Late Thoughts on Coretta Scott King's Funeral

Regarding Coretta Scott King’s funeral, I have some not so Christian thoughts about that spectacle. Now that the anger has dissipated after watching the treatment of our President on so solemn an occasion, I start to wonder about the heart of the Democratic party and the Civil Rights leaders present there. While there is no doubt in my mind that President Bush went to the funeral to pay his heartfelt respects as leader of this nation and a man of God, to the spouse of our one of our country’s greatest civil rights leaders, the same is impossible to say of the other speakers and “mourners”. The main complaint is with former President Jimmy Carter race-baiting the crowd with the fact of hurricane Katrina victims being predominantly black. What a dupe. The fact that the people of New Orleans are mostly black would lead anyone with common sense to think that the majority of the victims are black. Proof that the Reverend Joseph Lowry is also cut from the same cloth as Jesse (who’s your daddy) Jackson = in using his preacher - speak drawing comparisons to one of President Bush’s justifications for going into Iraq, and FEMA’s failure to provide timely services.

Here’s the tangent: I don’t suppose it’s ever occurred to anyone that it’s impossible to prepare for people who won’t help themselves. We were bombarded with hurricanes here in Florida, left without power, living in uninhabitable homes. But when the authorities said “mandatory evacuation” we left, instead of hunkering down, expecting to be taken out by “The Government”. I won’t even get into how inadequate Mayor Nagin is as a leader and administrator nor the State government. But what I do know is that after the hurricanes we didn’t loot our neighbors or our neighbor’s businesses and I know you didn’t see it in Biloxi, Waveland, Long Beach, Gulfport, or Pass Christian, Mississippi. It speaks to the kind of people you have in those places. That is not a racist statement. There is a substantial population of blacks in coastal Mississippi, and they did not behave anything like their less well - bred brethren in New Orleans. Those in Metarie, Louisiana who blocked the I-10 bridge were probably correct in their decision. In order to protect themselves and their businesses they did what was necessary. Had they evacuated with the outflow of normal evacuees rather than the desperate rabble that chose not to evacuate until after the hurricane struck, the reception would have been very different.

The hurricane response was in no way the fault of the federal government; it was a response the federal government would have made to reasonable people who would take reasonable precautions for the welfare of themselves and their families when a category 5 hurricane approaches. When those precautions weren’t taken by the citizenry the efforts of the federal government seemed feeble.

Back to the original thought... The basic consideration for your fellow human beings is lacking in this group of people. The funeral intended to pay tribute to Coretta Scott King, and some people did, but more took the opportunity to lampoon the current administration. Mrs. King surely sat in heaven shaking her head and clucking her mouth at the behavior of her children.

They treat people who deserve respect with disdain and disrespect. They berate and ridicule them publicly. This isn’t (is not-makes it sound firmer) the kind of behavior I would tolerate in my children or my friends. It was shameful to observe this inexcusable behavior in leadership of any kind, but sadly I was not surprised when I saw it in the Democratic and Civil Rights leaders. Have we simply become more rude and boorish since the early days of the Civil Rights movement, when the Democratic Party could be expected to support America? If we have I can’t see it. There. That is my well - considered response to boorish behavior. Now I can rest.

"Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one less scoundrel in the world." —Thomas Carlyle