"Sorry I Ruined Your Funeral"

I read with dismay this morning that apparently, Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll of Pennsylvania (not Indiana, as some have been reporting), showed up uninvited to a funeral for a Marine Staff Sergeant killed in Iraq, gave out her business cards, and made some remarks that were interpreted as rude by the family of the Marine. It is being reported that she said something to the effect that the state government of Pennsylvania was against the war in Iraq.

If that is true, I'm appalled. I shouldn't be. This sort of thing has been going on forever. Second-string elected officials (supernumeraries, like Lieutenant Governors or Vice-Presidents) get this notion into their punkin haids that their opinions are somehow more important, or more accurate, or better, than that of the average citizen; but the sad fact is, for most of them, they're far worse.

Reserve officials should be kept in dark closets with duct tape over their mouths until they are needed for some activity that requires a ceremony. Breaking a tie in their governing body, cutting a ribbon at a shopping mall opening, reading the winning lottery number on TV, encouraging tourism, that sort of thing. When the event is over, the duct tape goes back on, and they get wheeled back into the closet. They're largely the political detritus, anyway. Stuff that washes up on shore and has to be dealt with. A favor given or a debt repaid.

And now that I think about it, that duct tape thing is not a bad idea for ALL elected officials. But I digress.

I don't know much about Staff Sergeant Joseph Goodrich, except to know that he was a fellow Marine (and a police officer), and he lost his life in Iraq. One can argue about what he and his compatriots are there fighting for. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on the war in Iraq, and I respect those opinions and the people who have them. I have no trouble with Lt. Governor Knoll being personally against the war in Iraq, or with her expressing her opinion in public. I am not terribly fashed if the State of Pennsylvania passes a resolution condemning the war - I'm not a citizen of the state, and that's their bidness over there. They can have a great big anti-war cakewalk right down the middle of the state, and that's fine by me.

I have a problem with the manner, the method, and the timing of her alleged remarks. If she said what she is supposed to have said - she might just as well have spit on the Staff Sergeant's casket. In what world did she suppose her opinions would be welcome at the funeral of a fallen Marine?

Frankly, I think that we former Jarheads should issue a Call to Arms of sorts. I should ask that all former and present Marines currently employed by the State of Pennsylvania should go home until further notice. If former soldiers and sailors and airmen want to join this Referendum on Respect, then great. The more, the merrier. I want to see all government business in Pennsylvania grind to a halt. I want the people of Pennsylvania, indeed, the nation, to see that US Marines are more than just men and women who fight and die in foreign lands at the order of Congress and the President; we are men and women who hold valuable positions in society. We are always Marines - no matter how long we have been out of uniform - but we also are active and participatory members of civilian society. There are more of us than you think - we're here, and we vote; we count; we matter. And when you spit on the grave of one of our honored dead, you should consider the political consequences of your actions.

I'd like to see ten thousand former US Marines standing in formation outside the Pennsylvania Capitol Building - just standing at attention, silently marking their protest. And not going to work, of course. Think that would get some attention?

I understand that the Governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, is or is about to issue an official apology to the family of Staff Sergeant Goodrich. That's fine. But he also has apparently stated that he has "not been in contact" with Lt. Gov. Knoll. She is apparently traveling and cannot be contacted.

Let's have the Marines in Pennsylvania go home from work. Let's see how long she remains out-of-touch.

That's all for me - I can't let myself get too worked up here, or I'll explode and fly to the moon. And reentry is a bitch.

Semper Fi,

Wigwam Jones
former E-5 Sgt
One Each, Green in Color