Four Funerals

Russ and the left have mentioned four specific political funerals as defense of the politicization of the Coretta Scott King Funeral.

First up from Americablog was MLK’s eulogy for Black Children killed in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church:

This afternoon we gather in the quiet of this sanctuary to pay our last tribute of respect to these beautiful children of God….

They are the martyred heroines of a holy crusade for freedom and human dignity. And so this afternoon in a real sense they have something to say to each of us in their death.

They have something to say to every minister of the gospel who has remained silent behind the safe security of stained-glass windows.

They have something to say to every politician [Audience:] (Yeah) who has fed his constituents with the stale bread of hatred and the spoiled meat of racism.

They have something to say to a federal government that has compromised with the undemocratic practices of southern Dixiecrats (Yeah) and the blatant hypocrisy of right-wing northern Republicans. (Speak)

They have something to say to every Negro (Yeah) who has passively accepted the evil system of segregation and who has stood on the sidelines in a mighty struggle for justice.

In this case, it would have been inappropriate NOT to say something for a very real reason. If you understand the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing, it was an act of domestic terrorism. This would be like not condemning the terrorists and nations who support them in the wake of 9/11. Unless Coretta Scott King is the latest casualty of the Iraq War, this is a non-sequiter.

So are Russ’ comments on the Reagan funeral in 2004. Russ gives quotes of people praising Reagan’s legacy and foresight such as this from Brian Mulrooney:

Some in the West, during the early 1980s, believed communism and democracy were equally valid and viable. This was the school of moral equivalence.

In contrast, Ronald Reagan saw Soviet communism as a menace to be confronted in the genuine belief that its squalid underpinnings would fall swiftly to the gathering winds of freedom, provided as he said, that NATO and the industrialized democracies stood firm and united. They did. And we know now who was right.

So, Russ do you think communism is equally valid and viable when compared to Democracy? Who does? This was Reagan’s life, this is what he did. These are the giants he slayed. This would be the same as saying:

Coretta Scott King stood by her husband against the evils of those who had a lesser moral version, who believed that segregation was a natural neceesity and not an evil. They saw the need for justice and they were proven right.

The Mulrooney quote honored what Reagan accomplished in his life without besmirching any of his opponents. He didn’t say, “As some say a Democracy is equal to the terrors of Saddam Hussein…” then Russ would have a point.

He’s as off-base in his discussion of the Goldwater and Thurmond funerals. From Dick Cheney’s eulogy for Strom Thurmond:

Strom was a man of deep convictions. And no issue mattered more greatly to him than the security of our nation. [nah, that's not a political statement at a time two months after "Mission Accomplished" when we were having a bitter political debate about whether invading Iraq really was beneficial to the security of the nation]… I remember from my time as Secretary of Defense that we could always count on Senator Thurmond to stand up for a well trained and well equipped military. [As opposed to those awful Democrats who must hate the military because they want to reign in its funding.] And in this time of challenge for our country, when we have had to call upon the skill and bravery of our people in uniform, we’ve seen the quality force that Strom Thurmond helped to build. All Americans are grateful to our military, and I know that all branches of the service are grateful to their faithful advocate from South Carolina.

Russ’ comments in brackets.

Thurmond was chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee for many years and was concerned about military funding. To not mention that would be silly. Its simply who Thurmond was. No insult to Democrats was in anyone’s mind as there were many Democrats who stood for the Defense of the nation while Cheney was Secretary of Defense. This would be similar to saying, “Coretta Scott King stood for gay and lesbian rights.” Its stating what she believed, not attacking anyone else.

Russ then took John McCain out of context:

Barry Goldwater put his country and our founding ideals before himself, and we never had a better champion. He believed we all have a duty to the country, a concept that once was as common to our political lexicon as “soundbite” and “spin control” are today. And he performed his duty magnificently — tirelessly, forcefully, effectively, and with a style as honest and wide open as the state he loved so dearly.

American politics is awash in pledges today; pledges to cut taxes; to soak the rich; to create wealth; to redistribute wealth; to end welfare; to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and shelter the homeless; to fight for the middle class, the working class, the underclass, and the entrepreneurial class.

Left on its own, you notice the quote actually is pretty non-partisan, although complete. He talks about a series of competing pledges to special interests on both right and left. This isn’t close to politicization, particularly when read in the context of the next line:

Barry Goldwater served America, all of America, a country conceived in liberty, a country that let you pledge any damn thing you wanted as long it didn’t cost someone else their liberty

So, he wasn’t saying anything about any of these issues, rather that Barry Goldwater served all of America.