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Show 'Wizard1 of Ooze Impressive Columnist William S. White this week nominated Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen as the GOP's "Legislative Man of the year." White anointed Dirksen as an "abler tactician" than his predecessors Taft and Knowland. -Others might prefer to designate Dirksen as Abuser of the year, or Obstructionist of the Year. Only recently his oleaginous olea-ginous voice turned sour as he 1) derided the Forand health-insurance-for-the-aging bill, and 2) denounced as "stinking" the heads of two big labor unions who championed the Forand bill at a Senate hearing. The day after White's elevation of Dirksen to the hall of fame, a New York Times dispatch described the Senator as "a one-time isolationist who has never been excessively zealous for too long about anything." The Times man added, concerning the Dirksen organ tones "an echo from the old Chautauqua stump delivered with mock-tragic passion" that "It was a fortunate day for the theater when young Everett decided to enter politics." Harper's Magazine a few months ago labeled an article about Dirksen "The Wizard of Ooze." |