Photo: Getty Images

It's obvious what Caroline Kennedy's endorsement has done for the Obama campaign, Michelle Cottle writes in the coming issue of The New Republic. But what is the Obama campaign doing for Caroline Kennedy? Cottle thinks she knows:

It's been 45 years since the fall of Camelot, and the family brand has begun to fade. A growing portion of the electorate was born after the deaths of John and Bobby and has a tough time relating to the Kennedy fixation of its elders. Under such conditions, what's a committed custodian of the family legacy to do? Hitch her clan's wagon to the hottest political star in decades. With a little luck, even as that old Camelot magic rubs off on Obama, the candidate's energy and relevance will help sustain the Kennedy brand for a little longer.

Oh, Michelle, so cynical. The TNR writer says that she doesn't mean "to suggest that Kennedy Schlossberg has no identity beyond that of Kennedy custodian," but that's essentially what she does in her story, "External Flame." "In a lifetime of looking out for the Kennedy name, attaching herself to Obama could turn out to be her most important endeavor yet — allowing her to bolster the family brand in the minds of young voters and thus secure it a role in the party's future," Cottle writes. "Because, if Barack Obama is crazy for the Kennedys, they must really be something special, right?"

Hm. The Camelot political legacy has faded out? Caroline is the only custodian of her family legacy? Guess we'll have to add Michelle Cottle's name to the list of journalists who think Ted Kennedy is already dead.

External Flame [New Republic]

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg and Jon Bon Jovi announced that the Jersey rocker (now a resident of Manhattan) would be one of a select handful of artists to play Central Park. On July 12 he will take over the Great Lawn and perform for free for 60,000 fans. The tickets will be distributed starting tomorrow at baseball stadiums throughout the city, as the event is co-sponsored by Major League Baseball. Some protest groups are up in arms because they were told they were not allowed to assemble on the lawn during the 2004 Republican National Convention for fear of damaging the grass.

In the above video, Bloomberg and Bon Jovi announce the concert together. Watch as Bloomberg makes some bad baseball jokes and then mispronounces the name of Art Garfunkel, one of the only artists to perform previously on the lawn (and one of Bloomberg's neighbors on 79th Street!) and Bon Jovi mercilessly teases him.

We wonder if Diane Lane, a native New Yorker and former girlfriend of Bon Jovi, will be in the audience. Did you know he wrote "You Give Love a Bad Name" about her? That's your fun fact of the day.

A Bon Jovi Concert [NYT]
Bon Jovi Gets OK For Central Park Show [NYDN]

In prison we bet they don't have fancy
monogrammed, um, sweatshirts!Photo: Patrick McMullan

During his home confinement, Epstein "cannot view or possess" any pornography "relevant to his deviant behavior patterns," Pucillo said, before deciding to bar him from looking at any porn at all.

After which we imagine they repaired to chambers to haggle over the fine points: "What about Girls Gone Wild?" "No." "What about lesbian porn?" "No." "Massage-training videos?" "No." "Scheisse videos?" "Okay."

Kinky Financier Cops Plea [NYP]
Earlier: Jeffrey Epstein, Original Perv, Rises Again

The pair at Madonna's "Raising Malawi" event in February.Photo: Getty Images

• A-Rod went to her concert on April 30.
• They hung out together at the Box afterward.
• Madonna sat in his seats, with her kids, at a Yankees game on June 22.