Four presidents and a rowdy funeral for a King (Video)
Speakers took a rare opportunity to criticize U.S. President George W. Bush's policies to his face at the funeral on Tuesday of Coretta Scott King, widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.Civil-rights leader the Rev. Joseph Lowery and former President Jimmy Carter cited Mrs.King's legacy as a leader in her own right and advocate of nonviolence as they launched barbs over the Iraq war, government social policies and Bush's domestic eavesdropping program.
Bush sat watching the long service before an audience of 10,000 including politicians, civil rights leaders and entertainers at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, and a national cable television audience.
Lowery, former head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King helped found in 1957, gave a playful reading of a poem in eulogy of Mrs. King. "She extended Martin's message against poverty, racism and war/She deplored the terror inflicted by our smart bombs on missions way afar," he said.
"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 mourners gave a standing ovation. Bush's reaction could not be seen on the television coverage, but after Lowery finished speaking, the president shook his hand and laughed.
Source : Here
A Video link of the Rev. Joseph Lowery reading his poem as spotted on Crooks and Liars .
posted by _H_ at 1:54 am
10 Comments:
It's hard to tell these days what's real and what's not. Paranoia, I've got a lot. Instantly it seems that day time fears cause night time dreams. I can't sleep on it and make it; the yobs, the scheming politics, the denial of what is happening to us and because of us, go away. Because tomorrow keeps coming up as the same old day.
interesting video . . .
i like this blog
I watched much of the funeral on Cspan.. there were some great moments. Carter and Lowery really got Bush squirming. Aside from a few political swipes, most of the speakers were on point and spoke kindly of Mrs. King. Mrs Shabazz (daughter of malcolm X) spoke abit to much about her father, it just wasnt the right time. Mrs. Kings daughter ( I forget her ful name) gave a very long and at times moving Eulogy, it sounded at times though as though sehe were making a case for sainthood. Perhaps nealy 7 hours was abit to long.
Found your blog by chance. Glad I did on a day when the cartoon wars are making me want to scream. Every voice of truth is a candle in the dark. Greetings from the land of the Welsh dragon.
I wish I could see Bush's face!!
your blog's name is hilarious! keep up the humor!
I too found your blog by chance. I really like it!
Melissa from Pensacola, FL
Hi, like your blog, and have stumbled on it a second time. To tell you the truth, funerals have always made me sick. They are worse than weddings, where there are 40 more years ahead to prove those being honored are actually in it for the long term. With funerals, history all gets rewritten whether it was all good or bad or not. So people who use the occasion when people are being sentimental to grandstand and in the political world talk politics, are schmucks. BTW, one of the things I wondered during this funeral was: What did MLK's widow think of her late husband?
Anon, your comment prompts me to make a request to my teammate:
_H_, if I kick off and you are at the funeral, please use the opportunity to speak out against injustice and inequality. If there's any kind of afterlife, I certainly won't think you are a schmuck for doing so. If not, I'll be gone, so who cares.
_H_, if I kick off and you are at the funeral, please use the opportunity to speak out against injustice and inequality.
I tried that when voice went but the bugger came back :-) (only kidding TS)
seriously though we are dealing with a women who spent her life fighting injustice and standing up for human rights. I can think of nothing that would please such a lady more than for her funeral to be used as a platform to express the views that would have been close to her heart. She (in my view) would be very proud of those that spoke of the immoral actions of the US president and If anything happened to me I too would want such a moment to used to reflect what was important to me in my life. It was a wonderful crowning moment that in death she brought four presidents together in a position where they have to listen to the very views she was trying to get them to listen to whilst in life.
Btw Djeb , don't you dare go dying yet , we have far to much work to do and there is no time for inconsiderate actions like death ... bloody excuses they come up with these days .
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