It has been observed that the U.S. Senate lost well over a majority -- some even say more than 90% -- of its brainpower with the departure of the 1% of its membership that was Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Unfortunately, Mr. Moynihan failed to lead his party and more often than not he voted with his party instead of with his brain.
Nonetheless, he graced the Senate and he was a formidable force and presence in it.
Some say that the charming, humane, and erudite New York gentleman drank . . . and yes, indeed he did, deeply and well. Yet, as Ronald Reagan napping was better for the country than the Uriah Heapish peanut farmer he replaced ever was at the height of his alertness, Mr. Moynihan in his cups was superior to the best of his most sober colleagues.
We are unlikely to see a senator approaching Mr. Moynihan's stature in the foreseeable future. Only a handful of the Senate's current members possess either a brain or a character that is not dwarfed by the accompanying ambition and ego.
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