Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) on Rosa Parks:

"Rosa Parks is not just a national hero, she is the embodiment of our social and human conscience and the spark that lit the flame of liberty and equality for African Americans and minority groups in this country and around the globe."

I agree with Dodd that Parks represents far more than the sum of her personal heroics, and I believe that lying in honor is a fitting salute to a woman who so concretely embodies the ideals that Rosa Parks embodies. My only possible reservation is that I can't help but wonder if maybe five straight days of viewings (Saturday in Montgomery; Sunday and Monday in the Capitol; Monday through Wednesday in Detroit) will be harder on the family than necessary, and if the public's right to pay tribute to a national hero outweighs the family's right to grieve privately. That said, there seems to have been family-initiated discussion of lying in honor at the Lincoln Memorial, so perhaps my reservations are unfounded; if the family's okay with the extended public viewing, who am I to disagree?