Politics at the King Funeral

Real Clear Politics in a post this morning makes a good point. The comments directed at the President at the Coretta King funeral were inappropriate. Bush (43) was there out of respect for a national figure. Whether he wished to be there or not, he was compelled to be there by his office. In essence, it was a statement of respect for Mrs. King by the country through the elected leader of the country. Yet a couple of the speakers thought it was their opportunity to inject politics into the ceremony. That was an error in judgment and taste. Outside the service, those people could have made all the comments they want to - but they realized that the unblinking eye was their chance showing simultaneous disrespect for the leader of the country and Mrs. King.

A couple of the real players here were the Reverend Joseph Lowery, who were he not in an official position of some importance in an important parish might have been excused, and Jimmy Carter, who should know better. Carter did such a wonderful job as president that we were treated to only one term. With two we might have had double the rate of inflation and interest rates and frankly we could not have afforded that. But his performance since his presidency has been a mix of sanctimony, screw ups internationally (he seems inclined to do as he did as president to excuse the atrocities of dictators in places around the world) mixed with a dollop of witless political commentary. We would not expect more from the peanut farmer but we would hope to hear a lot less.

Peggy Noonan did an article in the WSJ today that argued that all the politics at the funeral were OK - an affirmation of free speech. Indeed, as noted above, there are probably two ways to say the appropriate thing. First, opponents of the president could have said something outside the speech or second they could have made more general statements about the King legacy without the direct imputations to the current administration. That makes a lot more sense and adds to a sense of civility which both Kings demonstrated throughout their lives.