Dad Slams Attack On Bush At King Rite
Reflections on the Wellstone Memorial and the King Funeral
“In terms of the political shots at the president who was sitting there with his wife, I didn’t like it and I thought it was kind of ugly frankly,” the former president said in an exclusive radio interview with CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer.
I’m not certain that the funeral of Coretta Scott King was the most appropriate forum for some thinly-veiled Bush bashing, but considering King’s politics and those of her family, friends, and supporters, no one can reasonably claim to be surprised. As with the funeral of Paul Wellstone, the people who turned out were by and largest committed, left-of-center True Believers. Combine that commitment and passion with some fiery rhetoric, and what you end up with is Joseph Lowry’s “weapons of misdirection down here” speech. No, it couldn’t have been comfortable to be sitting in Our Glorious Leader’s seat, but I have to believe that he understood that he wasn’t exactly heading to an encounter withone of his hand-picked and tightly-screened “town hall meeting” audiences (So when will we see out lovely First Lady running for office? Aaagghhh….). No, he had to know that these folks weren’t going to be lobbing softballs at him. At least I hope he did.
Given that Mrs. King’s life was all about politics and the struggle against racism and prejudice, can anyone reasonably claim to be surprised that her funeral was tinged with poltical rhetoric? Dubya’s daddy may see fit to whine and moan about the unfairness of his son being subjected to some harsh criticism, but, hey…live by the sword, die by the sword, eh? Al Franken manages to provides some perspective on the proceedings, and, as is usually the case when Republicans begin whining, the truth is somewhat different than the reality:
Coretta Scott King was 78 when she died. Her death followed a long illness and was not a big shock. Her family and friends had had time to prepare for her death and had not lost five other friends and/or family members in a tragic plane crash.
Four presidents spoke. One of them, Jimmy Carter, made a passing reference to the fact that Martin and Coretta King had been the victims of domestic wiretapping by the government. Was it a shot at President George W. Bush, who was sitting right behind Carter? Probably. Was that inappropriate? Maybe.
Would Coretta Scott King have enjoyed the moment? I don’t know. You know who would have a better idea than me? Jimmy Carter. He knew Mrs. King. Those who are currently complaining - most of whom claim to be offended on her behalf - didn’t know her at all.
Coretta Scott King was a political woman. Most of those complaining on her behalf are against everything she stood for. In her later years she spoke passionately on behalf of affirmative action. Should her family have been offended that President Bush didn’t mention this and apologize for it? Should they have been offended that the first President Bush didn’t mention that he had campaigned for Congress in 1964 against the 1964 Civil Rights Bill and didn’t apologize for that? [ed. note: emphasis mine]
Yes, I can understand that Republicans may well have been unhappy with the tone of Mrs. King’s funeral, but as Franken mentions, Mrs. King WAS a political woman, as are her friends, family, and followers. It stands to reason, then, that one could expect her funeral to take on a political tone. Just as with the Wellstone funeral, most of what was said and much of the political tone of Mrs. King’s funeral were twisted and taken out of context by those Republicans concerned only with the message and not the woman whose life and accomplishments were being commemorated.
Indeed, the only complaints I’ve heard are from those who have never supported anything that Mrs. King stood for. These folks seem not to understand that a celebration lf Mrs. King’s life would hardly be complete without honoring her politics and the contributions she made toward making this world a better place. If neither Our Glorious Leader or his father wanted to be exposed to criticism, they should have stayed home. If they were silly and stupid enough to expect that they would be spared because of the position occupied by Our Glorious Leader as the Most Powerful Man in the Free World, they’re even more out of touch with reality than I’d suspected. Politics and the life of Coretta Scott King were inextricably linked. To expect that her funeral, the celebration of her life and accomplishments, would be devoid of a political element is the height of unreasonable expectations. And if Our Glorious Leader can’t accept criticism, then perhaps he needs to stick to the hand-picked and thoroughly-screened audiences presented by his “town hall meetings”.
