The left shows its true colors at funeral

Re “When crass is called for,” Opinion, Feb. 10

Rosa Brooks, in her Op-Ed article, reiterates President Bush’s words that “even tough debates can be conducted in a civil tone.” I’m wondering when it became OK to have such debates during a memorial service?

She also asks “how can it be inappropriate to allude to the terrible costs of the war in Iraq, the misinformation that led to that war, the neglect of this nation’s poor or this administration’s illegal secret surveillance?” My simple answer would be that denigrating the president of the United States, who came to pay his last respects to a great American humanitarian during her memorial service, is inappropriate.

And how did the choice between a civil tone or civil rights enter into this picture? Surely Brooks would agree that the late Coretta Scott King would have appreciated a civil tone at her own funeral.

In the end, it was Bush who retained his dignity, while President Carter reaffirmed why he was the most ineffective president of the 20th century.

RICHARD BARRETT

La Mirada

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I hope folks like Brooks will continue to overlook the obvious: Liberal behavior promotes conservative policies. When your actions say “I’ll step on anyone I want,” then your ideas, no matter how flowery and compassionate, will be dismissed, and you’ll generate support for your opponent. As Edgar Watson Howe said, “Abuse a man unjustly, and you will make friends for him.” That’s why my wife and I were delighted when Jimmy Carter hijacked a great woman’s funeral to take cheap shots at our president. His arrogance taught our son the superiority of conservatism more effectively than our words ever could. So when the left shows its true colors, we don’t object. We rejoice.

JOE DALLAS

Orange