Exploitation

I have been searching, pretty much in vain, for any real critical commentary on Jack Layton’s funeral. I was at the beach with my family this past Saturday when Jack Layton’s state funeral service was going on but one of the news channels aired it again Sunday evening and I watched most of it. I missed the beginning and I couldn’t quite stomach it all to hold out to the end, but I got to hear the eulogies and the message and quite a bit of the music. Jack’s children spoke well and were sincere and appropriate. That was about the only part of the whole entire event that was appropriate. The rest of it was disgraceful and what is most alarming is that almost no one seemed aware of just how despicable it all was. It was all applauded, literally.

The brazen ‘in your face’ partisanship that was on display throughout the entire service amazed me. Stephen Lewis is being lauded for his eulogy. If I was in sympathy with the NDP position I would have been embarrassed by the shameless nature of it. He took advantage of the situation, sticking it to every person in the room who attended out of simple respect for the man. That is so inappropriate and so small.

Here’s Margaret Wente’s comment writing in ‘The Globe And Mail’: “For a few moments the funeral took on the air of an NDP revival meeting. Hundreds of people in the hall applauded and leaped to their feet. Stephen Harper, the prime minister, had the good sense to stand up too.”

No kidding! What choice did he have?

In what seems to me to be a great irony, much of the time Jack was rather forgotten in the whole thing. The musical performances did nothing to draw any attention to Jack. They served only to showcase the amazing talent of the performers. That’s all.

And, worst of all was the complete absence of any real attention to God. He didn’t make it in. Rather, Brent Hawkes used the opportunity himself to grandstand. He fell into the same pathetic error of Stephen Lewis only worse because He claims to represent God. His talk served only to glorify himself and push his own agenda forward with a large smirk on. All I could think was wow!

It is amazing to me how so many people don’t see any of this. People don’t even realize when they are being exploited. If Jack Layton was a bright spot on the Canadian political landscape for his honesty, care and respect, his funeral most certainly wasn’t.

I mentioned at the outset that I have been searching, pretty much in vain, for critical commentary on the whole escapade, but that isn’t entirely true. If you would like a real reality check on the whole spectacle check out some of the commentary over at the Sun News Network. Here’s one such dose of reality.

‘Capitalizing on a Corpse’ by Ezra Levant