Ted Kennedy Gets a Knighthood

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Wednesday that Sen. Edward Kennedy has been awarded honorary knighthood.

Kennedy, 77, is battling brain cancer. He did not attend Brown's address to a Joint Meeting of Congress.

Brown told the senator on Tuesday night that Queen Elizabeth II had made him a member of British nobility.

Am I the only one who finds it unseemly for an American to accept a knighthood from the Queen of England? Should an American senator be a member of British Nobility?

Senator Kennedy should thank the Queen and Gordon Brown for the offer, but politely decline.

Ann says: technically knights aren't nobility. You have to be a baron or above for that one (baronet doesn't even count.) Lots of Americans have them, including, I think Casper Weinberger and Henry Kissenger. My guess is Teddy is getting one for his pro-Irish immigration stance over the years.

Still, I agree with you, honorary or not Americans should eschew such things as a matter of principle. I thought we left that garbage behind in 1776.