A FUNERAL FIT FOR A KING
The President doubles the number of black people he's side-hugged.
Coretta Scott King's funeral turned out to be both a fitting memorial and an amazing political event, with all the presidents from Carter to Bush II present. There were many moving moments, but here are the most jaw-dropping notables:
- With President Bush sitting behind him, Reverend Joseph Lowery ripped the President a new one, noting that Coretta Scott King "deplored the terror inflicted by our smart bombs on missions way afar. ... We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there. But Coretta knew, and we knew, that there are weapons of misdirection right down here."
- After Rev. Lowery finished speaking, Bush joined the crowd in giving him a standing ovation. The LA Times reports that he even "pull[ed] the civil rights leader in for a bear hug."
- At least the elder President Bush is honest about how out of touch he is with the black community. Comparing the event to his Episcopalian upbringing, he admitted, "I haven't seen anything like this in my life."
- President Carter made a most poignant observation, recounting how the federal government considered Dr. King an enemy of the state and spied on him, in obvious reference to Bush's warrantless domestic wiretapping program. Carter noted, "It was difficult for them personally — with the civil liberties of both husband and wife violated as they became the target of secret government wiretapping, other surveillance, and as you know, harassment from the FBI."
- Michael Bolton was invited to sing.
One side note: CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel all carried the funeral live. BET, however, chose to play Nelly videos in order to "offer a different kind of experience for BET viewers." Nice.
<< Home