Colby King: "They were supposed to behave because Masta [sic] was in the house? I mean come on."
The discussion pertained to the politicization of the funeral of Coretta Scott King, and Colby King and Dana Priest, a reporter for the Washington Post, were determined to defend the gratuitous rudeness of some of the speakers who thought it was appropriate to take political shots at President Bush. Their arguments were weak, ranging from politics at the funeral was expected:
Colby King: "You bring in 2 planes full of members of Congress, you have the high priest of black preacherdom there; you have 10,000 Afr, largely African Americans there in the
with political wannabes, sure it’s going to be a tad bit extravagant and a tad bit political, but what do you expect. This was not a funeral in honor of some apolitical, cloistered figure, this is someone who was well renowned and well renowned for her activism." Baptist Church Dana Priest: "Could you say he was disobedient as in the tradition of the Kings? I mean I think all this was expected and would have disappointing if people had not shown some..." To Colby King suggesting that this is how all Baptist funerals are conducted:
Colby King: "The arrogance of saying how people should behave at a Baptist funeral. I mean for goodness sakes, I think they know, these were friend’s of Mrs. King, they knew what would be appropriate in her presence."
This was followed later by this remark to Syndicated Columnist Charles Krauthammer.
Colby King: "Oh, you don’t, you don’t know the funerals I’ve attended. I mean we get it said at Baptist funerals, that’s the time you have to get it said. Come on over to my side, I’ll show you."
King's comments on "Inside Washington" come days after comments he made on MSNBC during live coverage Mrs. King's funeral with Chris Matthews. Just minutes after Reverend Joseph Lowery made his jokes about WMD, King defended the comments as non-political saying:
Colby King: “It wasn’t a political statement as much it was just a declaration, I think, that people had to say for Mrs. King, who was a person of peace, her husband was nonviolent, that the war still means something, and what’s going on in Iraq still means something to people who follow King’s philosophy.”
Whatever the reasoning, there was no excuse for people to take cheap shots at the President of the United States who was a guest at the funeral, and who was there to pay last respects on behalf of a grateful nation to Mrs. King for all she contributed to the civil rights movement and in making America a more just nation. No, Colby King, people didn’t need to behave because “Masta was in the house.” They should have behaved because they were in the Divine Master’s house.
