Coretta Scott King Honored

Our Flibbertigibbet-In-Chief attended the funeral of Coretta Scott King yesterday, no doubt believing that conservative New Birth Missionary Baptist [super]Church would prove a friendly environment.

It wasn’t quite.

The president gave an eulogy, but also sat by— right behind the podium —in frame with the other speakers who took their turn to honor King and roast Mr. President as he sat uncomfortably by.

Former President Jimmy Carter said of the Kings, “the civil liberties of both husband and wife [were] violated as they became the target of secret government wiretaps;” and, spoke of the racial issues evident in the Katrina catastrophe.

What LA Times described as the “most overtly partisan remarks” of the ceremony were spoken by “King protégé and longtime Bush critic” Reverend Joseph Lowery.

“She 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. Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds. For war, billions more, but no more for the poor.”

The remarks created a hullabaloo among the raucous crowd who liked what they heard. To Mr. President’s credit, The LA Times accounts that he and his Dad reacted self-deprecatingly. The Younger by applauding and bear-hugging Rev. Lowery and the Older reminiscing about his relations with the Reverend back in the day, “I kept score in the Oval Office desk — Lowery 21, Bush 3 . . . It wasn’t a fair fight.”

Perhaps the gestures were tongue-in-cheek; but it would seem, at least, that OFFAL— aside from the AP reports that he “winced” during Lowery’s speech —seems to have remained loosey-goosey, for the most part, and avoided his usual tomfoolery.

And of course, Coretta Scott King was duly honored:

“And because this young mother and father were not intimidated, millions of children they would never meet are now living in a better more welcoming country.” —George W Bush

Every one of us are in a way the children of Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King.” —Bill Clinton

Associated Press: Bush Praises King for Changing the Country
LA Times: A Eulogy for King, a Scolding for Bush
Vocabulary enhancements thanks to Min Suh at Two Sheets to the Wind.