Bush and Coretta King

William Rivers Pitt has an excellent post over at Truthout. I have to admit I'm not happy with Pitt's title for his article, "Trapped Like a Rat," particularly since we have a president working to acquire far more power than he needs and who's already abusing what power he has. "Forced to Listen for Once" might have been more to the point. But, title aside, Pitt gives us his usual fine writing and makes many useful points. Here's the first three paragraphs:

The funeral for civil rights leader Coretta Scott King on Tuesday was quite a sight to see. The depth of sadness in the room could not be overcome by the happiness that came with the celebration of her life and accomplishments. It was the measure of Mrs. King's impact upon our society that four presidents - Carter, Bush, Clinton and Bush - sat before her flower-draped casket and spoke of her life.

And then, of course, the foolishness began. The nattering nabobs of network nonsense blithered into their cable news studios to deplore all the political statements that were served up before the appreciative crowd in that church. It was the Wellstone funeral all over again.

Let's be clear. The life of Coretta Scott King was one that involved politics from every angle. Any lifelong struggle against poverty, racism and war is going to be a life immersed in politics. That is simply the way it is; because so many politicians and political ideologies center around statements and legislation that directly add to the burdens of the poor and minorities, any person choosing to fight poverty and racism is going to wind up dealing in politics.

I am saddened by the way that so many politicians and people in the media have forgotten the many things that Coretta King and her husband stood for. These are two people who fought nonviolently for a better world and there aren't enough people in Washington at the moment who understand what that means. Or what the personal risks were.

Our nation will soon have 300 million people. We are not abstractions. We may not all think alike or look alike but each of us is real. We are the people mentioned in the very first words of the US Constitution. And Washington is forgetting us.