The Titanic End Of A Dream by Wyn Craig Wade

[John M. Feeney]

Hi, Michael:

I've gotta say, for someone who once balked at PC's (me), I'm amazed at how indispensible they sometimes are! Surprisingly, that took relatively little time.

It's difficult to imagine the amount of labor that must have been involved in researching specific details of the hearings prior to the advent of things like T.I.P.'s online transcriptions. (A BIG nod of appreciation to Rob Ottmers and company! Always a treasure, that resource; as is ET, I might add.)

Re Smith's apparent "grandstanding", I don't know. He certainly was "prosaic" (to put it kindly) in his speech, but I have a tough time deciding whether he was merely swept up in the intensity of the whole affair. (In some ways, that chain of events reminds me of George W. Bush's stunning transformation in the aftermath of September 11.) But again, just my opinion.

Cheers,
John

 

[Dave Gittins]

At least Smith wrote or improvised his own speeches. Actually, the speech by Senator Rayner that followed Smith's is at least as high-flown and possibly worse.

 

[Michael Tennaro]

I meant no disrespect to Senator Smith with my comments. as Dave suggests, ornate oration was an aftform at this time. Smith was no more overboard in style than others in his position, but perhaps was more so in abundance? on the other hand, his famous "I don't like your face" retort on the Senate floor is a classic of succinctness! lol.

my fondness for Senator Smith is because he was such a blend of contradictions. on the one side, there is his meandering questioning style, his incredibly annoying habit of repeating almost every answer back to the subject as a question, and those amazing speeches. on the other, here is a man who spearheaded an impromptu investigation with almost no background in the subject. yet he succeeded in documenting the most complete survivor testimony on record, digested the enormous amount of data, and came up with a conclusion that hit on the real areas that needed correction.

all the best, Michael (TheManInBlack)