LonsomePolecat just said “political demonstrations”, didn’t really differentiate between fer ya or agin ya. I think political statements praising the work Mrs. King and her late husband made would have been great, but some people used the occasion as an opportunity to get some blatant digs in on Bush.
I guess what I’m trying to say is political statements honoring the deceased seem in good taste, those used as grandstanding attacks on somebody else, not so much.
An artical here (I hope it’s not too radically right for the board, it was one of the top Google hits, I’m not familiar with the politics of the LA Times) has most of the political blurbs. Here is one from the right, giving an excerpt from what Bush had to say (sorry, it was hard to find any sources that repeated any of Bush’s speech).
P.S. Westboro Baptist was there as well.
I was just talking about flinging out disrespect to anybody at a funeral, doesn’t seem the place for it. Plenty of other Democrats spoke at her funeral without using to occasion as a political soapbox to bash Bush, and I’m not saying Bush doesn’t deserve a good bashing, just that her funeral seemed like a pretty tacky place to do it.
Considering her life’s work was on social and political issues, it seems appropriate to me. But then, I’d never be crass enough to tell a family what’s the “appropriate” way for them to mourn the passing of one of their own.
And let’s remember that Mr. Bush was not invited to the funeral, but wrangled himself a place there for Primus-knows-why reasons. So it’s not as if he has anyone to blame but himself…
Again, I usually don’t cry “hijack” at a whim, but whatever happened at Mrs. King’s funeral doesn’t warrant discussion in a thread about Fred Phelps. It is a wholly different matter, and Fred Phelps is so repugnant that other things shouldn’t be discussed in close proximity to him.
Whatever Carter or Joseph Lowery did, it in no way comes close to what Phelps does and continues to do.
Perhaps the King funeral ought to be discussed in a different thread. I hardly see how it has any bearing on this ongoing problem posed by Phelp’s roving band of crazies.
You mean other than running the gay and lesbian group at my cegep, participating in the queer political task force at my university, volunteering for demystification and ally-building programs at high schools, testifying before the House of Commons travelling commission on same-sex marriage, being co-president of my political party’s provincial gay and lesbian section, and running for federal office three times as an openly gay candidate?
But, other than that, what have the Romans done for us?
The Free Speech zones are an issue, and this bears considering. Still, I think there is a difference between something essentially personal and private in nature, like a funeral, and something essentially public and governmental in nature, like stump speeches. I’m not thrilled by the concept of these laws, but I do think there’s enough difference there to not infringe on freedoms.
I did not think he was joking. He answered my question very completely. Given the fact that I knew nothing about his background, my question was legitimate. I am glad he is doing the work that he is. It is needed, and for the common good.
Eh, a parody or a placeholder site is a parody or placeholder site.
The first thing listed on there that I saw was “Meet Jewish Singles”. I suppose if you’re having trouble finding Jews to hate or something that might be a help…
There are hundreds — probably THOUSANDS of hate sites out there. Anyone who doesn’t believe that needs to take about 30 seconds to Google. I was just looking at a white supremist site the other day. They’re there…they’re powerful…and they’re 100% legal.
With the Phelpses, and all members of the Westboro Baptist Church, a well prepared field of fire and pretyped kill zones would be better. Buffer zones don’t get the point across as easily.
