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A Real King, and a Pretend One

Ten thousand people mourned Corretta Scott King at her funeral yesterday. President Bush was also in attendance. The stark contrast between the life of Mrs. King, and the Man Who Would be King, is hard to miss.

In 2003, Mrs. King noted, ''A war with Iraq will increase anti-American sentiment, create more terrorists, and drain as much as 200 billion taxpayer dollars, which should be invested in human development here in America."

King George, on the other hand, has pursued a win-at-any-cost of lives and dollars war in Iraq, while slashing already meager funds aimed at alleviating growing poverty.

Katrina vanden Heuvel

February 8, 2006

Ten thousand people mourned Corretta Scott King at her funeral yesterday. President Bush was also in attendance. The stark contrast between the life of Mrs. King, and the Man Who Would be King, is hard to miss.

In 2003, Mrs. King noted, ”A war with Iraq will increase anti-American sentiment, create more terrorists, and drain as much as 200 billion taxpayer dollars, which should be invested in human development here in America.”

King George, on the other hand, has pursued a win-at-any-cost of lives and dollars war in Iraq, while slashing already meager funds aimed at alleviating growing poverty.

The disconnect between the real King and the pretend one wasn’t lost on Mrs. King’s friends. Rev. Joseph Lowery noted in his eulogy– that literally made George Bush squirm, “We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there. But Coretta knew… that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds. For war billions more but no more for the poor.”

Yesterday, Mrs. King’s friends paid tribute to her, and let it be known that the struggle continues. No matter how much that makes the pretend king squirm.

Katrina vanden HeuvelTwitterKatrina vanden Heuvel is editor and publisher of The Nation, America’s leading source of progressive politics and culture. An expert on international affairs and US politics, she is an award-winning columnist and frequent contributor to The Guardian. Vanden Heuvel is the author of several books, including The Change I Believe In: Fighting for Progress in The Age of Obama, and co-author (with Stephen F. Cohen) of Voices of Glasnost: Interviews with Gorbachev’s Reformers.


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