doubts. Otherwise, I'm Donald Trump. Yeah, I criticized Obama's leadership skills in the past, starting with the Wall Street bailouts. Even when I praised Obama for his character, I still held reservations about his ability to govern. A couple of bestselling books, a few appearances with Oprah and one term as a U.S. Senator was not enough experience, I said, for someone charged with the task of leading a nation of millions. I said that and much more over the past eight years. But I'm here to tell you now, and for the record, that I was wrong. Not because we've had our glimpse of the future and it's terrifying, but because I finally realize that I was so caught up in all the petty b.s. that both sides and the media threw at us and I failed to realize one very important fact: He tried. Did Obama expect to accomplish everything he wanted to as president even if he had had a more agreeable Congress to work with? Probably not. But I believe now that he genuinely wanted to lead us toward something better; and despite whatever flaws he actually possessed (and not that most projected onto him), he was still willing to roll up his sleeves and do the work. In the end, that, more than even the results, is what counts. I'll miss his leadership, too. In fact, I think I'll miss it more, simply because I didn't appreciate it soon enough.

Miss M...being divine as always. I get that feeling, too, dragonflies. Primarily because, the GOP has offered nothing concrete in the way of alternatives. Congress will switch around some of the language, shave off a little here-and-there from the provisions in order to put their own stink on it. But, as I said, either on here or on FB, if and when they DO premiere Trump's Insurance for Everybody (tm), take a good, hard look at the bill and then tell me it isn't Obamacare or the ACA under a different name. It's been my contention that their long-term goal is to eradicate Obama as much as possible from our history. Think about all the actual history (often involving minorities) that gets whitewashed (pun intended) or left out entirely in elementary, middle and high school history books; or all the misinformation that is passed down from one generation to the next (like Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves) until it becomes fact in the court of public opinion. IMO, that's what we're seeing the GOP do now to the outgoing president. They will make it seem as if Obama did absolutely little while in office except be the first African-American president -- and even then, I suspect, history books will come to say that 1) his birth certificate was suspect, and 2) he wasn't REALLY Black since, after all, his mother was Scots-Irish, thus taking away even the significance of his election in the first place. In the end, and if the GOP has their way, Obama's will be regarded by future generations either as an illegitimate presidency or one as ineffectual as, say, Franklin Pierce's, or Martin Van Buren's. We don't THINK this kind of historical revision can happen, especially in this day and age, but if the history of witnessing, recording, sharing and passing down, teaching and analyzing history has taught me anything (particularly where it concerns African-Americans), it's that it CAN happen. It always HAS happened, and it always WILL happen, so help us God.

I think there a lot of people -- too many people, in fact -- who want to destroy the government. But, I would ask these people, what do you intend to do once you have, indeed, torn down everything? Because, these people who you are supposed to represent will still need to be governed.