Obama to Skip Antonin Scalia’s Funeral

President Obama Snubs Scalia Funeral

It is clear that Obama’s political orientation and his willingness to bend or ignore the Constitution put him at total odds with Scalia. So his first priority upon learning of Scalia’s death was about nominating a new justice who would presumably have a much more liberal orientation to shift the court balance to the progressives.

It is unseemly that he would insist that a choice should be made in an election year when everything that is done has a political spin to it. But it was also an indication of the opinion Obama held for Scalia when he indicated, through proxies, that he would not even attend the funeral being held in Washington D.C. on Saturday. Apart from being a political snub, it is simply an indication of the lack of class and arrogance Obama has.

“If we want to reduce partisanship, we can start by honoring great public servants who we disagree with,” Obama’s former “car czar” Steven Rattner tweeted with a link to a headline about Obama skipping the funeral.

 White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest revealed the president’s plans during the daily briefing, saying Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will go to the Supreme Court on Friday “to pay their respects to Justice Scalia” while the justice lies in repose in the Great Hall. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden, who share Scalia’s Catholic faith, will be at the services instead.Earnest refused to be drawn out about why the president would not attend the funeral, saying he didn’t know what the president plans to do on Saturday, and Scalia’s son, Eugene, did not immediately respond to a question about whether the family requested that Obama not attend the funeral.

There’s not substantial historic precedent for presidents attending the funerals of sitting justices. President George W. Bush not only attended, but also eulogized Supreme Court chief justice and fellow conservative William Rehnquist in 2005. But before him, the last justice to die in office was Robert H. Jackson in 1954.

There have been other occasions when Obama displayed poor manners and snubbed the funerals of public servants who had dedicated their lives to this nation. It is embarrassing to have a chief executive who cannot give the respect that is due to a public servant when they are not politically aligned with him.

Major General Harold Greene is the highest-ranking officer to fall in combat since Vietnam. The 2-star general was killed in Afghanistan on August 5 and was laid to rest earlier this year at Arlington National Cemetery.

President Obama was too busy golfing at Vineyard Golf Club with elites, such as the World Bank President, to attend. VP Biden was too busy vacationing at the Hamptons to show up.

Not only did Obama not attend, he made no public comment, like he did with Robin Williams, or even order flags to be flown half mast, which he did for Whitney Houston and Nelson Mandela.

So it appears that Obama is simply a classless lowlife with very bad manners. The battle now will be with the president, Democrats, and the partisan mainstream media who will all demand that Scalia be replaced as quickly as possible to carry out “the people’s business.” What they will really be demanding is a liberal leaning jurist who can tilt the court to the left before Obama leaves office.

And while Republicans certainly have the power to prevent that from happening, the question is if they have the will. Conservatives are so accustomed to seeing the Republican party sell them out that they are not at all confident that Mitch McConnell and other establishment Republicans won’t do it again. That would also demonstrate a lack of class, because it would basically be throwing dirt on Scalia’s grave, an act that is easily imaginable.

Source:www.politico.com

While Justice Scalia’s funeral apparently doesn’t warrant Obama’s presence, here are six funerals that did.

1. Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
   Less than two months before the 2012 election, both Obamas took time out of their schedule to attend the funeral of Senator Inouye. President Obama openly wept over the liberal senator.
2. Hadiya Pendleton
   Three days before his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama sent Michelle on his behalf to the funeral of 15 year-old shooting victim Hadiya Pendleton. Obama’s decision to send Michelle to the Chicago teen’s funeral set the stage for his SOTU address, in which he called for further gun control restrictions.
3. Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV)
   Despite Robert Byrd’s well-known ties to the Ku Klux Klan, President Obama attended the Democratic senator’s funeral. Obama gave a speech at the ceremony and called the late senator his friend.
4. Reverend Clementa Pinckney
   Reverend Pinckney, who also served as a South Carolina state senator, was one of the nine people killed in the Charleston shooting last summer. Despite never having met Pinckney, President Obama delivered his eulogy.
5. Former Democratic House Speaker Tom Foley
   Just six months after snubbing the funeral of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, President Obama attended the funeral of former Democratic Speaker of the House Tom Foley. As he tends to do when actually attending funerals, Obama delivered a speech.
6. Walter Cronkite
   When the legendary newscaster passed away in September 2009, President Obama found room in his schedule to travel to New York for the memorial service. Once again, Obama gave a speech at the service. He had openly admitted that he never met Cronkite.

Source: Daily Caller