“As the new first family gets ready to move into the White House, comparisons to the Kennedys swirl. But all I have to say is: Who cares what she wears and how she decorates?” opines Louise J. Esterhazy, in the January issue of W.

Louise continues: “The stupid ones who compare Michelle O to Jackie O miss the point. Camelot is so far in the past it is another history. And even the Kennedy Camelot wasn’t a paradise, as we’ve come to learn. The Obamas have their own agenda, and the only real question is whether the Washington swamp will suck them in and ruin things.”

I don’t think the swamp of DC will ruin the Obamas. They are going to have to struggle to survive the virulent right wing which cannot — will not! — accept his presidency, or Michelle’s First Lady status. Obama will also have to survive and cope with the virulent left wing; they are busy complaining that their candidate hasn’t stocked his coming Cabinet with radicals and progressives.

I’m afraid Barack Obama — because so much is expected of him — will never be able to fall back on the classic final line in “Some Like It Hot” — said Joe E. Brown: “Nobody’s perfect.”

And the downright loony scandal of lame-brained Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich — trying to barter off Barack’s Senate seat — has cast an irritable, unfortunate shadow, even before Barack is inaugurated. (No wonder Barack didn’t wait to run for president — he clearly wanted out of Chicago politics!)

But from what I’ve read so far, the investigators don’t seem to have much of a case against Blagojevich. The governor says a lot of crazy stuff, but idiocy caught on tape and saying you  intend to do something or want something done — like firing reporters; I don’t know if that’s a crime. Seems more like reality-challenged braggadocio. Whatever happens, it’s going to make a great Vanity Fair story.

P.S. Obama is going to have to learn to respond with more immediacy and authority even to a small-ish crisis like this. His trademark hesitancy and careful parsing was not helpful as this story broke. Even a sense of humor would help. I mean, how crazy is Blagojevich?

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For news junkies, the best TV watching right now is CNN’s Campbell Brown, who has turned all gutsy and opinionated. She has her own hour, “No Bull, No Bias,” and when she really gets the bit in her teeth, there is hair-tossing, nostril-flaring, snarling and dramatic pronouncements not enjoyed since the salad days of Susan Hayward.

Campbell’s a riot, and entitled to her drama, but I am so weary of TV pundits and so-called journalists who insist on having “personality.” I say, just give me the news. I’ll make up my own mind.

And yes, in case you haven’t noticed, CNN is moving more toward the right.

FOX News is, as always, uber-conservative. (Which is fine, just admit it.)

MSNBC has two steely-eyed confirmed right-wingers still on board — Joe Scarborough and his dizzy blonde sidekick Mika Brzezinski, aka “Mommy.” (Well, she is dizzy in Joe’s presence. When he goes away and she takes over the show for herself, she is not terrible.)

But Joe and Mika are on in the morning. MSNBC’s evening lineup is dominated by the liberal sarcasm of Keith Olbermann and his acolyte, the adored-for-now Rachel Maddow.

As for Chris Matthews, another MSNBC staple, I never know quite what he is, other than always very excited, and always most excited when discussing Hillary Clinton. (I feel certain Chris would have had to take a “vacation” if Hillary won the primary and the presidential election. He would have come back, but as a mere shell of himself.)

If you want world news without ego or showmanship, check out the BBC. It is a blessed relief.