I've long come to the conclusion that Jimmy Carter is nothing but a bitter old man, who never came to grips with the fact that he led a failed presidential administration, the country, and the Democratic Party, to the precipice of disaster. I guess it's like BO, everybody you come in contact with knows you have it before you do, and by the time you catch on, you definitely stink to high heaven. It's about time Jimmy Carter woke up and smelled the stench.
The funeral of Corretta Scott King was an occassion, or should have been an occassion, to put petty politics aside, regardless of how one might feel about President George W. Bush, his policies, and his presence at the event. But no, not Jimmy Carter.
The funeral of Corretta Scott King should have been an occassion to focus on the life, dreams, goals, and accomplishments of a great woman. But no, not Jimmy Carter, who turned it instead into a mean-spirited, shameful exercise in political rhetoric and partisanship.
To be fair, he was not the only one. He was joined in this sad display of wretchedness by others, notably by the reverend who had known her and worked with her throughout the preceding forty years or more, leaving me to wonder if this man had truly been a friend of the Kings at all. Or was he, instead, merely another grandstanding opportunist and demagogue? Hearing his diatribe left no doubt in my mind as to what he was, as he demonstrated it with great acumen.
Bill Clinton was one person who had the common sense, the manners, and the good taste, to act appropriately, which is to say, respectfully. He only did one thing wrong in my view. He stayed. Had I been in his position, I think I would have been sorely tempted to walk out in protest of Carters incredibly stupid display of lack of respect for the widow King. Of course, this would have made matters worse, so I guess he did the right thing. However, I would bet he felt as uncomfortable, if not more so, than the Bushes, who, after all, one would assume had been invited to the funeral by the surviving children of the Kings, or by someone acting on their behalf. Even if he had taken it on himself to come uninvited, at least he should be given credit for showing respect and having the humanity and decency to do more than just issue a shallow political statement of sympathy and respect, which was probably all anyone really expected of him to begin with.
The worse thing about all this is, this didn't hurt George W. Bush, not in the least. When all was said and done, he probably in private laughed about the whole thing, and may yet be laughing about it. Why, one may wonder?
Because thanks to Jimmy Carter, and the others who followed his sterling example of innapropriate absurdity, George W. Bush has become, to a great many Americans, maybe even the majority of them, more a figure of sympathy than was Corretta Scott King herself.
Should there be yet more childish displays of moronic behavior on the part of Carter, the Democrats, and the Far Left, this sympathy might well express itself at the ballot box, this coming November.
