Wellstoning the King Funeral

Wellstoning the King Funeral

Democrats seem to have completely lost the capacity for shame and embarrassment. Even after losing a Senate seat because of their shameless politicizing of the Paul Wellstone funeral, they were determined to repeat their mistake by doing the same thing at Coretta Scott King's funeral.

I was living in Minnesota when the Democrats turned Wellstone's funeral into a political rally, and the excuses for their distasteful behavior coming from the Democratic camp are almost word-for-word replays of the post-rally excuses offered in Minnesota at the time.

It's a sign of deep desperation that they should use the occasion to play politics during a ceremony which was supposed to honor Mrs. King's memory. Year after year they target Bush and the Republicans, and again and again he beats their pants off. Like an undisciplined and poorly coached team that is getting blown out by halftime, the team is losing their cool and getting into confrontations at inappropriate moments - making matters worse by incurring penalties at crucial moments in the game.

Democrats could have used the opportunity to align themselves with King's cause, remind people that these are values they share. Instead, they chose to take potshots.

The average Joe knows that you don't start a fight at a funeral: it's disrespectful to the deceased. Behavior like this is going to ensure that the Democrats are taught another lesson in basic manners at the ballot box.