This is ludicrous....(((

Ted Kennedy to be knighted - Times Online

From Times Online
March 4, 2009

Ted Kennedy to be knighted
Ted Kennedy, one of the leading members of the family dynasty that dominated American politics in the final decades of the last century, is to receive an honorary knighthood.
Gordon Brown will announce the award today when he becomes the fifth Britishicon Prime Minister to give a speech to both Houses of Congress.

Senator Kennedy, who has represented Massachusetts for nearly 50 years, will get the distinction from the Queen for his services to the US-UK relationship and to the Northern Ireland peace process.

The father-of-five, who was elected in 1962 after his brother John F. Kennedy became President, has had a long and illustrious political career in the United Statesicon. He has effectively been regarded as leader of America's most prominent political families since the assassinations of the President in 1963 and Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.

However, arguably America's best-known Irish-American will be best remembered in the UK for his involvement in mediating over the Northern Ireland dispute.

He held meetings with leaders from opposing ends of the spectrum on several occasions, although in 2005 he famously refused to meet Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein leader, after the killing of Robert McCartney, over which the IRA was accused.

The 77-year-old Senator's health took a dramatic turn for the worst when he was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour last May and has subsequently gone through a rigorous regime of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

The Prime Minister will announce the knighthood in a speech which will call on the United States to turn away from protectionism as it tries to lead the worldwide global recovery.

It comes the day after President Obama endorsed Mr Brown's call for a unified front in the run-up to the G20 summit in London.

In an interview held in advance of the speech on BBC Radio 4, Mr Brown set the tone for the speech when he emphasised that - although there was a need for "humility" from Number 10 over the economic crisis - the recession was a worldwide phenomenon.

"I think there is always a need for humility and there's always a need to accept collective responsibility," he said. "I don't think I would run away from responsibility for what happens."

He dismissed the theory "that somehow this is a British problem that was a British government mistake," adding: "Actually what happened is that round the world, as everybody understands, the whole global financial system seized up."

In speaking to both Houses of Congress today, the Prime Minister will follow in the footsteps of Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.
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