The lead story in today's Minneapolis paper starts out thus:

"A shaky four-day politicking truce, agreed to Friday to mourn U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone's death, is barely holding, as Republicans and DFLers accused each other of violating the spirit of the deal."

We then go on to read that only about half the US Senate will attend (guess which half that will be), and Trent Lott (required by protocol to attend I'm guessing). The president select, according to Bush administration sources, is not required by protocol to attend the funeral of a sitting US senator, but the VP select is. Except he won't be attending either. According to Bush administration sources, Cheney won't be attending because the family didn't want him! Ouch!

So much for the eulogies and respecting the memory of the man, rather than dissing one's political opponents. I'd say the Republicans shunning the Wellstone funeral is about as low as you can go. And I thought we'd be past all that today. Apparently not.

And Genie, I understand that to people outside Minnesota, who didn't know any of the people killed, that the race is more important TO THEM. My point is that it is not more important TO US. But it doesn't matter now, because the politicians and media whores have behaved so appallingly, it doesn't even matter anymore. The entire fiasco has been so hurtful, and done so much damage politically here in Minnesota, that at the end of today, it is us who will be left to clean up the damage inflicted on so many really sincere, genuine people who have devoted their lives to the cause of politics and public service because Paul Wellstone inspired them to get involved, and believe that politics really isn't evil. On top of the loss of the human beings here, we are also dealing with the death of a certain idealism that really didn't have to die along with Wellstone.

Or maybe it did. This whole unseemly fiasco will most definitely result in some people turning their backs on politics, and never being involved again. But it will galvanize and radicalize others to remain active. Some will withdraw from the Democratic party because of sheer disgust with the leadership and the way they conducted themselves in the past few days. Others will become all the more hardened and cynical--and become more partisanly entrenched in party politics than they ever would have had they, their senator and candidate and his family, been treated better at this time.

Congratulations cynics, you won. By refusing to respect the living and deciding that disrespecting the dead was a political necessity for your side, you defeated everything Paul Wellstone stood for, and made it all about crass politics instead. Pat yourselves on the back, and give yourselves credit for having bulldozed right over the democratic wing of the Democratic party, and crushing them once and for all here in Minnesota, along with the lives of grieving families and friends of the actual human being who held the senate seat. As you blindly marched right over us on your way to your Beltway victories in this all important election, I'm sure that as Patriotic Americans (tm), you must be very proud of your loyalties to your brand identities, be they Democrat, Republican, CNN, or Fox.