Bush uses soldiers as a background, Kerry goes to funeral

[TayTay]

The contrast couldn't be greater.



Grieving town mourns its fallen hero
Was among first in Afghanistan
By Megan Tench, Globe Staff | June 28, 2005
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/06/28/grieving_town_mourns_its_fallen_hero/

MARBLEHEAD -- In droves, residents, friends, and veterans took to the streets of Marblehead's historic downtown, many carrying an American flag.

Business owners closed up shop. Children took a day off from school or camp. Governor Mitt Romney, Senator John F. Kerry, and Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O'Toole, paid personal tribute to Army Staff Sergeant Christopher Piper, a Green Beret and the first Marblehead resident killed in combat since Vietnam.

His flag-draped coffin arrived at the Old North Church by hearse and left by horse-drawn caisson.

''I've never seen anything like this," said Matt Christianson of Ashburnham, a friend of the Piper family. ''This is really a show of support."

The mournful wail of bagpipes and drums at the ceremony's onset drowned out a group of antiwar and antigay protesters from Kansas who have been showing up at the funerals of soldiers. Outnumbered by displeased residents, the group of less than a half-dozen was corralled by police and escorted out of town in the car they arrived in. Sounds of applause reverberated inside Old North Church, where hundreds more said good-bye to a fallen soldier they called Pipes.

[BlueIris]

1. Good for JK, showing respect and support like that.

That must be very difficult for him. Yes, I know it's most difficult for the families of the fallen, but from what I've seen, (as someone who has never been in the military, mind you) former and active duty members of the military are also hurting among the worst of anyone when mourning our war dead. OR's governor, my beloved Ted Kulongoski, served in the Marines before entering law and later politics, and has now publicly admitted that attending the funerals of our state's deceased soldiers becomes more painful with each new burial. I can't imagine what they go through, truly.

[karynnj]

2. I remember the photos of the funeral he and Kennedy went to

shortly after the election. I think you're right that it must be very difficult. The emotions on his face in those pictures were almost painful to see.

[whometense]

4. If * had any capacity for shame

he'd be drowning in it right now. Between this story and the NY Times Iraq instruction manual, JK is trying to teach * what a president does. Ironic, isn't it.

[BlueIris]

5. He really has NO shame.

Just when I think I can't get anymore disgusted.

[whometense]

3. Also in today's Globe:

Interesting column today from Brian McGrory about Teddy's evolving take-no-prisoners attitude towards any repug challengers. (Note slam on Mittens)

''Historically, what I've always tried to do is run for the office, not against someone," he said, an acknowledgement of what's gone on before.

Then he delivered this barely veiled threat: ''This is a difficult and challenging profession. No one should come to it lightly. As it should be. People have to be held accountable, professionally, and the public is looking at it in terms of private lives, as well. Everything is fair game."...

...Mitt Romney waged his first campaign for elective office against Kennedy in 1994, winning for losing, even in a campaign with a slightly sharper tenor. Now, in his sporadic visits to Massachusetts, Romney serves as governor.

The stakes are even higher these days. If Kerry again seeks the presidency, the Republican loser to Kennedy might find himself or herself the front-runner for an open Senate seat in 2008.

So no more Mr. Nice Guy, Kennedy needs the GOP to know. Never again does he want his opponent to live to fight another day.

[kerrygoddess]

6. Great story!

I posted about this on LUTD last night.

[TayTay]

7. It's so sad. Puts the letter to MA folks about Vets in perspective

And gives a somber background for any speeches about Iraq.

The funeral was covered in both the Lynn Daily Item, and soon, in the Salem Evening NEws. It was a very big deal. A lot of businesses closed so that people could pay their respects to the family. So sad. Sen. Kerry marched behind the casket, just like all the other mourners. (What I love about Democracy, 101.)

Photos: http://www.salemnews.com/

[whometense]

8. Oh my god,

this is unbelievable.

It is a shame that a bunch of religious kooks from Kansas plan to picket the funeral of a fallen Marblehead hero, Special Forces Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Piper. It is a crying shame...

... So, as these Kansas cashews hold signs that read "America Is Doomed" and "Thank God for IEDs," (the roadside bomb which killed Piper and two others), all the good people of Marblehead can do is angrily bite their collective lips and remind themselves that this is what Chris Piper and so many others have given their lives for: the uninalienable rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States - of which freedom of speech is one of the most revered...

... For the record, Margie Phelps, daughter of minister Fred Phelps, justifies her group's actions by saying, "This nation has institutionalized the most grievous sin (homosexuality)" and that God is taking vengeance on the United States through the killing of American soldiers and 9/11.

The homophobics from Kansas first gained notoriety in 1998 when they picketed the funeral of a homosexual student bashed to death in Laramie, Wyoming. Its pathetic message got even more morose after 9/11; and reached the current pits when it began picketing funerals of our fallen heroes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It may be easier said than done, but the best tribute the town of Marblehead can give to hometown hero Chris Piper is to turn a deaf ear towards this inanity.

They may have the right of free speech, but we all have a right not to listen.

Those people are even scummier than I first thought, if that is possible.

[Mass]

9. It is also a shame that BG qualifies them as anti-war

and creates some doubts about who these people are.

[Pirate Smile]

12. When I quickly read through the post, I thought there were Anti War

protesters AND the Phelps scumbags.

I was going to say - what Anti-War protesters are protesting funerals? Bad writing, I'd say.

[whometense]

10. Salem Evening News

http://www.salemnews.com/

The presence of four shrill protesters may have, ironically, contributed to the extraordinary turnout.

Bill Audette of Northbridge, south of Worcester, came with a contingent of Vietnam veterans specifically to drown them out.

"In support of the family — that's why we came." Then he looked at the crowd and shook his head. "With what we see here, they didn't need us."

"I've often wondered how we can stand up to groups like them," Kenney said. Then she pointed to the throng, "This is how we do it."

By pre-agreement, the protesters were confined to a small, fenced-in area, where they loudly shouted insults to the mourners. Based in Kansas, they combine hatred for gays with hatred for the United States and those who serve the country.

Protected by mounted Boston police, the protesters were left, for the entire time, to face the backsides of five huge horses. At 10 a.m., as the service began to be heard from loudspeakers, they were ushered away.

It's free speech, observed National Guard Lt. Col. Greg Smith. "It is what we fight for. And Sgt. Piper did a fine job."

[TayTay]

11. Whome, I think that's part of the reason Kerry went

I mean, you know, to honor the Massachusetts fallen and to stand up for the families in a time of extreme need.

Again, * is using the soldiers as a backdrop tonight to sell his failed policies. Contrast that with this. 'nuff said.

[whometense]

13. Well, he earns my

love and respect every single day. He defines the term "man of conscience," and I'm so proud that he is my senator.

[Island Blue]

14. John Kerry continues to amaze me.

Contrast his actions with those of George W. Bush who is a coward. He was a coward who used his connections and wealth to get out of combat in Vietnam, he was a coward for going AWOL, he's a coward for sending men and women (both American & Coalition troops and Iraqi citizens) to their deaths just to satisfy his ego, and he's a coward for not attending a single funeral of a single fallen soldier. Commander-In-Chief my ass!

As far as the protesters are concerned, I feel there will be a very special place in Hell for them, and that they will be greeted at the door by Shrub, Rummy, Condi and especially KKKarl. They disgust me.