Jean Kennedy Smith, a former US ambassador to Ireland, is the vice president of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation and the founder of VSA Arts, a nonprofit organization that seeks to assist disabled people through art. 

Eunice Kennedy Smith, Executive Vice President of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation, has helped achieve many advances in both social policy and general understanding of the issues facing individuals with mental retardation. She is also credited as the Founder and Honorary Chair of Special Olympics International.

For your edification, go to The Boston Globe, June 25, 2008, for Kennedy-Smith's op/ed

Displaced, disabled, and in need of our care

Jean Kennedy Smith, a former US ambassador to Ireland, is the vice president of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation and the founder of VSA Arts, a nonprofit organization that seeks to assist disabled people through art.

Eunice Kennedy Smith, Executive Vice President of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation, has helped achieve many advances in both social policy and general understanding of the issues facing individuals with mental retardation. She is also credited as the Founder and Honorary Chair of Special Olympics International.

Go to The Boston Globe, June 25, 2008, for Kennedy-Smith's op/ed

Displaced, disabled, and in need of our care

Barack Obama is running for president.

What she said last night has zero effect on whether her husband is qualified to be POTUS.

Any Ivy League grad should be more than capable of giving a good speech, especially with the aid of professional coaches and marketing experts.

See this article: Obama Camp Has Many Ties to Wife's Employer By Joe Stephens

Washington Post Friday, August 22, 2008; Page A01

Mardge Cohen, MD, said: "In three decades of practice, I've seen thousands of patients denied access to health care in Chicago. I know that piecemeal solutions like the University of Chicago Medical Center plan are insufficient to overcome this problem. Chicago and the U.S. do not need another single-institution initiative. They need, desperately, a single-payer system -- so that hospitals can focus on treating patients and not shuffle them elsewhere."

Meanwhile, back to what really matters. Mrs. O's climactic one-night stand at the convention podium does not mean that Michelle Obama has your best interests in mind.

Sheesh. Why do Americans fall for all the showmanship?

Too bad Kucinich didn't have more media exposure during the primaries -- if he had, perhaps, we wouldn't have a Democratic nominee who people think is an anti-war candidate, but isn't. We also might have a candidate who has a convincing message on healthcare.

But alas, we don't.

Wake up, indeed.

Obama may be against the Iraq War, but he has no problem warring with Afghanistan, Pakistan, and who knows where else.

Remember he also said, in a moment of candor, that if he had been in the senate, he couldn't say how he would have voted for the war resolution.

They must serve Kool-aid on that Band Wagon!

...for not talking about how "real" Barack Obama is, what a fine guy he is, what a patriotic American he is, what a devoted husband he is, what an exemplary father he is, what a fine Christian he is, what a role model for young citizens he is, what a strong leader he is....

Instead, she talked about issues! How not unifying!

It's up to Obama to sell himself. Can he?

Give it a rest. Are you trying to imply that Obama actually *won" those states?

What bullshit.

The Love Train.

Don't hold your breath.

Hillary has always been gracious. Others? Not so much.

Given the extraordinary support that Hillary and Bill have extended to Obama, it would be the right thing for Obama to set it right, in no uncertain terms, out of common decency and for historical purposes, that he wants to correct the "record" in the pursuit of UNITY and for future generations that he does not think, and has never thought, that Bill and Hillary are racists, and that he regrets that he didn't say so, in unequivocal terms, much earlier.

Now, that would be a show of unity. If he can't do it, he's an ingrate.

In the first place, I do not feel misery at all. In fact, I am extremely hopeful that our country will survive, whether Obama or McCain wins in November. Our nation's future does not hinge on one man! Secondly, my concerns are as legitimate as yours are -- how arrogant of you to assume otherwise!

But, now that there's just one more day of this Lollapalooza Extravaganza called a Nominating Convention, it is totally up to Barack Obama to close the deal and turn the hoopla of the last days into *success* at the ballot box.

It will be his speech tonight that will determine how he's received and remember down the road.

...because they were chasing "news stories" and reacting on a dime, using satellite-delivered interviews into local markets to knock back the Repub talking points.

So, Pouffle or Puffle should not mock that strategy.

Bill Clinton is more intellectually adroit that Kerry, Gore, or Obama. Obviously, they are all *educated* but President Clinton runs circles around them with his capacity to creatively use his intellect to persuade, teach, engage and influence his audience, using heavy doses of folksiness, charm, and empathy.

Of those four educated men, Obama scores the lowest in the charm and empathy categories because he hasn't had the arrogance factor trained out of him -- yet.

I'll give Senator McCain credit for meaning what he says, and saying what he means. He recognizes the historical event that Obama has achieved. Gives him credit. Honors the job well done. Then, moves on to the (his) mission at hand.

In politics, this is a high mark.

How is he going to communicate the cultural impact of all the changes he is now expected to make?

Well, that's the thing. He may be expected to make changes, but he has no intention of following through.

(But, I still say Bill Clinton is an intellectual.)