Respect
So a longtime Republican Congressman from Florida, Bill Young, passed away last week and will be buried Thursday. He was a Republican in Florida before there was Republicans in Florida. He was first elected in 1972 and was the longest serving member of the Republican House Caucus. He was 82 years old. The House of Representatives will not be in session on Thursday so that members can attend his funeral.
Now, I hesitated in writing this, because when anyone dies, their families are due the upmost deference, sympathy and respect. But…
Young’s widow, Beverly Young, emailed the former Republican governor and likely future Democratic gubernatorial nominee, instructing him to stay away.
Charlie:
This e-mail is to officially advise you that your presence at my husband’s memorial services will be unacceptable. I have watched over the years, as Bill had, your transparent attempts to manipulate the political arena. I don’t want my husband’s memorial service to be another opportunity for that and I will not tolerate anyone turning this into a platform for political gain.
Please honor my families request.Sincerely,
Beverly Young
Widow of Congressman Bill YoungPrecisely what caused the bad blood was not immediately clear Monday night, though some Young allies were turned off with the way Crist in 2009 held a cattle call of sorts, summoning Young and other potential candidates for Crist to appoint to the unfinished term of U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez. Young showed up looking in sneakers and baggy polo, as if Crist had interrupted his lawn mowing, and told a surprised Gov. Crist he had no interest in the appointment.
Mrs. Young said she also emailed Pinellas County Commissioner Charlie Justice and St. Petersburg lawyer Jessica Ehrlich – both Democrats who ran against her husband – telling them they were unwelcome at the memorial service.
“BILL SPECIFICALLY said he didn’t want his memorial service to be a platform for local politicians to work the crowds. He’s right. It’s not only wrong , its disgusting to see that happen,” she said. “HE GAVE me the names of the people he wished wouldnt show up, that was just three and we both know i dont care about poltical correctness so i took it upon myself to honor his wishes.I’ve been at many political funerals and listened to locals standing in groups planning their strategies. God gave people souls, but some don’t know to take advantage of that God given gift.”
Now, I can understand not wanting political rivals to attend your husband’s or your own funeral. I don’t understand why she went to the press with this story. It would be one thing if Mrs. Young and Mr. Young did not want to suffer false displays of sympathies and respect from political rivals. If that were the case, she could have privately sent these emails and Crist and the two Democratic opponents most assuredly would have respected her wishes. But she didn’t. She wanted Crist and the two Democrats to suffer some … I don’t know what… I guess she wanted them to be disrespected. Publicly.
I really hope Mr. Young and his widow have never attended a funeral of a political rival in their pasts. I sure hope they didn’t do so for appearances sake. I hope they didn’t talk to other politicians and plan strategies during said memorials. But of course they have. They are Republicans. And they can do whatever they want. If the shoe were on the other foot, and a political rival publicly disinvited Mr. and Mrs. Young from his funeral, I tend to think that Mr. and Mrs. Young would be very publicly offended. The media would be outraged. We all remember the Paul Wellstone memorial, don’t we?
In a somewhat related topic, Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois posted this on his Facebook today:
Many Republicans searching for something to say in defense of the disastrous shutdown strategy will say President Obama just doesn’t try hard enough to communicate with Republicans. But in a “negotiation” meeting with the president, one GOP House Leader told the president: “I cannot even stand to look at you.”
What are the chances of an honest conversation with someone who has just said something so disrespectful?
Respect. Only Republicans are entitled to it. And they can disrespect anyone at anytime for any reason with no consequence.
If I were Charlie Crist, or Charlie Justice or Jessica Ehrlich, I would show up.
One reason could be that she has at least left open the possibility that she would run to serve the remainder of his term.
No reason to classlessly release such a memo unless there was political motivation behind it.
No reason to classlessly release such a memo unless there was political motivation behind it
I think you nailed it
From her picture, she looks like a Sarah Palin-type. All the more reason for her “wishes” to be disrespected. Crist et al should show up.
I’m just stunned that a grieving spouse would take the time to write something so nasty in her husband’s memory… and then send it to the press. I don’t get these people.
Crist did leave the Republican Party and did his share of attacking them on his way out. It’s possible that he and Young started to actively dislike each other during this period and she (and apparently Young) didn’t want the funereal or his death turned into a chance to let Crist appeal back to the base he left with stories of how he worked together with his “good friend.”
Her doing this publicly as a means to shut Crist down from the sympathy circuit will probably accrue to Crist’s benefit, however, as he’ll now have a reason for a national round of interviews.
So maybe this is permission for surviving political spouses of Mrs. Young’s acquaintance to specifically disinvite Mrs. Young to the funerals of their spouses. Who needs that kind of ungraciousness around, really.
When a friend’s grandfather died, I remember how horrified he was to see a (now former) state senator aggressively working the rows of mourners.
Most people know how to behave at funerals.
Mrs. Young has demonstrated that she doesn’t.
Mrs. Young has a bit of a history. From enWikipedia:
“At the State of the Union Address on January 31, 2006, authorities expressly prohibited the display of political ideology on clothing in the U.S. Capitol. Young’s wife was asked to leave shortly after anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan was ejected for wearing an anti-war T-shirt. Beverly Young’s T-shirt stated: “Support the Troops — Defending Our Freedom.” She argued with Capitol Hill Police officers in the hallway outside the House chamber. “They said I was protesting,” she told the St. Petersburg Times. “I said, ‘Read my shirt, it is not a protest.’ They said, ‘We consider that a protest.’ I said, ‘Then you are an idiot.'”
Young was angry about the way his wife was treated. “Because she had on a shirt that someone didn’t like that said support our troops, she was kicked out of this gallery,” Young said on the House floor the following day, holding up the gray shirt. “Shame, shame,” he said.[16]
Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer apologized in a statement late that same day.[17] Young said he was not necessarily satisfied. “My wife was humiliated,” he told reporters. He suggested that “sensitivity training” might be in order for the Capitol Police.[18]”
No mention of whether Cindy Sheehan was humiliated, or whether Young felt bad about that. Because he didn’t.
That story fits perfectly into this pattern. Mrs. Young can do whatever the hell she wants.
This is a pathetic “attention must be paid” moment. The large majority of the country has no idea who her Tbaggin hubby was. He’ll be forgotten before the next election.
He wasn’t a teabagger. He was a big proponent of wasteful defense spending…and brought billions of dollars worth of it to his Tampa-based district.
He stood foursquare in opposition to public disclosure of earmark requests.
What Shuster was to highways, Young was to defense spending. A great amasser of lucre for his own district.
Mrs. Young’s next move is to start a public and bullying campaign to rename St. Petersburg to Youngville or something.
I never understood why the families of public assholes deserve respect because a prick family member dies. Everybody who has lived is either dead or will be relatively soon. Big fucking deal.
Fuck the all the Young’s, both living and dead… how about that? Everything is a detestable political game to these people. Plotting for money and power. Perhaps I’m still feeling twinges of the shutdown hangover or the Amnesty International report of our continued drone campaign… but as far as I’m concerned today, they can all piss off.
And I stand by my objection to this unquestionable idea of respect for dead people and their families. It makes no logical sense.
RIP Republican Party. Rude, Ignorant, Pompous.
All I can say is she should of left it at “funeral services will be private” in his obit and then she was well within her boundaries to cull a list. But you can’t have it both ways if you agree/plan a public memorial. Next time.