MY FATHER raised me wary of priests and politicians. And life has taught me to put my faith in little said at funerals.
But it was the Rev. J. Donald Monan, then president of Boston College, who best captured Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill Jr., in a eulogy at the services at St. John the Evangelist on that cold day in 1994.
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All politics is local.
Reading this account was a wonderful way to start the day. In the Sixties and Seventies I found myself half way between Tip and Tom Hayden and by the Eighties I had moved much closer to Tip's frame of mind. As I look around now, I don't find comparable Democratic leader but I'm hopeful that Elizabeth Warren will grow into one. She had a very different career than Tip, of course, but there is a rootedness to her life experience which, when combined with her clear intelligence, may result in something truly wonderful. But the most compelling lesson to be learned from Tip's example is to keep working for the things you believe in without rancor or ugliness. I hope this lesson is better learned in the next twenty years than it was in the last.
Tip said that in order to get anything done in politics, you have to be a leader. That is what we are lacking.
I think Nancy Pelosi comes to mind, though she hasn't been a leader long enough to compare to Tip. But she has certainly represented progressives more vigorously and consistently than any other recent elected Democratic leader. That's why the right hates her so much, in addition to their usual misogyny.
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"it was an elemental battle;hot lava meeting Raging surf" - what rubbish, what poor writing. This author must write about past events for He has never had an original idea in print. As a globe writer his articles were dictated by His sources. Breaking news: the all politics Is local line is not clever or original. Go sell Your books somewhere else!
go spill your bile someplace else
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The euphemism "creative fidelity" translates to selective sycophant and political chameleon. This is what was required in Tip's day and times haven't changed. Why are we always reminded that Jesuits teach at Boston College?? I think it's a continuing Irish Catholic inferiority complex. It comes from the parish level where people think that priests are well educated because of their 7 - 8 years in the seminary. That education is really more about training and indoctrination than it is about education. The Jesuits are a teaching order; therefore, it is expected that they should be well educated just like any other college. Catholics see priests in the classroom with a staggering vocabulary teaching critical thought and analysis and the reaction is "WoW". This is a localized socialogical phenominon that has spread to overusing the word "brilliant" when Jesuits are mentioned. They are no different than any other professors except they're under control of the Catholic Church. Academic freedom anyone??
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