A new thread: Edward Moore Kennedy and Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill As a Churchillian, and a man from Massachusetts who proudly wears a PT 109 tie clasp, I can't help but see parallels between my late senator for most of my life and WSC.
The scenes at the JFK Library in Boston of ordinary folk waiting in line over three hours to pass the bier are reminiscent of 1965. Due to popular demand, viewing was extended past the scheduled time; another parallel. I hear that the British and the Irish P.M.s are to attend Senator Kennedy's rites tomorrow, as are the current U.S. president (whose election owes a great deal to the endorsements of Senator Kennedy and his niece Caroline) and three out of four living ex-presidents. I was privileged to witness yesterday the cortege drive through the streets of Boston - the Kennedy stronghold - and to sail today close to the John F. Kennedy Library (coming about before the posted Coast Guard pickets could challenge us!). The most striking parallel is that EMK was the master of, and a great lover of, the U.S. Senate just as WSC was the master of the House of Commons. Today's New York Times reports an example of this: that Senator Kennedy arranged for Robert Caro, the LBJ biographer, to address senators about the traditions of the Senate. But for the equally esteemed Senator Byrd, Senator Kennedy would be known as the father of the Senate. I invite commentary not on Senator Kennedy's politics but on his role as a parliamentarian, a lover of his legislative house and his obsequies, vis a vis those characteristics in Winston Churchill. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
