Redstate

I foresee an "R" card in your future :-)

The people celebrating the life of a political figure should not say or do anything political?

and force these aholes to come begging for it.

They can celebrate, but I disagree that they should be taking partisan shots at people who disagree with them -- particularly the attending President of the United States.

At most eulogies, even in New Jersey, you don't hear talk of wiretaps and weapons of mass destruction.

Admittedly, we're old stodgies who don't think the personal is political, and that there's value in separating mournful respect for a lost human life from a political pep rally. Granted, it's just the classy, traditional, decent thing to do. If we were smart, we'd do what the Democrats do, whip up the audience in a religious hatefest, and drown the cries of the sacrificial victims in tons of Cheez Whiz.

. . . the response of the American taxpayers to a disaster should of course be conditional on whether the people controlling the government purse-strings approve of the politics of those struck by the diaster.

We can't be having people just saying whatever they want, and then expecting nobody will be punished for it.  Who knows where that will lead?

horrifying, when I watched it.

Funerals are about celebrating the life of the person who passed on, not about scoring political points.

I often think Wellstone's political rally/funeral doomed the DNC in the elections that year.  While the DNC dedicated may have been all fired up, the majority of people watching were as turned off as I was.

. . . from Wellstone's memorial.  Norm Coleman elected to the U.S. Senate.

What do Republicans want from Coretta Scott King's?

But the Dems were happy to hand it to us.

Since so many Democrats chose today's memorial service to act as ungracious swine, howzabout a filibuster proof Senate?

HELLO ASSOCIATE JUSTICE JANICE ROGERS BROWN!!!

the Gipper's funeral turn into a GOP convention.

We're Republicans. We're better than Democrats.

Alex Kozinski.

Only now can it be revealed! The Democrats were tricked by scurrilous Republicans backing Norm Coleman into crassly staging a partisan political rally at Wellstone's funeral in order to make Democrats look bad! They're crafty, no?

And here I've been laboring under the misaprehension that it was merely a case of Democrats being Democrats. Silly me! Thank you for setting me straight!

I saw clips of Clinton and some brown preacher.  Clinton made reference to his wife's impending presidency (which hurt my heart and brought rousing cheers from the audience) and the preacher criticized President Bush for spending money on defense and lying (though he didn't use that word - just implied it) about weapons of mass destruction when there are still poor people in America.

In the days when MLK was alive, Democrats were interested in new ideas to combat poverty and old ideas regarding the value of protecting our great country.  It's too bad we have this cheap imitation of a party these days.  It would be beneficial to us all to have a two party system where both parties were sane.

...and counter-productive. Acting that way might reinforce the base, which is maybe 30% of the electorate. The other 70% of us are just appalled.

Of course, you'd expect us knuckle-draggers to be appalled, but we're probably 30%, too. It's those in the middle who matter come election day.

If it were up to me, we'd have a Wellstone funeral reenactment about every month. That spectacle was probably the only reason why my daughter, a college student in your fine state of Minnesota, voted for Norm Coleman.  

Dignity and decorum don't cost a cent. They are equally available to rich and poor alike.

Was it inapropriate?

Maybe....

But the same things occured during Johnny Cochran's funeral, with many a speaker making political points, and very little was said about that funeral.

Preachers will be preachers.

I find it interesting that you guys don't try to explain why African-Americans should be voting Republican but just crying about nothing.  If African-Americans were totally offended they would of gotten up and left not stood up and cheered.  

Maybe the Conservative movement should attempt to take votes from a voting block ,that is now simple a block that only trusts Democrats, by telling them that this is what Speaker X said and this is what we think and how we think could help you.  I know many African-American people that sat and watched the ENTIRE event and didn't complain.  Why is that?  Because they didn't find it offensive simple.

What is worse political messages at a funeral about a great civil rights leader or people trying to turn those messages as something that the late "Queen" would find offensive.  

If you have a problem with it ok, but on this issue I see fake tears.

MLK was a big antiwar activist, as a result of his pacifist leanings.

He frequently used sunday sermons to come out against the vietnam war.

And let me point a difference between this funeral and the wellstone funeral.

No republicans were turned away from this funeral,and no one booed the president when he spoke.

n/t

the funeral is an occasion to celebrate the life of the deceased. Political animal or not it just seems to me to be inapproriate to take cheap shots at your politcal opponent at someone's funeral.

Maybe that's just me but it just feels wrong. But I'm not a liberal so what do I know about class?

that's going to leave a mark :-)

Well said.

Because they didn't find it offensive simple.

So no one booed him, they just insulted him to his face and called him a liar

He never said he was a liar he just said we know there is no WMDs in Iraq and there is none.

He never did say that Bush knew before the war that there were none.  I support not leaving and I supported the war and I believe he didn't attempt to make that as big of a political message as it is now seen.

Seems to me that the audience was applauding for an awfully long time over something the good reverend did not say.

but wasn't MLK wiretapped under the direction of Robert Kennedy? Who, last time I checked, was a Democrat?

It's not like it works.

Can someone tell me if Laura Bush, Rosalynn Carter or Barbara Bush stood with their husbands when they spoke? That was the protocol, right?

Jimmy Carter and his subtle allusions to the wiretaps being a civil rights violation.

Liberals don't want to be reminded of that. We're all supposed to pretend that it's related to what's going on today. They forget that Republicans have brains.

Just pointing out the differences in funerals.

Was it an appropriate time to air grievances?

Most assuredly not.

But like I noted before, once a preacher always a preacher.

By criticizing LBJ for getting us into Vietnam, a war MLK opposed.  They could have mentioned all the Southern Democrats who tried to block civil rights legislation and who supported segregation, like KKK Keagle Robert Byrd.

What does Coretta Scott King have to do with WMD?

This was a time to respect a woman who contributed to civil rights in this country, and by extension honor her husband who launched the movement.  This was a time to come together as Americans, not a time to take cheap political shots.

Liberals have no class whatsoever, which can be readily seen from their funeral behavior, to their demonstrations, to their blogs. When given any opportunity to act dignified, they always seem to take the lowest road.

...we were sad.  I didn't go to the Capitol the afternoon they brought him in because I wanted to make a political statement.  I went because I wanted to show respect.

I make no judgment on any of the attendees of Mrs. King's funeral - but I wonder how many people were there simply because they'll miss the woman, now that she's gone on.

As with the Wellstone funeral (and in a similar fashion, the Roberts and Alito Senate hearings) it's always a good idea to let the Dems talk as much as they want on TV.  They may start out reasonable and subdued, but it's just a matter of time before their egos take control and windbaggery takes over.

I don't know the makeup of the King funeral attendees but you can bet a large portion were high profile Dems with an even higher concentration of race hustling poverty pimps.  It was their show and if they want to defile the King legacy with no-class antics, why shouldn't it be on TV?

Whether anyone in the audience walked out in protest or not, Bush #41 and #43 were class acts and that won't be lost on reasonable viewers -- including many black families watching at home.

I gotta hear this one.  What King candidacy did I miss?

deserve to be marginalized.

Funny, but I recall that African-Americans are losing political clout in America, as the Hispanic population increases in size.

So, explain to me again why the NAACP and other "mainstream" African-American organizations should be accorded respect, if they refuse to be respectful-- or even politethemselves?

I'd also like to know when she or her husband were politicians.

http://joevberry.blogspot.com/

"Dad was also a deeply, unabashedly religious man," he told mourners gathered at sunset at the Reagan presidential library. "But he never made the fatal mistake of so many politicians - wearing his faith on his sleeve to gain political advantage. True, after he was shot and nearly killed early in his presidency he came to believe that God had spared him in order that he might do good. But he accepted that as a responsibility, not a mandate. And there is a profound difference."

Elections lately have been a lot like funerals for Dems...maybe they just get them confused.

Can anyone explain to me why all these liberal "leaders" believe that the solution to all their problems is more government give aways?  Can you say FEMA, Medicaid, Medicare, etc

LBJ just expanded the war.

I didnt watch the entire funeral, but I did see clips, and from what I saw, only a few of the speakers made innapropriate political commentary.

So attack the individuals, not the entirety of the people who gathered there.

...but that only makes sense. To leftists, everything is political, including funerals, so these shameless race-hustlers and poverty pimps take advantage of every opportunity to campaign.

It was good to see some left-wing mediocrities in attendance though (Maya Angelou and Jimmy Carter). I'd almost forgotten how goofy Carter, arguably our nation's worst president (or at least the worst president of the 20th century) was.

You hit the nail on the head. The display by Carter and Lowery was disgusting and out of place.

stories on the funeral today, and they mention Jimmy Carter's remarks, but not that telling tidbit.

kind of disgusting that there was a dead body in the room...if there is enough funerals between now and november, the democrats might have a political campaign.

The anti-war comments were directed at the people who voted for the war... like the senator from NY... Did she believe there were WMDs??? If not, why did she vote for the war? Hmm...  I can't wait to hear the explaination for that in 08.

Elections lately have been a lot like funerals for Dems...maybe they just get them confused.

This is what happens when the threads get too long...I can no longer follow the conversation.

Lowery said "there are weapons of misdirection right down here," a clear reference to Bush, who was sitting stoicly right behind him.

As painful as his "speech" and Carter's (ugh) was, though - I agree with an earlier poster:  Let's turn the camera on, and let the Democrats be Democrats for as long as they can talk (and let's not even pretend that the so-called civil rights leaders are anything but appendages of the Democratic party.)

The more people see of these nut jobs over the long run, the better off we'll all be.  Sunlight is the great disinfectant - and while Democrats and other liberals draw their political power from the assumption that people are stupid, we conservatives (many of whom are former liberals) believe that the truth WILL set you free.

"Ok, but no one booed"

That's downright nitpicky. Equivocate much?

Hypothetically speaking, if I smile while I call you trash, is it no harm no foul? I would never do that, I'm just asking a question. No one, after all, is booing.

This may not be a popular post on this site, but I believe what happened at Wellstone's memorial (not his funeral, just to be precise) was the boiling over of frustration that a great man had been ripped from the world, one of the few truly principled politicians left in the country. To put it simply, it just wasn't fair. My feelings toward Wellstone are complicated, but match up with what thousands of people felt and said about him: I didn't always agree with his politics, but I stood in awe of his commitment to doing what he thought was right, regardless of political consequence. That said, I wish to heck that that memorial had never happened.

Oh, and if you don't want to be subjected to things like this, don't watch them. I understand that you don't want to hear idiots bloviate at what should be a solemn, apolitical ceremony. But since they're going to bloviate anyway, you might as well deny them the favor of listening.

How proud I am of W - what a total class act he was during the funeral/celebration/rally/Bush bashing event today.  It is shameful and disgusting the lack of class represented today by the Libs, mainly Carter.  God Bless you, GW and Laura!

You do not understand that there is a reason why the Kennedy Administration is known as Chameleot, or Camelot for short.

The Bobby Kennedy who wiretapped MLK is the Republican Bobby Kennedy, just like the John Kennedy who said "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country" is the Republican John Kennedy.  They can go from one to the other seemingly at will, which preserves the eternal truth that warmongers and tramplers of civil rights = Republicans, and friends of blacks and the poor = Democrats.

-TS

supposed to let that get out! Turn in your Karl Rove decoder ring and report for MSM duty in the morning.

The left hates Bush so much that they will undermine national security and turn a service commemorating an icon into a forum to bash Bush again.  they once again show how classless and out of touch they are.

MLK and Coretta King were lifelong, committed activists for social justice.  I have absolutely no doubt that from their seats in Heaven they were applauding Rev. Lowery's remarks today.  Standing up and speaking truth to power was the very essence of what the Kings were all about.  Do you guys actually think they would have preferred a polite little ceremony that didn't offend GW and Laura?  

It's about time that somebody got right in Bush's face; normally he enjoys tightly-controlled scripted events where every last detail is orchestrated by the Secret Service and calculated to make him look Presidential.

... and this is news why? :-)

The Dems just love playing class warfare --- problem is they don't have any ... or what they have is all low.

the Dems are soooo principled that they chose to attack in a venue in which no response is possible without appearing to be a complete Philistine. Yeah, that's principled alright.

And social justice? You call what the Democrats foster 'social justice?' Two generations of young blacks dependent on welfare and drugs? Marvelous housing 'projects' that would numb the humanity of St. Peter? This is 'social justice?'  The nonsense promulgated by Democrats as 'social justice' makes me ill, so much so that I don't even want to discuss it further.

'Social justice' my eye.

-------------------------------

President Bush come's to Mrs. King's funeral to pay his respects.  Is a gentleman, as is his father and family, throughout the ceremony.  They act with courtesy, honor, and class.

Some guy I've never heard of talks about not finding weapons of mass destruction and other political comments, knowing, coward that he is, that no will can take his political comments on at this event--which btw is a funderal.  and Jimmy Carter, who we've learned over the past several years not only was a horrible president, without common sense, showed he had no more class than the first guy.

That crowd looked to be heavily Afro-American, and with their response and their applause, they showed themselves to be the same--no class!  Just like the Paul Wellstone funeral--the memories of many are going to be long.

Insulting the sitting President of the US, when he has the respect to come to a funeral to honor the deceased and the causes they/she fought for--this is going to stick with me, a long, long time.

This is a crowd that as Karl Rove said, is pre--9/11.  Protect the country, forget it.  Every chance they get they'll just want their political ox gored, and their handouts increased.  

They are a disgrace to themselves--I won't say a disgrace to America, because frankly I'm not sure they're American.

A few more of these, plus comments by Harry Reid, Nancy Pelozi, John Kerry calling in from the ski slopes, Ted Chapiquidick Kennedy moralizing--what a party of losers.  The Republicans will easily hold both houses against these bozo's.

what a classless bunch!!!

i just wish we could have heard from John Kerry--was he there?  did he say anything.  or maybe John Dean.

funeral, offensive, lacks a sense of decorum.  If the Afro-American community applauds this funeral, they will make a statement about no one but themselves.  and that is just what that group did at the funeral.

old grizzly, I must emphatically dissent.

While I do agree that speaking truth to power is part of the Christian prophetic tradition, what

Rev. Lowery and Mr. Carter did at the funeral was not "speaking truth to power". Rather their speech was an ambush of an invited guest -- a grave affront to hospitality, which is another cardinal Christian virtue. (c.f. I Peter 4:8).

Funerals are to honor the departed and to celebrate their life. It is appalling and beyond my comprehension that a guest would abuse that event to attack another guest. And when the attack is directed against the President of the United States who is there as the representative of the American people, it represents an attack is against our civil institutions and an affront to all Americans. It's even worse that a former President would be the agent of such an offense. When civil decorum vanishes, our country is in grave danger: "a house divided against itself cannot stand".

don't tell 'em about that time JFK cut taxes --- on the RICH!

I had several thoughts (besides "here we go again.")

I was shocked that a pastor would make such a fool of himself.

George W said Good words . . . good words.  I don't know anything about MLK's wife - but G.W. made me tear up.

Then, after seeing the 'flap' I was thinking that Hillary could have wrapped up the Presidency today if she would have gotten up and said, "This is a sad day - I don't want to hear anymore political talk, and you shouldn't be cheering  insults to the President in this Venue.  Have some respect for Mrs. King."

In answer to the original post:  I have no idea why this crap is on TV - but it sure makes for great Radio!

But if Hillary had started chastising the speakers and the crowd, she would have been lynched.

Yes, the president puported himself well today.

But I am shocked that you know nothing of Coretta.

Where have you been the past 30 years?

GWB showing up at Coretta's funeral was politically motivated.

GWB having the audacity, as someone who constantly tries to take civil liberties away and spies on his own people, to show up at a civil rights activist's funeral is totally disrespectful.

I honestly believe that both Coretta AND MLK would be standing up and cheering Lowery's words.

do and damned if you don't.

The bottom line is that people on the left would have criticized the President whatever he did.  If he didn't go he would have been castigated for a lack of respect.  Since he did go he is accused of having base motivations.  President Bush knew that going in I'm sure.  I'm sure he had some idea that he would be treated poorly by some as well.  But, being a man of character, he did the right thing.

I honestly believe that both Coretta AND MLK would be standing up and cheering Lowery's words.

I will accept that you believe this.

I propose, however, that this says a great deal more about your belief system than it does about the real Dr. King or his wife. Dr. King famously wrote about creating "a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth." Nowhere did he ever even imply that this is best done by simply acting the fool in public.

It's doubtful that either Coretta or MLK will be standing up for any reason ... not anymore.

But enlighten me ... exactly which civil liberty has been taken away? Which person did W spy on, and how, exactly, did he do this?

The questions are rhetorical so don't waste your time thinking about them. 1) It must hurt very much to think, 2) You and I both know you have no answer, and 3) Change the tinfoil.

the Dems + Rush handed it to you I think

but considering they did again, maybe they really are that dumb.

Please, spell it out, so there's no confusion.  

so he could miss the bloviating?

How about Lowry not bloviating from the pulpit, at a funeral, out of respect for the occasion and its guests ?

Personally, I'm glad for the chance to vent a bit.  Turning the other cheek gets tiresome.

The thread may be rambling a bit---but, doesn't that happen in a freewheeling environment such as Redstate?

or any other Hollywood award shows. I know some arrogant celebrity blowhard will get in some political cheapshots so I simply won't watch. Watching Sarandon or Baldwin get up there and criticize the very country that made them rich and keeps them safe to indulge themselves makes me ill. So better not to watch it.

how, exactly, do you get that from the funeral? CSK's children and friends held celebration of her life. Coretta and Martin were political people who believed in strongly in peace. Why is is so strange that "peace" would be a theme?

The sentence about blacks and "the Man" by the diarist is condescending.

set a record both in terms of vapidity and the stuffing of Known Facts™ into a single sentence.

Quite an accomplishment. I am in awe of your ability. Try to equal it and you're gone.

CSK "was not political"? Does one have to run for office to be political? That is an appallingly ignorant statement. CSK was in the forefront of the civil rights movement. She was active in the National Council of Negro women and the Women's Strike for Peace, and she was a delegate at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva in 1962. She walked by MLK's side in the fight for civil rights and gave speeches when he was unable to.

You don't have to like her or her cause, and you can hate her funeral, but to not understand that she was political is incredibly wrong.

Dubya's falling all over himself to speak at this "memorial", in the meantime he phones it in to the pro-life rally in D.C.

..of the Wellstone Memorial, or did you just rely on Rush's inaccurate portrayal? Rick Kahn has a weird appeal for Mondale, but that was a tiny part of a long memorial. So, did you really watch all 3 hours? Or like Tucker Carlson did you just criticize it without watching?

that reading comprehension is not one of your stronger skills.

Try it again. Notice the word "and" see how it falls between two thoughts 1) undermining national security and 2) funeral as high school pep rally. Like the poster intended two different examples.

wow....very illuminating.

Good Lord, we need to start doing what the Left imagines we do every day and listen to the man non-stop! If he can do this, he can do anything!

I think that Republicans--or perhaps conservatives--interpret "memorial" a bit more narrowly than Democrats.  A memory recalls something which occurred in the past, and we view a memorial service as an occasion to emphasize the past political achievements of the deceased.  Democrats--or liberals--seem to place more emphasis on unfinished work in the present and future, and see nothing wrong with using memorial services to rally support for causes associated with the deceased. Since the present is volatile and the future is unknown, there is a risk of unpredictable and unseemly behavior once a memorial service strays from its main purpose.

I think Blanton's point here is that most people hold a traditional view of memorial services which is more in line with the conservative point of view, and Democrats are hurting their cause by trying to wring every drop of political sympathy out of their crying rags.        

You don't have to run for office to be politically involved.  Just ask Karl Rove.

Your first paragraph says exactly what Coretta Scott King's memorial service should have been all about.  This was her funeral, and she deserved to have her achievements highlighted, as well as her steadfast support of her husband.  Now all we will get is talking heads commenting on the political gamesmanship and cheap shots which upstaged what should have been a more respectful ceremony.  

One of the greatest traditions in all of sports is in the NHL playoffs where even after you have been trying to tear the other guys head off for 2 weeks at the end of the series both teams line up to shake hands.  That even though you fought tooth and nail with the other person- they still deserve to be treated with respect afterwards.  To me thats what a funeral is- the game is literally over and its time to pay respects to the person even if you completely disagreed with them.  I think that has become a major difference between the left and the right.  Conservatives think that liberals mean well but just are wrong on the issues.  Liberals tend to think that conservatives are actively trying to screw at least half the country (and the rest of the world) and must be opposed at every opportunity.  

None of the talking heads business what is said at her funeral.

Funerals of political figures get political.  Reagan's was.  That's life.  I'm Irish, not only will there be political talk at my wake, a ton of people will be drunk.  Scandalous!

Here's me as the third...hour...begins:

http://www.aidd.org/droogs/alex-clockwork-orange.jpg

It is pretty amazing that a party with not ONE black congressperson has no problem telling African Americans how best to behave at a funeral for one of their own.  

Are these not the same people who cry that we lack diplomacy? Who sneer at the "Axis of Evil" speech, who thought Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech was too far? Are these not the same folks who cry for political correctness every day?

Just more double standards from the left. They care nothing for diplomacy, decorum, or circumspection when it doesn't serve their purpose.

was under attack in a venue where it would have been outrageous and inappropriate for him to respond. Can you imagine the outcry if he'd stood back up after each pseudo-eulogy to offer a political rebuttal? He was observant of the solemnness of event, and some other speakers ignored the purpose of the gathering and took crass advantage of his "sitting duck" status.

Cochran's funeral (I was not previously aware of any political speeches at that event, but I'm now informed they took place) didn't feature that polite restriction.

that the president currently has no plans to attend.

Love this:  "Not only do these hypocritical conservatives want to step in and tell me and my family that I can be kept alive for years against my wishes, now they want to control the 'message' at my funeral."

Ha!

I don't know who he is.  I saw a clip showing a part of his 'eulogy' where he discussed Bush lying about the weapons of mass destruction, spending money on the war when there is poverty at home and left the room.

I watch several of the brown preachers on TV.  T.D Jakes, E.V. Hill, Creflo (and especially Taffi) Dollar, etc.  I am interested in what preachers say, no matter their skin color.  But I only have so many minutes in my life.  I see no benefit to wasting any of them on a man who would use a funeral to make political trash talk.

ALL players regardless of color shake hands at the end of the game.  How dumb of you to not see the point.  

that "political viewpoint" is a racial characteristic.

As we all know from experience, liberals, with not ONE conservative congressman, never tell republicans how best to behave under any conditions.

Psh. Next.

Peel back on the shots, cretin. This is what will pass for a gentle warning.

I don't get it. Are you congratulating yourself for having been singled out by Mrs. King for a message from the grave?

Or are you simply (and more appropriately) laughing at your own absurdity?

opining on the subject of decorum.

Of course, you'd know that if you read the post but then actually reading it would have interfered with your juvenile attempt at racebaiting.

Usually a nail/head comment is in response. Who hit the nail on what head?

"How warned of you" ... save that one and use it again. Over too quickly.

You evidently did live during the civil right era.  

There was nothing peaceful about it.

If the truth be told, it was an extortion scam to enrich themselves.  Mrs. King carried on this tradition.  Anytime you wanted to use anything that was MLK, Jr. you had to pay Mrs. King.

Don't forget who the pupils were of this scam; Jesse Jackson, Joesph Lowery, and Hosea Williams.  They practiced this extortion of Corporations all of their lives and some are still doing it.

So lets be honest, praise Mrs. King for the loss of a husband and who had to raise her children by herself, but don't latch on to a myth and try to make it true.

may or may not be a bad idea, but this...

"None of the talking heads business what is said at her funeral."

...is definitely not a good idea.

Any examples of political cheap shots at Reagan's funeral?  Just asking...  

<quote>Why is is so strange that "peace" would be a theme?</quote&gt

I despise revisionism. It wouldn't be strange for "peace" to be a theme. Now perhaps you could address the Bush-bashing.

Nice try, but the two are not one and the same, much as liberals try to push that idea on us.

Clearly, you have no value as a commenter or, if this is indicative, as a human being.

Happy trails, moron.

Ronald Reagan's other son Michael Reagan, on FoxNews' Hannity&Colmes show, brought up the fact that wiretaps against Martin Luther King were ordered by then-Attorney General Robert Kennedy--a Democrat, to be sure!!! If Democrats are so worried about civil rights for blacks, why were THEY (not Republicans, who voted FOR the Civil Rights Act) wiretapping Martin Luther King?

Somehow, Jimmuh Carter has forgotten that he is no longer President, and for a good reason--voters rejected his catastrophic leadership in 1980.

Beyond the fact that it's simply terrible taste to make political statements at a funeral, Carter's political timing was TERRIBLE. A day after Carter's son announced his candidacy for the Senate in Nevada, Carter reminds everyone that a Democrat President and Attorney General, who were both brothers of a sitting Democrat Senator, wiretapped the great civil rights leader Martin Luther King (a fact which many younger voters might have forgotten or never known).

I wonder whether this will show up in campaign ads for Senator Ensign in Nevada. Maybe with a few reminders of American diplomats taken hostage in Tehran (1979), Jimmuh kissing Brezhnev, lines at gasoline stations for miles, 20% interest rates on home mortgages, the "malaise" speech, etc.

Thanks for the history lesson, Jimmuh. The gift that keeps on giving...

He was Joseph Lowery, former head of the SCLC.  One of the biggest extortinist organization in the country.  They used the same tactics that Jesse Jackson uses to extrort money from Corporations.  You pay or we picket.

Myth buster, these were pupils of MLK, Jr.

That's all this funeral was.

I'm not upset or shocked.  That is because the Democrats have sunk to depths that were previously obtained only by shark dung (and I probably should apologize to sharks for the perceived insult).

Isn't it amazing that the MSM will not reveal publicly what the wire taps revealed.

Mythology has made MLK, Jr. a saint not facts.

Only if there was money to be had.

I can't imagine sitting at someone's funeral as an invited speaker and having the people that speak before me make the funeral about THEM and ME. Clintoon's speech was all about him and Hillary. Carter's speech was all about W. I imagine W's "fight or flee" reflex was in full bloom yesterday. He either wanted to respond in kind or walk out. He did niether. It's called class. Like a previous poster said, dignity and decorum cost nothing. Look into it.

Imagine if at Reagan's funeral the speakers too the chance to bash Carter, while he was sitting right there. Then asked him to speak.

Never happen, because republicans don't roll like that.

figure. Second, you didn't hear speeches at Reagan's funeral bashing the Dems. Third, you are a troll for suggesting that a funeral should be an occasion for politicing.

If that was your message, then don't wonder why most sane Americans reject you.

That is all.

when Ollie North got up and talked about how Reagan always believed for vigorously defending America and not needing to get permission from Kofi Annan and the French, and all us conservatives jumped up and down and cheered and the Dems in attendance were embarrassed but unable to respond.

Oh wait- that never happened. Because it would have been classless.

...on matters of race.  From a recent Gallup Poll, referenced by James Taranto:

"...Six in 10 African-Americans say the fact that most hurricane victims were poor and black was one reason the federal government failed to come to the rescue more quickly. Whites reject that idea; nearly 9 in 10 say those weren't factors. . . .

Republican efforts this year to reach out to black voters have not been helped. . . . By more than 3-to-1, [blacks] say Bush doesn't care about black people. By more than 2-to-1, whites say he does..."

Taranto concludes thusly:

"The truth about race that Katrina illuminates, then, is that, at least when it comes to matters involving race, black Americans are extreme political outliers. This is why attempts to play the race card are politically futile: They have to appeal not just to blacks, but to a substantial minority of whites. The Gallup poll results makes clear that the current racial appeals are not resonating with whites."

http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110007253

It is possible that blacks' views on funerary theatrics are out of the mainstream also, but since this thread started out as commentary on Democrat funerary theatrics, any further emphasis on race comes close to threadjacking.  

Coretta Scott King's funeral was just part of a pattern of unseemly behavior by Democrats at funerals.  The fact that she was black is almost incidental, but it does shed light on why Democrats are having such problems with extremists in their party.

A little off topic, but I couldn't let your post pass without also highlighting a little piece of trivia- that the Sainted Bobby Kennedy asked the evil Joe McCarthy to be godfather to his first child. Nothing to do with the CSK funeral, but I've always found it interesting.

not even in jest

most certainly a political figure ... maybe not in the sense of political office or party, but a political animal nonetheless. I'd venture that almost everything she did or said since King was killed has been political, calculated, carefully timed and positioned. Political animal, just not as blatant as a Hillary or Pelosi but no less political.

. . .the Most Idiotic Moonbat Meme of the Year, for the FIFTH year running is. . .?

"You can't tell us how to mourn!"

Gee, if those Muslims burning down embassies claimed to be mourning someone (Mohammed, presumably, since Cindy Sheehan demonstrates that there's no time limit on this principle, either), I guess they'd have an airtight justification among our friends on the left.

are selling out a true civil rights Icon's wife with their bile. It's got to be a slap in the face, let alone despicable behavior, for these so-called civil rights leaders to stand up at Mrs. King's funeral and basically say all of her and her husbands hard work was for not! Standing up and saying nothing has changed in this country and racism is just as bad as it ever was nullifying all the progress and hard work put in by real civil rights pioneers.

These people; Lowery, Jackson, Clinton and the lot should be ashamed of themselves after all Dr. King is one of only three Americans ever bestowed with the honor of a national holiday! But again I guess no progress! Black homeownership is way up but again no progress! There are more black millionaires than ever before but again no progress!

The only thing stopping blacks or any minority for that matter from being successful in this country may be and unfulfilled 40 year old promise by the Democratic Party?

bobby kennedy wire-tapped MLK.  doesn't this concern you at all?  republicans won't control the white house forever.  eavesdropping with no separate oversight is a return to the dark days of our republic.  

republican?  democrat?  it shouldn't matter...  our government should not have the ability to abuse its power.  removing, instead of modifying, our system of checks and balances is a recipe for abuse.

i am at a loss for why so many conservatives support this inherently unn-american program.

"some brown preacher"

How very.... 1950s.

One can be politically involved without ever having run for office.  I am.  You are.  Karl Rove is.  CSK was.  Therefore, your original statement "Coretta Scott King was a political figure? How? I gotta hear this one.  What King candidacy did I miss?" is asinine idiocy.

However, even tho CSK was a political figure