Remarks such as the above and similar ones following the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy are unbecoming and inappropriate to these high holy days. Rather, let us be like the Etruscans and early Romans and honor them with an intellectual Cage Match. Let the (first) Annual Kristol-Kennedy Funeral Games begin:

Many minds may enter, but Roger & Roger determine who prevails. Under the new Presidential candidate rules, grades not disclosed.

1) 35 years ago, Kristol wrote an essay, “The American Revolution — a Revolution or a Rebellion?” Agree or Disagree? Explain. Please keep your answers lengthy.

2) About the same time, Mortimer Adler wrote an essay in the New Yorker magazine that the Gettysburg Address was Lincoln’s Heresy, deviating from the orthodoxy of the American State Papers, that is, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Agree or Disagree? Explain. For extra credit, work in references to Garry Wills book on the Address, with cites and attribuation. Please be verbose.

Grab your pencils or curl your keyboard fingers and improve your grip. Begin!