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Keller @ Large: America Has Different Concept Of Royalty

BOSTON (CBS) -- Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their baby boy.

"Jon" would be a distinguished name for him, don't you think?

Actually, that's probably a bit pedestrian for a future king. Or is it?

The Duke and Duchess certainly seem appealing. But all the fuss gets me thinking about America, and what a different concept of royalty we have.

Listen to Jon's commentary

Keller @ Large: America Has Different Concept Of Royalty

We refer to musical icons as the King of Pop or the Queen of Soul. We also have the US equivalent of princesses. We call them divas.

They have Kate Middleton; we have Beyonce.

We have sports royalty all over the place, athletes known by one name, draped in jewelry that puts the Crown jewels to shame. Some of them even wear performance-enhancing jewelry.

And most of all, we have our political royalty.

No fancy dukes and duchesses though; our political royals have names like Joe, Harry and Bill. Even the Kennedys and Bushes have ordinary first names.

Maybe "Jon" isn't looking so bad after all.

Our willingness to lionize the political class seems to have its limits, but is that always a good thing?.

Governors are some of the most important political leaders we have. But did you know that the average US governor's salary is less than $130,000 per year?

This may shock you, but I think the governor of Massachusetts – even a lame-duck one – is worth more than the $140,000 he or she gets.

You get what you pay for.

So I say, let's follow Idaho, Pennsylvania and five other states who've given their governors raises recently. The average increase: $4,100 bucks.

Don't spent it all in one place.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.

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