Honoring A King

As I noted before, the right-wing 'backlash' to the King funeral has begun...

Matt D. leads the way-



"King Funeral Turns Political"? That's like saying "Mozart Funeral Turns Musical".

Personally, I am shocked Drudge actually used that picture, given the contemptuous look on the Bushes' faces.

What did the right-wing expect? Dr. and Mrs. King were two of the most prominent political figures of the last 50 years, certainly the most prominent of the civil rights movement. Politics to them wasn't a day job or a hobby... it was their very lives. As a reader to AmericaBlog sarcastically noted "Why couldn't the service just be nice? Why did they have to bring up the ENTIRE POINT OF HER AND HER HUSBAND'S LIVES, STRUGGLES AND DREAMS?". As John at AmericaBlog notes, Ms. King led a civil rights march of 50,000 people the day before her husband was to be buried. Was she politicizing her husband's death? NO. She was honoring him by taking the opportunity to keep his struggle going. That's the kind of people the Kings were.

At the funeral of a fallen soldier (which Bush doesn't attend), do they not mention the war?

Conservatives, face it- the Kings were liberal and anti-war and activists. Stop acting offended this was represented at her funeral. As Greg Saunders notes, conservatives "hate being reminded that they’ve been on the wrong side of every civil rights struggle in our nation’s history". Stop accusing those close to her for getting 'uppity' at her funeral and start questioning what your party has really done to keep her dream alive.

For the right to fake outrage here seems to me to be the real political act. Maybe it's genuine; I don't know. I'm speaking for the anger as a whole... I'm sure there are individuals whose feelings are genuine and based on questions of respect. I don't want to categorically deny people their emotions because I have a differing view. I just want to have that stated. If I didn't, I'm no better than the Drudges. Still, I think the anger is misplaced.

It mostly seems hypocritical to me. And I don't just mean that the fact that the party that turned Terri Schiavo's death into a political circus has no business telling civil rights leaders how to eulogize an icon of the movement. The right should remember how they felt during the Alito confirmation hearings when Sen. Kennedy was lecturing Alito on his links to a sexist/racist alumni group, given Kennedy's membership in an all-male social club (and also, you know, the incident). I didn't like Alito and I knew that was ridiculous. They should sit back, relax, and remember how they felt watching that. That's the level of hypocrisy we're getting from them here. Do they even understand the passions of the civil rights movement or have seen what a black mass service is like? Black people approach their church services different than perhaps some conservatives are used to. It's not just an assembly line of prayers. It's a social thing. It's energetic, it's alive, and it's... yes, respectful.

So maybe it's partially a cultural misunderstanding. I doubt that's it, though.

Aren't the main people whose opinion on whether the comments were 'disrespectful' the ones actually at the funeral- all of Ms. King's family, friends, and community? Not us or mindless partisan pundits? When the Reverend made his comment, the entire funeral broke out in a spontaneous standing ovation that lasted a minute. To say that they did not take offense would be an understandment. So, again, who are any of us to tell them that they were wrong? When did the Republicans become the funeral police?

The right's real anger here is that, once again, someone has dared to question Dear Leader.

This faux-outrage is even worse than that surrounding the cartoon controversy. Since when did the right-wing care about Corretta Scott King and her fight? I imagine the ones who did care (ya know, before she died) saw no disrespect in some of the comments made. And are they so forgetful that the President Bush brought up Ms. King's passing just one week ago in his State of the Union (and few complained)... and then launched into discussing his political agenda (which just happens to be the antithesis of what Ms. King stood for). At the end of that address, the President had the nerve to compare himself to Dr. King. Someone tell me what President Bush has done to really honor Ms. King's memory, not just in easy words in a speech or eulogy. How has the Republican party leadership helped to advance the civil rights movement and the fight for social justice? In fact, have they not been doing the exact opposite? Answer that for me and then we can talk. Otherwise, the right can put away their quickly and shockingly well organized Wellstone-all-over-again talking points and knock this pretend outrage off.

Scan the transcript for Ronald Reagan's funeral... and tell me if it was free of politics.

Ms. King and her husband fought against war and poverty and racism most of their lives; if a sitting President is in attendance at their funerals who is turning back the clock on those issues, it is expected that someone would note that. That it was a man of faith who's spent his life in the fights for civil rights makes it even more relevant.

Dr. King said the following in a speech in the late 1950s-
"[E]very now and then I think about my own death, and I think about my own funeral. And I don't think of it in a morbid sense. Every now and then I ask myself, "What is it that I would want said?" And I leave the word to you this morning...

...I'd like somebody to mention that day, that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day, that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day, that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day, that I did try, in my life, to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say, on that day, that I did try, in my life, to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity."

Finally, don't let a few soundbites encapsulate what was a truly respectful funeral. Crooks and Liars has video of an MSNBC report with lots of clips from the service. At the end, after the political comments, are many remarks from friends and family who do Ms. King proud with their words. Watch. Please. These few clips alone are moving.

I end with a better picture- of Ms. King herself. The picture is a link to a biography of her-