The Surreal Aftermath Of Paul Wellstone’s Death

The Surreal Aftermath Of Paul Wellstone’s Death

The Surreal Aftermath Of Paul Wellstone’s Death: I ran across the following paragraph in an article about Dick Cheney not being invited to Paul Wellstone’s funeral…

“Another White House official said privately that with the memorial service expected to draw thousands, the Wellstone family told the White House they did not want mourners subjected to the kind of security screenings that Cheney’s attendance would have required. This official also said White House advisers worried that the memorial service, with unions bringing supporters by the busload, would double as a Democrat get-out-the-vote rally and be awkward for Cheney.”

A “Democrat get-out-the-vote rally” at the man’s funeral? It was ghoulish enough to listen to all the analysts speculating about who would replace Wellstone on the Democratic ticket only seven or eight hours after he died, but this is even worse.

<-- Clinton and Mondale yuck it up at Wellstone’s memorial service…

We already have Hillary Clinton using Wellstone’s death to plug Carl McCall’s faltering campaign for governor in New York…

“I see a direct connection between our loss on Friday of someone who really was a unique force in American politics and this campaign Carl McCall is waging”

Then there are Harry Reid’s asinine comments about how Norm Coleman is politicizing the race by doing polling so soon after Wellstone’s death. Of course, Reid sees no problem with playing politics with Wellstone’s death himself…

“…I mean, let’s let the memory of Paul Wellstone be with us until he’s buried in the ground, not have polls as to who is strong in this area and not so strong in this area. The people of Minnesota are going to have to decide who they want to represent them in the United States Senate, whether they want someone who has the legacy of a Hubert Humphrey and a Paul Wellstone or whether they want somebody that is conducting polls while somebody is taken out of the woods, having been killed in a plane crash.”

I guess this is what’s to be expected from Democrats these days. But it’s still sad to see the Dems using the corpse of one of their own Senators as a cheap campaign prop.

***Update***: According to the Drudge Report (no link direct to these quotes), here is some of what happened at the Wellstone funeral…

“Win for Paul! For Paul! For Paul’…Cheering, handshaking, speechifying, yelling, clapping, stomping, laughing and shouting — there’s never been a memorial service like it… Instead of eulogies, stemwinders. Instead of pray for his soul, get out the vote. Instead of weeping, cheering. Welcome to bigtime politics 2002, where a memorial service for a tragically killed senator becomes a raucous DNC rally. All that was missing was the balloon drop…”

***Update #2: The Democrats are apparently using Wellstone’s death as a political tool across the country…

“‘In many ways, Paul Wellstone is still living,’ Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., declared Monday at a political rally in Ames, Iowa, for Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin.”

“…Democrats see signs that Wellstone’s death could “inspire Democratic voters and increase turnout” on Tuesday, said Tovah Ravitz-Meehan, spokeswoman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee”

We’re lucky that there’s only a week to go. Otherwise, the Democrats might shove Wellstone’s corpse into a Lenin-style glass case and cart him around the country in an attempt to drum up support. I guarantee you they’d at least ask his family for permission if they thought it was worth a point or two in Missouri and South Dakota. These people are without shame…

***Update #3***: Apparently Trent Lott and GOP Sen. Rod Grams were JEERED AT THE FUNERAL.

Here is part of a speech that was given by Rick Kahn…

“If Paul Wellstone’s legacy comes to an end, then our spirits will be crushed and we will drown in a river of tears,” a clearly emotional Kahn said.

…To U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad, R-Minn., Kahn said, “You know that Paul loved you. He needs you now. . . . Help us win this race.”

Jesse Ventura and his wife actually got up and left during Kahn’s speech.

I found this quote over at American RealPolitik

“Scott Libin, news director at KSTP-TV, Channel 5, said the station was in a difficult position and couldn’t respectfully stop coverage in the middle of the service when it went from “eulogy all the way to political pep rally.”

That was a really respectful send off for the “soul of the Senate” wasn’t it? How could the Democrats stoop this low? How could his family allow his funeral to turn into a circus? If this sort of thing happened at my funeral, I would return from the dead, kick open the coffin, and then I’d start strangling people in the front row…

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