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Political jabs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The funeral tributes for Coretta Scott King took a twist toward political rally when the Rev. Joseph Lowery criticized President Bush’s policies on Iraq and military spending.
Former President Jimmy Carter also took a swipe at the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina.
Lowery, the 85-year-old friend and former lieutenant of Martin Luther King Jr., launched his criticism with a smile as Bush and First Lady Laura Bush sat behind him.
Lowery, who also co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with King, asked the capacity crowd what happens after the speeches end — “where words become deeds that meet needs?â€?
Lowery was reciting a poetic tribute to Coretta King, recounting her battles against homophobia and racial discrimination, before pausing to apologize to poet Maya Angelou, apparently for his prose.
The church tittered with laughter. Then Lowery dug in.
“We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction,� Lowery said. His words were met by “oohs� and a long, loud applause. “But Coretta knew and we knew there were weapons of misdirection right here.
“Millions without health insurance, poverty abound. For war, billions more, but no more for the poor.�
Lowery finished his tribute to King talking about her children –- Bernice, Dexter, Martin III and Yolanda, who sat on the front pew. He turned away from the podium to a thunderous applause.
Bush immediately rose to his feet to be the first to greet Lowery with a hug. Both were smiling.
Carter spoke about dedicating a portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. at the state Capitol in 1974 when he was Georgia’s governor. The Ku Klux Klan protested outside, he recalled.
The former president then noted Martin and Coretta King were “violated� by “government wiretapping and government surveillance,� a thinly veiled reference to the current administration’s wiretapping program.
But the biggest dig from Carter came later when he said Americans need to be reminded “the struggle for equal rights is not over.”
“We only have to recall the color of those in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi,â€? Carter said, pausing for a long applause, “those who were most devastated by Katrina, to know there are not yet equal opportunities for all Americans.â€?
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