The Lion Sleeps Tonight

And when I wasn't watching golf these last three days I was asking these questions:

1) At what point was Teddy Kennedy elected "Lion of the Senate"?

2) Does the U.S. Senate have other "animal" positions too? "Penguin of the Senate" (my younger daughter would LOVE that!), "Viper of the Senate," "Gecko of the Senate," "Marsupial of the Senate," "Bull of the Senate," "Gadfly of the Senate"...

3) Given how often the "Lion of the Senate" title was uttered during the festivities, couldn't one of the networks or news channels have played "Hakuna Matata" or "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" at least once?

4) Can he really claim 47 years' service when a) his brother Jack's Senate seat was held exclusively for him by friends and family until he was old enough to be elected and b) he was elected to it about a decade before really being anything close to qualified for the Senate?

5) Over/under: 217 -- the number of times, with straight faces, pundits and announcers alike said: "He was intensely human, for he had, to be sure, his share of failings." (Yes, and Albert Pujols has his share of home runs....)

Let's face it, if we had to list the top 5 lions, Ted wouldn't be anywhere close:

King Leonardo and His Short Subjects
The MGM Lion
Drooper from the Banana Splits
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill (nota bene the adjective!)
The Cowardly Lion (as brought to life by Bert Lahr)

some runners-up:

The lions in John Wesley Harding's song "Darwin"
The lions in Born Free
Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia
The Lion in Androcles and the Lion