The King Funeral Aftermath

How bad is the Republican party? How far is going too far? With the Rove clan, there really aren't any limits when it comes to character assassination. Even the dead have found themselves in the Republican political cross hairs.

When a person dies, their friends get up at their funeral and talk about the things that made that person who they are. Their friends reminisce, tell stories, speak to their virtues. This is especially true, one would think, if the deceased were in some way involved in politics. Take the funeral of former president Ronald Regan, for example, where he was eulogized over and over again as the "Great Communicator."

The Republicans love it when one of their own passes on and the greatness of their life and work is reviewed at their funeral. But if a Democrat should pass, not a word is supposed to be whispered by friends or family concerning their beliefs or work, no matter how integral to their lives that those beliefs might have been. If it happens, the funeral of that person is scorned by the Republicans as nothing but a political event and the speakers should be ashamed to bring their politics to a funeral.

You might remember how the Republicans trashed the funeral of Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota a few years ago. They called it a "cynical, premeditated political event that included endless booing of Republican politicians who came to pay their respect to their fallen comrade." The most political statement made that day was, "Let's win the upcoming Senate election for Paul." Republican reactions were exemplified by Rush Limbaugh, who said, "Where where the tears? Where was the grief? Where was the memorial service? There wasn't any of this." This was, of course, a lie. There have been enough articles published by people who were actually there (Limbaugh was not) that clearly show Limbaugh's statements to be totally untrue.

Now we come to the funeral of Coretta Scot King, a person whose very life flew in the face of our current president. Is it any wonder that the speakers who reminisced about Mrs. King's life said things that didn't sit well with George W. Bush? For once, the audience wasn't hand picked by his handlers. For once, the people in attendance and those who spoke from the dais weren't pre-scripted to say things that Mr. Bush would approve of.

He had to sit there for six hours in obvious discomfort and listen to problems caused by his policies that Coretta King tried to heal among the poor and the disenfranchised of this country. Is it any wonder that Republicans are raising the evil specter of "political agenda" concerning what was said? If Mrs. King wasn't a political person, what was she?

Once again it is the Republicans and their right wing media counterparts who take the tragedy of death and attempt to use it for political gain. Most of those complaining are against everything Mrs. King stood for. And the American noddey-heads sit in front of their televisions and bob in agreement.

Excuse me while I throw up.

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