The torch has been passed

Of course, I hope that Ted Kennedy surmounts this latest health crisis, but his brother's words ring in my ears, "Let the word go forth from this day forward that the torch has been passed to a new generation."

This new generation will miss those who led the Civil Rights movement, as well as those such as Robert Byrd, also ill and infirm, who overcame the prejudices they had been taught to be convinced of its justness.