Today a good man, a police officer killed in the line of duty was honored and put to rest in Woburn. As usual, dignitaries and elected officials attended to pay the respects of the Commonwealth. Most did so in a humble way, almost sight unseen. The officer’s cousin acknowledged the Governor and the Woburn Mayor by name but slipped up in her nervousness and thanked Senator Kerry for being present…Sen. Kerry was not there but Scott Brown was…Sen. Brown not to be overlooked in his $800 barncoat found a way to get mentioned on tv none the less…when every dignitary, except for him, respectfully filed out Scott broke out of line and shook the grieving widow’s hand (let no camera shot be wasted, that’s his motto)…why he was wearing the barncoat to a formal funeral is another question altogether…they used to call Sen. Kerry “liveshot”, but spotlight magnetized Brown makes Kerry look demure…
Thanks to WCVB-TV CH 5 for their full coverage of this important event today. They were tasteful and respectful and appropriate. (CH4 and CH7 were more interested in adv dollars evidently and gave limited coverage…Judge Judy was more important to them.)
Officer Maguire…Rest in Peace…today was your day, not Mr. Brown’s.
If anything I’m surprised the Governor and Mayor did not.
It was NOT the appropriate time to do so in the ceremony. it was an attention play. As the Police Chief mentioned in his remarks, the Governor had called the day after the tragic event and offered any support needed or helpful….that was the appropriate thing to do…and the Governor was also appropriate and respectful enough to wear the right clothing to the ceremony…not a ready-for-tv moment barncoat.
The nerve of the guy, I bet he had white shoes too
Senator Brown showed up. He shook hands with the widow; it may not have been the “right” time in some obscure rule book, but I can imagine that the family didn’t care about that. People care about the personal touch; that he cared enough to attend was likely enough for them. They probably didn’t care about his barn coat either. Really…when my sister passed, I wasn’t taking notes of people’s clothing during her funeral. At a time like that…grieving families aren’t dissecting the political. Although they may be wondering where the real Senator Kerry was.
just not waiting for the red light turn on the cameras. Not sure what obscure rule book that you are talking about, it sounds kind of like a dumb statement.
Why does this matter at all? I am glad the man showed up and paid his respects, lets criticize his bad policies, not nitpick his decorum at an incredibly tragic event that should be apolitical in every respect.
that holds that there’s a “wrong” time to shake hands with the window and not wear a barn jacket. Really. Who gives a rat’s patootie?
Kerry spoke of planning to go there before the Senate reconvened – which it does on January 5. (Link to the Kerry/Lugar press conference – http://www.c-spanvideo.org/pro… ) It is very possible he was either preparing for the trip or on it.
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p>There have been previous funerals of servicemen and I think for a fire fighter where Kerry was the only Senator present. No one asked where Brown was.
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p>It is commendable that Brown went, but it does seem unusual that he did not dress as everyone else did. He did not even own his barn jacket until he ran for Senate – so for all the earlier years of his public service, he likely wore suits just like everyone else. It reminds me of Dick Cheney sticking out like a sore thumb at an Auschwitz memorial service where all world leaders were in dress coats and suits and he had a ski parka with a lift ticket. In both cases, part of the reason for finding it odd is that both Cheney and Brown have clothes like those wore by others.