BRITAIN

BRITAIN

The Observer, London, Dec. 17: There will rightly be differing views of whether Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg deserves to be appointed as Hillary Rodham Clinton’s successor as the U.S. senator from New York. She has, after all, held no significant public office in her life and has only recently begun to appear on political platforms. What Ms. Kennedy unquestionably possesses is a name.

And while the dynasticism of American politics is often unattractive (as it can be elsewhere) there is no argument over the way Ms. Kennedy has coped with being the person she is. As the only daughter of the most tragic U.S. president of the postwar era and of unquestionably the most ballyhooed first lady of all time, Caroline Kennedy has had to live a life freighted with a celebrity and emotional charge unparalleled in modern America and perhaps anywhere else.

Family tragedies

Her father the president and her uncle the senator, both impossibly idealised in their time, were each murdered. Her mother, the most iconic woman in the world, died early from cancer. Her two brothers are dead too, one at birth and the other in a plane crash. Yet for 40 years and more, Ms. Kennedy has guarded her privacy, brought up a family and made occasional forays into the public arena, without once trading on or disgracing the place she has been fated to occupy in American life. Not all Kennedys can say as much. Ms. Kennedy may or may not merit the job for which she is applying. But she will face elections in 2010 and 2012 if she is appointed, so we may soon find out if the magic lives on.

AUSTRALIA

Sydney Morning Herald, Dec. 15: Olympic cities often experience painful hangovers when the sporting party is over. ... But the Greek capital’s explosion of violence over the past week shows how short-lived the Olympic feel-good factor can be.

One in five Greeks lives below the official poverty line, and a similar proportion of those aged 15 to 24 are unemployed, many of them educated, middle-class people raised to expect better.

This is the social tinder that was ignited when police shot dead a 15-year-old schoolboy, Alexis Grigoropoulos, on Dec. 6. Night after night since, the streets of Athens have witnessed battles between petrol bomb-throwing youths and police, and the destruction and looting of hundreds of businesses, with losses of an estimated $4 billion.

Paltry wages

The Greek youth who rioted are known as the “700-euro generation”, referring to the paltry wage graduates can expect should they find a job. Europe, like Australia, is facing a boom turned bust. There are lots of disappointed people out there.

There are lots of disappointed people out there. Athens is a warning to liberal democracies about the potential social consequences of insensitive government in hard times.