WildBill wrote:Very rarely do sitting presidents speak at funerals.SewTexas wrote:Bush went to and spoke at Renquist's funeral. It's not surprising in that Obama couldn't be bothered to go to his own aunt's funeral.WildBill wrote:Not too surprising. That duty is frequently delegated to the Vice President.The Annoyed Man wrote:Obama will not attend Scalia funeral....sends Biden instead: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/o ... ral-219384
Rehnquist was Chief Justice and had a long time relationship with the Bush family.
I am not trying to defend the actions of our current president, but it is clearly his decision.
I am sure that he realizes the political implications of his decision not to attend the funeral.
He and Justice Scalia were on completely opposite sides of the political spectrum.
I found this link that discusses some previous funerals of supreme court justices:
http://heavy.com/news/2016/02/why-isnt- ... rehnquist/
I completely understand that they were on opposite sides of the spectrum. Here's the thing though. This is a President who now is going to want his nominee to get a hearing. This is a President who as Senator voted to block 4 nominees and is already fussing about the senate possibly blocking his nominee before the Judge is even buried! If he went to the funeral he would be able to say that he was the bigger person, he "was trying to bridge the gap" yada yada yada. 'Course it would also have made him look more presidential if he'd have put on a tie to have his televised words after the Judge passed....
I miss Reagan.
