My concern is when we use national moments to reflect and to mourn and to be respectful and we turn them into political diatribes, you know, against the president or, you know, against the Democrats or whatever. It’s just disrespectful; and that’s not what the family wanted, that’s not what the nation wants to see. That doesn’t help heal people. That doesn’t help bring people to a better place. It just exacerbates wounds and makes things more, I guess, poisonous, if you will. And, it just left a bad taste in my mouth and I was hoping for better than what I saw. -- Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, Tony Snow Show, 2/8/06

Many in the blogosphere have begun to debate the Coretta Scott King funeral, with some on the right arguing -- as I did earlier -- that it turned into another partisan exploitation in the same manner as the Paul Wellstone memorial here in Minnesota four years ago. Others on the left argue that the memorial for Mrs. King was appropriate, given the political life she led, and that President Bush's appearance at the event was political.

In a way, both sides are right about this. Bush and his family attended the King funeral at least in part because not attending would have been a political mistake. Bill and Hillary Clinton attended because both had come to know Mrs. King pretty well, but also because all living ex-Presidents were invited. (Gerald Ford is still too ill to travel, I believe.) The King family themselves made this a political event by making the memorial so public -- and it was entirely appropriate to do so. After all, she fought a long struggle for civil rights as well as her husband, and she had to carry the banner for him after his assassination as well as raise her family. Not honoring her political life would have been outrageous.

However, the difference is the partisanship on display, mostly by Jimmy Carter and Reverend Lowery. Politics and partisanship are two different things, although some apparently cannot divorce one from the other. It is entirely possible to have a political event and handle it on a non-partisan basis. Bush attended the funeral, as one CQ commenter stated, as the representative of the nation. That was a moment for all to come together to honor Mrs. King and her achievements, all of which are political, and by avoiding partisanship make them a gift to all Americans.

Instead, Rev. Lowery decided to make snide jokes about WMD, and Carter made barely-veiled allusions to the NSA program he opposes. Both men have ample standing and media access to make those arguments at other times. In this venue, however, the President did not represent himself or his agenda but spoke on behalf of the entire nation. He did what the other speakers should have done: he avoided talking about himself and instead focused on Mrs. King. The other two gentlemen used her death to score petty partisan points and should be ashamed of themselves. (Unlike others in the blogosphere, though, I can't fault Bill Clinton, whose only "crime" was to make a joke about his wife's ambitions for the White House; previous speakers had used humor, and the joke was at no one's expense.)

Perhaps in the future, when statesmen and stateswomen pass away, the politicians they leave behind will learn to put aside their partisanship for a few hours and allow us to focus on the achievements of the deceased, rather than the agendas of the present.

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» The King of Funerals from SEIXON
Showing once again why I cannot be a Democrat in this day and age, Democrats and liberals desecrate the funeral of Coretta Scott King, the wife of Martin Luther King Jr., by using it as a launchpad for criticism of Bush. Not only that, liberal bloggers... [Read More]

Tracked on February 9, 2006 12:16 AM

» The King of Funerals from SEIXON
Showing once again why I cannot be a Democrat in this day and age, Democrats and liberals desecrate the funeral of Coretta Scott King, the wife of Martin Luther King Jr., by using it as a launchpad for criticism of Bush. Not only that, liberal bloggers... [Read More]

Tracked on February 9, 2006 12:17 AM

» The King of Funerals from SEIXON
Showing once again why I cannot be a Democrat in this day and age, Democrats and liberals desecrate the funeral of Coretta Scott King, the wife of Martin Luther King Jr., by using it as a launchpad for criticism of Bush. Not only that, liberal bloggers... [Read More]

Tracked on February 9, 2006 12:19 AM

» Captain's Log from Big Lizards
Captain Ed has a truly excellent piece up right now, certainly one of the best he's written. He discusses the Coretta Scott King funeral and what Jimmy Carter and the Rev. Joseph Lowery did to it; Ed makes an excellent... [Read More]

Tracked on February 9, 2006 1:55 AM