Comments on The Belmont Club "Pathways of stone"

pharmaguy,
(who claims R.I.'s Patrick Kennedy is the stupidist Congress member)
Dumber then Barbara Boxer? How does he keep breathing?

49erDweet,
In less than 250 years they’ve gone from “Minutemen” status to sucking on the public’s hind teat

When did the change happen? In Marquand’s 1937 novel The Late George Apley there is an ossification of the elites, and a sterile sense of nostalgia. Emerson is worshiped rather than appreciated. The ideals of the Revolution are as embalmed by Modernism as the memory of Latin was by the Humanism of Petrarch. Apley is already dead at the beginning of his story as a boy in the 19th century. Another humorous look at the same social relics was in the novel and movie, directed by John Ford and starring Spencer Tracy, about Mayor Curley, The Last Hurrah.

The Last Hurrah - The Trailer | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

Members, whilst at Sup, shall not be disturbed, except in the event of fire, flood or of Indian attack.

My guess is that the vigor of the New England Congregationalists bled out on the battlefields of the Civil War as the vigor of Old England Anglicans bled out in the trenches of the First World War.

-------
no mo uro,
(who gave EMK's base as Boston Irish, trust funders, and union thugs)
EMK did try to build a support base among women and illegal immigrants. Do you think that was ineffective?

Tee,
(who thinks EMK was a Great Senator)
Your definition of a Senator's job is in error, therefor your determination of EMK's stature is flawed. He was only a skilled politician. You fail to answer robohobo's view of the ethical background of the Kennedy clan.

Doug,
(who discussed EMK's overture to Andropov)
Well noted, his position in the United States Senate gave him no license to violate the Logan Act.

Contempt for the law and a willingness to align with foreign enemies seems to be a family trait. Joe Kennedy II, during his career in Congress on the Banking Committee, contributed to the Fannie/Freddie housing bubble that wrecked the economy. He also shoveled tax payer money into "affordable housing" schemes. That makes me think of Rezco and cash for Obama. Joe's most outrageous private abuse of privilege was his use of connections to obtain a secret annulment of his first marriage that was later overturned by the Vatican. His most outrageous private abuse of his family name was his acting as an unregistered foreign agent for Hugo Chavez. The Citizen's Energy advertisements with Joe extolling heating oil as a gift "from the people of Venezuela" were lobbying for a hostile regime and should earn him a trip to jail.

-------
steeple,
(who claimed there were no honest NY politicians)
Be fair.
Even Bloomberg’s enemies admit that he is honest. As a product of Boston he might assume that no one else is

Aug 29, 2009 - 6:42 am

-------
Steeple,
(who compared most of America to europeanized New England)
Good comment.

JMH,
(who noted that EMK benefited from his brothers deeds)
Concur,
We can descend into the endless fantasy game of the Left. What would JFK have evolved into? The evidence of his positions from his time in public life is that he might have taken Ted aside and beaten him to death.

Any chance in a few years that we will be able to dig him up and ship him out?

Regarding MASSvote, does “nonpartisan” equal tax exempt? Are there no lawyers on our side?

Aug 29, 2009 - 10:59 am

-------
Is Tee the return of Teresita of the multiple identities? The problem with people who display multiple personalities is that on closer examination they often prove to have no personality at all.

Wadeusaf,
Concur with your list of great liberal Democrats. Please add Daniel Patrick Moynihan to the collection. Even when I disagreed with him I had to stop and reexamine the issues. The time when he explained to Jesse Helms how a nuclear bomb works, “This is the part that goes boom,” was the best thing that happened in the US Senate in decades.

Aug 29, 2009 - 5:34 pm

-------
Best epitaph ever:

Here lies the Prelate, Judge and Poet, Peter,
Who broke the laws of God and Man and Meter

Aug 29, 2009 - 7:05 pm