Posted on 12/31/2006 3:25:11 AM PST by trumandogz
Edited on 12/31/2006 4:23:27 AM PST by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
WASHINGTON
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Check back Tues.
Why not Reed, Durbin, McConnell, Boehner, or Bush?
Damn right. Ford should have planned it better. </sarcasm>
Yes, there is. The official funeral is Tuesday, and the President will be attending, and speaking.
My friend called me last night and told me he wasn't there and at first I didn't believe her (very liberal, thought she was trying to get me going). Turns out, not so much.
Traditionally the President doesn't attend this service at the Captial, though he will pay his respects later .. just like he did at President Reagan's funeral ... then the President will give a eulogy at the National Services
I believe they will use any excuse to bash the President.
Ford was arguably the best president in the '70s. People should pay their respects. I guess they will on Tuesday. It did get a late start last night-- by design I gather.
That makes more sense.
Do not worry... the President will attend the funeral service on Tuesday. So, he will be where he is supposed to be when he is supposed to be there.
McConnell and Boehner were there.
For example .. I don't not expect President Clinton to have attend the Services last night .. but I would expect Hillary, who is a Senator in Congress to be there
VP Cheney was there .. because he also serves as the President of the Senate
Frist & McConnell were there .. as was Schumer and Levin
I did hear on Fox a short time ago, that Bush would deliver the eulogy at the National Cathedral. I don't know, maybe his family felt it would be better for Betty to get on with it. She looks pretty feeble.
Also, there is the minor inconvienence (sarcasm) of the snowstorms out west hindering Denver (a major airport hub) and snowing in others (including Rumsfeld, who was reported to have been scheduled to have been an honorary pallbearer).
Overall, I think the ceremonies have been scheduled ASAP so that the government could take advantage of the New Year's break to have the lying-in-state and the paying-of-public-respects when there was almost no workerbee traffic around, with the arrival on Saturday (how dare one interrupt the NFL games or New Year's Eve with TV preemptions), and the official funeral on Tuesday (after most of the bowls, continue the federal holiday and not have to reheat/rechill/reheal federal buildings, allow time for dignitaries to get here (even if they have to drive through the snows, etc.) Consider also the traffic snarls on Tuesday if most of the financial markets had not shut down.
One woman I know even had the temerity to suggest Ford died a few days earlier so the Powers That Be could arrange this schedule, but I doubt it.
President Bush has not slighted President Ford.
This is really unreal. Even Fox News was reporting a few days ago that "The President would not be attending the funeral". Despicable liars, the lot of them.
Absolutely right... what surprises me is how quickly FReepers strike the bait.
Funerals in general are not what they used to be--
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