Antonia Scalia dies

Pilgrim

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There have been four, not two. Four. Two were attended by the President, and two were not. See Post #15.
OK, my mistake - sort of. Since we were talking about events leading up to Scalia's death and funeral there were three deaths of sitting Justices, two during Eisenhower's terms, one during W's. Justice Jackson apparently got left out of the article I referenced earlier. So since the Kennedy administration, there was one during the period leading up to the death of Scalia.
The is no historical precedent, no rules, regulations, decorum, traditions or anything else that might suggest the President needs to attend a SC Justice funeral just because he's the President.
Other than to pay respect and tribute to one of the most influential members of SCOTUS, there are none of those.
Therefore the liberal Democrat President is supposed to attend? That makes no sense. Biden attended, not because Scalia was a revered conservative Justice, but because he and Scalia were friends, and his wife and Scalia's wife were long time close friends.
Obama and Ginsburg are friends, so yeah, probably
What's being friends got to do with it? Obama attended Cronkite's funeral and had never met him. Cronkite had been off the air since 1981. BTW, that's one of the primary functions of VPs - attend funerals:)
 

Pilgrim

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And pathetic.
Sometimes we digress. That being said, let's go back to your OP - now Obama can really change things, putting icing on the cake of his "fundamental transformation" of our country. IMHO, an artful politician would have attended Scalia's funeral and praised his accomplishments and contributions to our legal system to the heavens before nominating a radical liberal like Loretta Lynch or Elizabeth Warren as a replacement. That may come in the very near future, so let's hope the Republican controlled Senate shows some spine and blocks any nomination Obama may offer - even if he or she may be a so-called moderate.
 

Ragman

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Sometimes we digress. That being said, let's go back to your OP - now Obama can really change things, putting icing on the cake of his "fundamental transformation" of our country. IMHO, an artful politician would have attended Scalia's funeral and praised his accomplishments and contributions to our legal system to the heavens before nominating a radical liberal like Loretta Lynch or Elizabeth Warren as a replacement. That may come in the very near future, so let's hope the Republican controlled Senate shows some spine and blocks any nomination Obama may offer - even if he or she may be a so-called moderate.
What's pathetic is the outright hatered for Obama.

Everybody has the right to agree or disagree with a political opponent, but the amount of venomous garbage spewed by the far right is sad.
 

xmudman

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What's pathetic is the outright hatered for Obama.

Everybody has the right to agree or disagree with a political opponent, but the amount of venomous garbage spewed by the far right is sad.

You've never noticed that the hatred goes both ways? Try being a conservative and having leftist "friends" on Facebook :mad:
 

Pilgrim

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It's become proportional to the venomous garbage spewed by the liberals toward their opponents. Seems fair that Obama should be trashed just as badly as Bush. It's just the nature of politics, and it was actually worse in years past.
 
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davekc

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The madness does swing both ways. One party is no better than the other. Look how they treated Bush. Same thing.
Even internally in a party with the exception of maybe Trump who the republicans want to get rid of. Super delegates are bought and paid for on the democrats side and are in the tank for Hillary. Bernie is already gone and really stands no chance.
 
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Moot

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Everybody has the right to agree or disagree with a political opponent, but the amount of venomous garbage spewed by the far right is sad.
Far right or far left; radicals, extremists, wackos, whatever you want to call them are still radicals, extremists, wackos or whatever you want to call. If Obama wasn't black, the "venomous garbage spewed by the far right is sad"; wouldn't be venomous garbage or sad. It would be politics as usual. Pick a side. Split the country. Divide and conquer!
 
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Turtle

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So since the Kennedy administration, there was one during the period leading up to the death of Scalia.
So now we've gone "Super Baseball Statistics" and narrowed it down to the Kennedy Administration? OK fine, since the Obama administration, there was only one during the period leading up and including Scalia's death. How's that?

Other than to pay respect and tribute to one of the most influential members of SCOTUS, there are none of those.
Obama did that at the most appropriate time and place, on Friday at the Supreme Court Building. A Catholic funeral mass is first and foremost a funeral mass, not an event of State, and the Catholic church discourages distractions and disruptions that would take away from the funeral mass itself. If Obama had attended, the constant camera cutaways to him would be a constant distraction from the mass. Obama sent Biden and his wife, Catholics, in his stead. There is absolutely nothing even remotely unusual about that.

What's being friends got to do with it?
People tend to attend the funerals of people they were friends with. Since Obama and Ginsburg are friends, "yeah, probably" he would attend her funeral.

Obama attended Cronkite's funeral and had never met him. Cronkite had been off the air since 1981.
I have no idea why you're so fixated on Cronkite. Maybe it's because he wasn't a conservative, ergo he's scum, or maybe it's because someone else is fixated on Cronkite and you read what they had to say and just went with it, but Obama did not attend Walter Cronkite's funeral. :banghead:

Cronkite's funeral was held at St. Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan on July 23, 2009. Obama did not attend. CBS produced a music-filled and dignitary-studded Walter Cronkite Memorial, at New York's Lincoln Center on September 9th, and it was broadcast live by C-Span and CBS, with bits and pieces live by the cable news networks.

BTW, that's one of the primary functions of VPs - attend funerals:)
That's one of the many customary functions of the VP, to act as a surrogate for the President, but his one and only primary function is to preside over the Senate.

IMHO, an artful politician would have attended Scalia's funeral and praised his accomplishments and contributions to our legal system to the heavens before nominating a radical liberal like Loretta Lynch or Elizabeth Warren as a replacement.
That's just partisan wishful thinking. Artful has nothing to do with Lynch or Warren. You can replace "artful" with "conservative" and at least the sentence makes total sense. :D
 
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Turtle

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Google search shows is pretty common, even with media outlets.
 

Pilgrim

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So now we've gone "Super Baseball Statistics" and narrowed it down to the Kennedy Administration? OK fine, since the Obama administration, there was only one during the period leading up and including Scalia's death. How's that?
We're talking about the period of time leading up to Scalia's funeral.
Obama did that at the most appropriate time and place, on Friday at the Supreme Court Building. A Catholic funeral mass is first and foremost a funeral mass, not an event of State, and the Catholic church discourages distractions and disruptions that would take away from the funeral mass itself. If Obama had attended, the constant camera cutaways to him would be a constant distraction from the mass. Obama sent Biden and his wife, Catholics, in his stead. There is absolutely nothing even remotely unusual about that.
You're obviously too young to remember the JFK funeral

State funeral of John F. Kennedy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
People tend to attend the funerals of people they were friends with. Since Obama and Ginsburg are friends, "yeah, probably" he would attend her funeral.
"People" and "Politicians" are two separate and unequal categories. Were the Obamas "friends" with Clementa Pinckney?
I have no idea why you're so fixated on Cronkite. Maybe it's because he wasn't a conservative, ergo he's scum, or maybe it's because someone else is fixated on Cronkite and you read what they had to say and just went with it, but Obama did not attend Walter Cronkite's funeral. :banghead:
Cronkite was a long-retired liberal newscaster who Obama had never met. Yet he chose to attend and vocally pay tribute to him at his MEMORIAL service...even though they were strangers. It's called political showmanship.
 

Turtle

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You're obviously too young to remember the JFK funeral
I certainly don't remember it as if I was there, or with the details of the mind of an adult, but his assassination and funeral had a great impact on me as a child. Nevertheless, while Kennedy's was a State funeral, Scalia's funeral was not.

In the entire history of the United States there have only been 19 State funerals. A State funeral is military funeral, administered by the US Army Military District of Washington, headquartered at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C. The military funeral types are: State, Official, Special Military, Armed Forces Full Honor, Special Full Honor, Full Honor (Company), Full Honor (Platoon), and Simple Honor. Each type has its own set of protocols that are followed, most of which can be overridden only by the next of kin or in the wishes of the deceased.

The US Army has a list of people who are entitled to the different funeral types. The only people entitled to a "State" funeral are the President, a former President, President-elect, and anyone designated by the President to have one.

The " Official" funeral (pretty much he same as a "State" funeral, except you don't get to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda) is reserved for the Vice President, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Cabinet Members, and other US government and foreign civil dignitaries designated by the President. Incidentally, "lie in state," "lie in repose," and "lie in honor" have very different and very specific meanings in Washington, even though they all mean the same thing to everybody everywhere else.

After that, with "Special Military" and on down, it's all military personnel, but it includes the Deputy Secretary of Defense, a Former Secretary of Defense, and then folks like the Secretary of the Army, Navy and Air Force, 5-star Generals and Admirals, etc.

When a State funeral is going to happen, the President notifies Congress that he has directed that a State Funeral be conducted. Then Congress, which has sole authority for use of the U.S. Capitol, makes the Rotunda available for the State Ceremony through its own procedures. Only 29 people have lain in state in the Capitol Rotunda, 11 were Presidents (President Nixon's family (like those of Presidents Wilson, Coolidge, Franklin Roosevelt, and Truman) chose not to accept the honor of a State funeral), and the rest were people like General McArthur, General Pershing, Admiral Dewey, J Edgar Hoover, The Unknown Soldier (WWI, WWII and Korean wars), Thaddeus Stevens. Rosa Parks and two Capitol Police officers who were killed on duty at the Capitol were "laid in honor" in the Rotunda, but not "in state."

The only Supreme Court justice to have a State funeral was Chief Justice William Howard Taft, and that was only because he was a former President.

Other than the Chief Justice, regular Associate Supreme Court justices aren't entitled to any military funeral of any type, unless so designated by the President or the Secretary of Defense.

People" and "Politicians" are two separate and unequal categories. Were the Obamas "friends" with Clementa Pinckney?
I have no idea whether the Obamas were "friends" with Clementa Pinckney." My comment was solely about Obama and Ginsburg. You asked if it were Ginsburg instead of Scalia, would Obama be there, and I answered that he probably would, because he and Ginsburg are friends. Just because people attend the funerals of those they were friends with doesn't mean that's the only allowable reason for them to attend a funeral, nor does it mean that politicians can only attend funerals solely or primarily for political reasons.

Cronkite was a long-retired liberal newscaster who Obama had never met. Yet he chose to attend and vocally pay tribute to him at his MEMORIAL service...even though they were strangers. It's called political showmanship.
Possibly. I'm not sure that "political showmanship" is the right phase to apply to someone who was invited to go there and speak. "Political opportunist," perhaps, but there were several invited speakers who spoke at the memorial. The argument can certainly be made that any funeral the president attends could be considered political showmanship, including, yes, Republican Presidents when they go to funerals.
 
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