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January 10, 2025

Scenes from a funeral

By Rajan Laad

The noted writer, columnist, playwright, and thinker George Ade famously observed, “In the city, a funeral is just an interruption of traffic; in the country, it is a form of entertainment.” 

Ade wrote this in an article published in 1928, but the ubiquity of 24-7 television and social media make his observation prescient.

We witnessed this yesterday during the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter

The state funeral was held at Washington National Cathedral and attended by all former presidents, vice presidents, and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Social media users made fascinating and funny observations and drew interesting inferences about things they observed.

The slightly light-hearted attitude was not in poor taste because Carter lived a full life and departed this world as a centenarian. Some orators at the funeral engaged in humor while delivering their eulogies.

Calling the dynamics among the top attendees at the funeral 'complex' would be an understatement.

During a meeting in 2021 with Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron remarked that it was "great to have a U.S. president part of the club."  This was a slight to President Trump. It only served as a reminder that Trump has challenged the status quo and placed his nation first, so he was a nuisance to the club.

We saw some evidence of the club, even at the funeral.

Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama refused to acknowledge President Trump or his wife Melania upon arrival.

Could they have met before the funeral and hence another greeting was unnecessary?

Possibly.

It is also likely that people chose to not make an overt display of camaraderie because it was a somber occasion.

But Bush did acknowledge Obama with a sportsy slap on the latter's stomach and shook hands with all the vice presidents in the row behind and even had a brief word with them.

Obama did shake hands with Al Gore and Mike Pence and so did President Trump.

Mike Pence's wife refused to acknowledge Trump but shook hands with Obama.

Obama and President Donald Trump were engaged in what seemed like a fun conversation, with Obama breaking into laughter at one moment.

The Clintons didn't acknowledge any presidents but exchanged words with the vice presidents. George W. Bush seemed miffed for being ignored despite rising courteously to greet the Clintons.

Joe Biden occasionally looked like he was napping while Kamala Harris seemed curmudgeonly, and yes, Jill Biden didn't acknowledge her husband's deputy, despite sitting right next to her.

So here are some posts about what happened at the funeral:
 

Some were focused on the electoral records of all seated:
 


Some had hilarious comments on the Trump and Obama conversation:
 
 
 

A lip reader attempted to decipher the contents of the conversation:
 
Kamala Harris appeared to disapprove when Obama initiated a conversation with her former rival Trump:
 

Some rightly pointed out that the Democrats never really believed in their dangerous and slanderous overstatements comparing Trump to Hitler, but they said it anyway to fearmonger and conceal their appalling record:
 

Some noted the frostiness between Jill and Kamala:
 



Some caught Biden napping and noted that Biden was older than both Clinton and Bush who were elected more than 25 years ago:


There was a Democrat operative who attempted to suggest that Trump was napping but was corrected by an alert user:
 

It was reported that the former first lady Michelle Obama preferred to remain in Hawaii on an “extended vacation" rather than attend the funeral, her office claimed she had a 'scheduling conflict':
 
But Melania Trump was in attendance and looked moved and somber, perhaps because her mother passed away last year:

Even Hunter Biden was there, he looked restless and kept rubbing his nose:
 

Justin Trudeau still wearing what appeared to be friendship bracelets awkwardly glared at Trump as the President-elect walked by:
 
The occasion also had stirring renditions of celebrated hymns: 
 
 
The inclusion of the song that has lyrics 'Imagine there's no Heaven. It's easy if you try" along with "... and no religion, too" and which the late Beatles frontman branded as 'virtually The Communist Manifesto,' surprised and appalled many.
 
But it happened to be Carter's favorite song, which seems unusual considering he was supposedly a devout Christian.

So how would one sum up the occasion?

The drama among the various dignitaries made it seem like Rembrandt's paintings had come to life. 
 
The speeches were moving.
 
The hymns were soulful. 
 
President Trump, despite not intending to, was the center of attention.
 
Image: Screen shot from Access Hollywood video, via YouTube
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