Status Quo Ante

Following a week in which a dynamic new President assumed office and an anxious nation wondered whether he will somehow find a way to restore our lost national luster, the talking heads on This Week with George Stephanopoulos dedicated the first ten minutes of their babble-fest to analyzing the reasons why Caroline Kennedy withdrew her candidacy for the U.S. Senate. Cokie Roberts took particular umbrage at the "sexism" involved in l'affaire Caroline, as if it were patently obvious that Ms. Kennedy's storied name, enormous wealth, A-list connections, and telegenic celebrity were assets unequal to the massive liability of her gender. That Governor Paterson appointed another woman to the post in lieu of Kennedy did not dissuade Cokie from the righteousness of her ridiculous argument.