The political appointment of ambassadors is nothing new, and past presidents have made some stunningly inappropriate ones in the past - Roosevelt's appointment of Caroline's Irish bootlegger gangster grandfather to the Court of St. James comes to mind.

However, there used to be 3 kinds of ambassadorial appointments: the choice ones given to accomplished diplomats, where American relations with the nation in question actually had geopolitical significance; the pleasant ones given to political favorites as a kind of extended vacation, where relations with the nation were either unquestionably solid or largely irrelevant; and Third World hellholes, where career diplomats were banished after stepping on their weenies in some more important assignment.

Japan is, or should be, Category One. Caroline Kennedy is clearly a Category Two appointee, and if she needs a plum that badly, should be sent off as the Ambassador to Samoa or Fiji or some damn thing. This is simply Chicago machine politics playing out on a world scale - another sign that Obama wasn't fit for the job, in case anyone doubted that.

This is similar to when New York was looking fill Hilary Clinton's seat and Caroline Kennedy was looking to "slip in" that spot without having to face an actual campaign. I posed at the time that her father would not be proud of her accomplishing things that way. Despite his family connections, he worked hard to achieve what he did and she should expect no less from herself. If given the opportunity at the time (and I don't know if anybody else said this), I would have told her "You cannot follow in the footsteps of your father when you act like your mother." I was very thankful that she stepped out of consideration for that seat. She needs to show that she deserves it.

Caroline Kennedy is a notoriously poor public speaker, even in English. I hope they send her with a teleprompter, and a few really good translators

I agree with Grey Ghost. Any association with John Kennedy, passed its generational expiration date, as something of diplomatic value, about 20 years ago.

Most Japanese dont know who the heck he was, nor do they care. .

yeah, I read this the other day...

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/07/25/naming_caroline_kennedy_ambassador_to_japan_terrible_message_about_america

Terrible Message, at a bad time. Japan is a VERY important ally in Asia, and our bases there strain relations, both because they are an imposition on local people and because the central government also imposes the bases on the local people.

Dealing with the Japanese is often a difficult proposition, because they don't often get in your face if they are frustrated, until it is far too late.

The current guy turned out to be OK in the job, but you can't change the idea that this is a pure payback appointment, to a country that needs to be cared about, to strengthen ties there, ties that have been eroded due to being ignored.

This is a complicated thing, and I don't think this choice will hurt, exactly, but it doesn't carry forward.

Footsteps of her father? Corruption and debauchery?

The Kennedys are useless, and have been for decades. The have been untouchable only because of JFK's assassination, but that is finally wearing off.

Footsteps of her father? Corruption and debauchery?

The Kennedys are useless, and have been for decades. The have been untouchable only because of JFK's assassination, but that is finally wearing off.

If California thought that it Schwarzenegger would be a good governor, they got what they deserved.

Patrick, our options here are as such that often, voting for the bear who roots in the garbage would be a better deal, only he never raises the signatures to get on the ballot. -- Amy Alkon at July 26, 2013 11:08 AM

Hopefully the bear would rip off a few of the politician's heads. :-p

I'm sure she's ordered sushi. She needs to turn this down, but she won't. Embarassing. But Japan's not an economic power, really, so what difference does it make? Her great grand-father liked Hitler.

Kennedys?

Hmm. If Mary Jo Kopechne had gotten a ride with George Zimmerman, she'd be alive today.

If California thought that it Schwarzenegger would be a good governor, they got what they deserved.

It's not so much that California thought he'd be "good" governor. It'a that the others would have been so much worse.

Our choices were keep a governor whose incompetence precipitated the first successful recall effort since 1968 - or replace him with either a porn star, a lieutenant governor who belonged to an organization that wanted to "return" California to Mexico, Gary Coleman, or Arnold.

"Why yes, we care about our relationship with your fine country so much that we ask people to pay for the honor of being our ambassador to your country"