In recent years, we have seen some rather high profile political figures shuffle off this mortal coil. Some, such as the late Ronald Reagan, are greatly mourned among conservatives; others, such as Robert Byrd, Ted Kennedy, and John Murtha, are missed perhaps a wee bit less.
I try to approach the demise of even a greatly and deservedly detested politician in a spirit of de mortuis nil nisi bonum. However, every now and then a quip will escape me, more or less against my Christian will. But I'm far from the first: Two quatrains from great writers seem appropriate.
Here richly, with ridiculous display,
The Politician’s corpse was laid away.
While all of his acquaintance sneered and slanged
I wept : for I had longed to see him hanged.
--Hillaire Belloc
Posterity will ne’er survey
A nobler grave than this:
Here lie the bones of Castlereagh
Stop, traveller, and piss.
--Lord Byron
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