The always insightful Mark Steyn:
Half-a-century ago today, Enoch Powell gave the speech that ended his political ambitions within the British Conservative Party, but ensured that he would be a more consequential figure than any of the hack timeservers who prospered in the Tory cabinets of Edward Heath. It’s known to history as “the ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech”, which is a slight misrendering of a characteristically Powellite classical allusion – even then, in the pre-soundbite era, a risky business for a politician seeking to curry favor with the media, especially as Enoch quoted it in the original Latin. To mark the anniversary, BBC Radio, controversially, aired a re-enactment of the speech, read by Ian McDiarmid, best known for playing Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars movies. Notwithstanding the casting, the absurdly named “Lord Adonis”, who sounds like a minor character in Waugh’s Vile Bodies, demanded the broadcast be canceled.