Comments on: Senate Not Office of Trust

By: sam

sam — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:59:32 +0000

sam, your point lacks a certain punch when delivered as J. Edgar Hoover as the role model.

Well, PD, if the point is about the "honor," you have a point. But I mentioned Hoover in the context of the technical question Eugene raised over at the VC, i.e., someone holding office under the United States, etc.

By: PD Shaw

PD Shaw — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:22:52 +0000

If I were to throw dirt on Ted Kennedy it would be this: Clinging to your seat, well after you are able to fully perform the duties to your constituents (and to the Democratic Party at large) is either a sign of extremely high personal vanity or a lack of confidence in the country you have spent so much time administering. You are not indispensable.

By: PD Shaw

PD Shaw — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:19:54 +0000

sam, your point lacks a certain punch when delivered as J. Edgar Hoover as the role model.

But as to your larger point: No, I don't think Americans should accept honorary titles from British monarchs. I won't stay awake at night fretting about it, but if you believe in America as an exceptional creation, the idea of titles should be anathema.

Also I wonder, did these people read Huck Finn in high school?

By: Eneils Bailey

Eneils Bailey — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:29:34 +0000

Ted Kennedy is not long to be amongst us.
I have never agreed with his political ideas, and his personal life has resembled a tapestry of bad personal decisions and ideas. He should be in jail.

Given the fallacies of State and Federal Law, he is still out and entertaining the people of Massachusetts and influencing National policy.

I can't think of many politicians who have committed such public and private indiscretions and then become honorary knights of the British empire.

Lay that sword on my shoulder...

By: sam

sam — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:27:04 +0000

sam, were any of those people holding office at the time? If not (and many of them appear to have never held office), you're engaged in obfuscation of the issue.

Ah, you right if I was addressing the legal question, but I just posted the list to show that the honor, as bestowed on Americans, is not uncommon. But now that you've brought it up, Hoover was head of the FBI (1950) at time of his knighting, and Swarzkopf, although retired from active service, still retained his rank, if I'm not mistaken (although, I'll admit, being retired kind of fuzzes it up). As for Hoover, I can't find anything that indicates he had the consent of the Congress in any formal sense.

By: Eneils Bailey

Eneils Bailey — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:32:28 +0000

Some other Americans knighted:

Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
etc..
etc..

And so, what is your point?

None of them were scummy slime bags like Ted Kennedy.

By: PD Shaw

PD Shaw — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:24:40 +0000

Dave Schuler must be tied-up since he has not already pointed out that political office is beginning to resemble an hereditary entitlement.

There, I mentioned it for him.

By: PD Shaw

PD Shaw — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:22:52 +0000

sam, were any of those people holding office at the time? If not (and many of them appear to have never held office), you're engaged in obfuscation of the issue.

By: Eneils Bailey

Eneils Bailey — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:32:16 +0000

Kennedy, a drunken degenerate and seditious hard-left demagogue, is perhaps best known for his Chappaquiddick adventure. This entailed drunkenly driving into the drink while catting around with a woman other than his wife. Rather than trying to rescue Mary Jo Kopechne from the submerged car, he left her to die and didn't report the incident until ten hours later.

That is thanks to Van Helsing at Moonbattery.com.

It's not surprising that this individual, regardless of of his past personal life would be selected for honor in Socialist Western Europe.

You and I would still be sitting in the jailhouse, not waiting for Knighthood, but waiting for good-time to be released.

By: sam

sam — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:31:52 +0000

Before the Droitetoids get all cranked up, it's an honorary knighthood (and not the real thing, so he won't becalled "Sir Teddy"). Some other Americans knighted:

Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Bill Gates
Rudi Guiliani
Billy Graham
Alan Greenspan
J Edgar Hoover
Bob Hope (born in England but a US citizen)
Henry Kissinger
Andre Previn
Ronald Reagan
Norman Swarzkopf Jr.
Steven Spielberg