Sir Jeremy Hanley

I must admit, my favorite part of Sir Jeremy Hanley's lecture wasn't the speech itself. It was the speaker's rich British accent and imitated Irish brogue.
Within minutes of sitting down to listen to Hanley's lecture, I found myself completely unaware of what he had even been talking about. I was completely focused on that voice.
Luckily, Sir Jeremy managed to pull me out of my daze with a joke about Margaret Thatcher. The audience's laughter gave me the jolt I needed to refocus on the lecture. And once I actually started listening, I enjoyed myself.
I was amazed to find how much different British government is from U.S. government. While both countries have a bicameral legislature, British legislators never stop representing their local communities when they take a seat in the national house. They are essentially performing the job that requires both a state and national legislator in the U.S.
Although I was aware of the "figurehead" and "actual" governments in Great Britain, I wasn't aware that it was possible to be a member of both. And I certainly wasn't aware that the traditional policy of appointing Lords through hereditary lines was still in practice.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to stay for the entire lecture to hear Sir Jeremy actually arrive on the topic of U.S.-Great Britain relations. But from the tidbit I heard, I'm sure his talk was engrossing.
The only drawback of Hanley's lecture was that there weren't more people there to hear him speak. It's a shame that MSU students aren't aware or don't take advantage of the unique opportunities our university provides.