At least Senator McCain had a valid reason for disliking, and excluding, President Trump – the other funeral of a prominent person, that of Aretha Franklin, was pretty much as firmly anti-Trump, even though Mr. Trump never attacked or criticized or ridiculed Ms. Franklin. She, or the people who staged her funeral, like so many others, did not care for his attitude or his policies or his style, and, like so many others, they weren’t shy about letting the whole world know. Some years from now, folks may look at the videos of the two funerals and cringe at their political aspects, and wonder why folks had so little respect for the departed that they wanted to show their little respect for the President rather than celebrating the lives of the great people who had passed on. It is worthy of note that the final memory people will have of Senator McCain and of Aretha Franklin will be their intense dislike of the President of the United States instead of a positive celebration of respectively, their lives as a Navy veteran, an heroic prisoner of war and a dediciated US Senator; or as a widely-admired singer. Let us not let the worldly interfere with the eternal.
BY JOHN SHAFFER It’s been a busy couple of weeks. Two American icons, Aretha Franklin and Sen. John McCain, passed away. Sadly, the memories of two great people were pushed a bit to the backseat at their funerals, because some of the living rather put greater emphasis on attacking President Trump than they did memorializing the departed. Senator McCain’s family issued its own public rejection for his funeral, pointedly letting the world know that President Trump was not welcome. Now the President and the Senator did not have much good to say about each other, and each made some flip remarks about the other that used never to be said (at least in public). It being a free country, the Senator’s family was well within its rights, and we can sympathize with their reaction, because there is no doubt that as a candidate and as President, Mr. Trump said some nasty things about the Senator; things that never should have been said. That being the case, it is a bit incongruous for someone such as Senator McCain being so upset at President Trump for his crude, coarse, intolerant manner that his funeral exhibited the same kind of intolerance, but that’s what makes the world go around. As the epigram has it, if you don’t go to someone’s funeral, don’t expect them to go to yours. At least Senator McCain had a valid reason for disliking, and excluding, President Trump – the other funeral of a prominent person, that of Aretha Franklin, was pretty much as firmly anti-Trump, even though Mr. Trump never attacked or criticized or ridiculed Ms. Franklin. She, or the people who staged her funeral, like so many others, did not care for his attitude or his policies or his style, and, like so many others, they weren’t shy about letting the whole world know. Some years from now, folks may look at the videos of the two funerals and cringe at their political aspects, and wonder why folks had so little respect for the departed that they wanted to show their little respect for the President rather than celebrating the lives of the great people who had passed on. It is worthy of note that the final memory people will have of Senator McCain and of Aretha Franklin will be their intense dislike of the President of the United States instead of a positive celebration of respectively, their lives as a Navy veteran, an heroic prisoner of war and a dediciated US Senator; or as a widely-admired singer. Let us not let the worldly interfere with the eternal. • Nike is celebrating Colin Kaepernick for “taking a stand” by refusing to stand for the National Anthem. We have written about this before,and still marvel at the self-centeredness of those who can see only America’s flaws and thus deem it appropriate to “protest” by “taking a knee.” We believe that all of us realize that America is not perfect and never was or will be; but the kneelers are disrespecting our nation to make their point, when there are many other more suitable ways to register one’s protest or disapproval or anger. We can’t argue that Mr. Kaepernick got everyone’s attention, and has kept it, but we do get pretty tired of people telling us how glorious and daring he is for doing what he is doing, as if he and those who share his beliefs are the only ones who have “high ideals.” We happen to know that patriotism, love of country, is a pretty high ideal in itself; and while some may argue that it is no greater an ideal than protest – it sure is no lesser a one either. Ooops – except that we are told that “the highest patriotism” is dissent, at least when America has a Republican president, anyway. We believe that most of us who did not vote for Barack Obama still stood for the National Anthem and said the pledge of allegiance during his presidency. And most of us respected him as the holder of the office, even if we disagreed with him on almost everything. Most of us didn’t say “he’s not my president.” We hope those who voted for President Obama, or voted against President Trump, continue to stand for the Anthem and say the Pledge. The measure of one’s love of country should not be dependent on who holds the office of President. Remember - the purpose of this protest is not to make America better but to make the kneelers feel good about themselves, or defiant or powerful. They are sending the message that everyone who doesn't kneel is blindly supporting a corrupt state. They are saying that their outlook is more virtuous and more valuable than that of everyone else. The protestors have made their point, but how often do they make it? Once a week during a televised football game? Do they kneel at every playing of the anthem or recitation of the pledge? Do they protest at any other time? If they refuse to stand until there is no racism, poverty, ignorance, violence or intolerance, they never will stand. And, if they decide to stand once a President to their liking is elected, will that truly mean the end of all of those bad things? Again, will they ever be able to stand again? How long will it be before some celebrity "takes a knee" at a September 11 observance? -- JDS
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