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July 24, 2005

Church of the One Wing -- tin-ear acolytes

Who could forget John Kerry's cluelessness on the campaign trail when he tried slumming at Wendy's, and cornered a couple of Marines and didn't get a clue that he was intruding? Or the "stiff reaction" from the troops Uncle Teddy got when he tried to grab a little publicity by touring Gitmo?

Now comes this story from Pennsylvania

The family of a Marine who was killed in Iraq is furious with Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll for showing up uninvited at his funeral this week, handing out her business card and then saying "our government" is against the war.
Knoll takes chutzpah to a new level with her trolling at a funeral.
Rhonda Goodrich of Indiana, Pa., said yesterday that a funeral was held Tuesday at a church in Carnegie for her brother-in-law, Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich, 32. She said he "died bravely and courageously in Iraq on July 10, serving his country."

In a phone interview, Goodrich said the funeral service was packed with people "who wanted to tell his family how Joe had impacted their lives." Then, suddenly, "one uninvited guest made an appearance, Catherine Baker Knoll."

She sat down next to a Goodrich family member and, during the distribution of communion, said, "Who are you?" Then she handed the family member one of her business cards, which Goodrich said she still has.

"Knoll felt this was an appropriate time to campaign and impose her will on us," Goodrich said. "I am amazed and disgusted Knoll finds a Marine funeral a prime place to campaign."

The jokes about ambulance-chasing lawyers are legion, but one is hardpressed to laugh off Knoll's "anti-war" funeral crashing.
"Our family deserves an apology," Rhonda Goodrich said. "Here you have a soldier who was killed -- dying for his country -- in a church full of grieving family members and she shows up uninvited. It made a mockery of Joey's death."

What really upset the family, Goodrich said, is that Knoll said, 'I want you to know our government is against this war,' " Goodrich said.

It would appear that Knoll figured that one dead Marine could translate into new converts to the Bu$Hitler faith and use of Joseph Goodrich's body in its liturgy.

Just like Kerry and Kennedy and so many other acolytes of the Leftist church, she hasn't figured out that most troops and their families are proud of their service and have a commitment to honor and duty. Twin concepts that fail to penetrate the tenets of the Church of the One Wing.

hattip Mustang 23

Also discussed at:

Blackfive
Michelle Malkin
Mark in Mexico - great roundup
Pennywit
Citizen Smash

Posted by Darleen at July 24, 2005 07:56 AM

Comments

Politicians' tin ears often surprise me. If Lt. Gov. Knoll wanted to really make a statement, she could slip in, stand silently near the body, then introduce herself to the family and say, very quietly, "Your son was very brave, and I was sorry to hear of your loss. If there's anything you need, or anything that other veterans' families need, call us and we'll try help."

--|PW|--

Posted by: pennywit at July 24, 2005 08:46 AM

... and then quietly slip out the way she came. Or invite the family to lunch somehwere. Privately. Adding the politicking and cameras is ... ahem ... tawdry.

--|PW|--

Posted by: pennywit at July 24, 2005 08:47 AM

Yes, that was tacky. I think she should have done like Bush and ignored their son completely. After all, who in this country is aware that he even died. Does anyone know that EIGHT young soldiers died just this Sunday?

We have a nice little antiseptic war going on here. No one is sacrificing but the soldiers and their families, and no one has to look at the grief or the destroyed young bodies. Let's keep it that way, dammit, otherwise people might start acting like an INFORMED ELECTORATE and wonder what in bloody hell is going on here.

Posted by: Louella at July 26, 2005 02:56 AM

I am with pennywit. I read the story in the LA Times yesterday and wanted to puke. Tin ear is the perfect description. I don't think her motives were to convert her to the anitwar movement I think they were utterly selfish and poltical for the photo op.

Posted by: Mieke at July 27, 2005 08:51 AM