OK, now I can’t run for public office. Look at what happened to Caroline Kennedy. This is from a story in yesterday’s New York Times about an ethics panel looking into how Caroline’s candidacy for New York senator was derailed.
“During the selection process, Ms. Kennedy and other candidates had filled out detailed questionnaires…The questionnaires asked candidates whether they had hired illegal immigrants, written controversial blog postings or failed to file tax returns, and it requested addresses of their children’s Facebook and MySpace pages.”
I have definitely not touched any tax returns for 27 years, or hired illegal immigrants (although those guys who painted the house in 2005 were from El Salvador, and come to think of it, we didn’t ask to see any papers). But the business about controversial blog posts? Hmmm. That could torpedo my hopes for the governorship of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania right quick. Not to mention any bad words or immature sentiments my boys might have expressed on Facebook.
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If I had ever had a daughter, the name Caroline was short listed. My mother’s magazines were full of two picture-perfect Carolines when I was a child - both a year older than me. The President’s daughter, and the Princess’s daughter. I can still see their smocked dresses and Mary Janes, their ponies and ocean beaches, all so foreign and fascinating.
Both Carolines were well-groomed, well-behaved, well-heeled little girls. The name sparkled.
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Reality, of course, intruded. Both Carolines have had rather public falls from grace. Caroline of Monaco has had marriage difficulties. Her first husband was a rotter, the second a daredevil who died in a boat crash – the third seems to have staying power. Caroline Kennedy has cultivated a successful private life around a long-lasting marriage and three children. But her brief foray into politics was ill-fated and ill-advised, and ended in public humiliation.
I didn’t have the smocked French frocks, although my mom made dozens of adorable hand-sewn dresses for me, and some were hand-smocked. I also don’t have the public and political scandals either. For which I am very grateful.
