Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Trip Outside the Bubble

George Bush stepped out of his protective bubble on Tuesday and found out reality and his view of reality don't always match up and that he and his programs are not popular.

In retaliation, expect the wing nuts to mount a full scale attack on those who pointed out the king has no clothes, basically saying that a funeral was no place to speak the truth, no matter how relevant or appropriate the criticisms were.

Bush was at the funeral of Coretta Scott King in Atlanta where other past presidents and religious leaders paid tribute to the live of Mrs. King and her late husband. During the tribute, the Washington Post pointed out that former President Jimmy Carter delivered some of the most pointed comments, noting that Martin Luther King Jr. had been "the target of secret government wiretapping and other surveillance" in his day. The remark raised the issue of a controversial eavesdropping program that President Bush authorized to combat terrorism but that some critics have charged violates U.S. law.

Conservatives complained that was inappropriate comments for a funeral, yet Bush had no problem, as the Post pointed out, recalling the threats and bombings aimed at intimidating her husband, and the rifle shot in Memphis that ultimately ended his life.

Apparently it is OK to talk about some of the troubles that Dr. and Mrs. King faced, just not the ones that are relevant today and raise questions about the current administration.

So as a result expect conservatives to make the point that dissent is tolerated, just not anywhere where people are paying attention, such as a public funeral. Also expect a lot of comparison about the funeral of Sen. Paul Wellstone in 2002 and how Democrats acted poorly. But also expect a lot of lies. As Al Franken pointed out, conservatives made mountains out of ant hills in 2002 and turned that funeral into political opportunity, leading to the election of Republican Norm Coleman to replace Wellstone.

This time the only question is who conservatives will retaliate against for speaking the truth.

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