They’ve gone to zoos, every one

Just received an e-mail book recommendation from an old grad-school pal. The book is “Wayne Morse: A Political Biography” (Oregon Historical Society Press, 557 pages, $18 paper). Here’s what my pal had to say:

I am reading a terrific biography of Sen. Wayne Morse, D-Ore ., (authored by Mason Drukman) who served 1944-1968.

As context for his historic vote in 1964 against the Tonkin Gulf Resolution (only he and Alaska’s Ernest Gruening opposed it), Morse’s opposition to the 1957 “Eisenhower Doctrine for the Middle East” is cited.

In a floor debate with Sen. John F. Kennedy , Morse had this to say in 1957:

“I am not going to vote to give the President any power to make war in the Middle East by a predated declaration of war.”

Later, in a news release, Morse said:

“I am not in favor of spilling American blood for oil.”

Over the entrance to the National Archives in Washington, D.C., it proclaims:

“The Past is Prologue.”

Where are the “Tigers of the Senate” today?