Cheney should have been welcomed.
The Wellstone family held a memorial service tonight for Paul Wellstone, his wife, his daughter, and the five others who died in the plane crash. The memorial service was open to the public; anyone who stood in line was welcome. (*) Vice-President Richard Cheney had expressed his interest in attending the memorial service. The Wellstone family requested that he not attend, and he decided not to. (†) These must have been heartrending days for the Wellstone family, and many have joined in their grief. Nevertheless, in not allowing Vice-President Cheney to attend, they were in the wrong. There was talk that the family was worried about the security burden that must necessarily accompany a Vice-President. Yet, they welcomed many Senators and others who required heightened security. The issue wasn’t security.
The real issue was ideological differences, and the sometimes bitter political struggles of the recent past between Paul Wellstone and the Administrations Bush. Some things are bigger than politics, however. The funerary service is where our entire society comes together to mourn—where anyone may pay his last respects to the dead. The funeral and the memorial service have a special place in our great American culture. Funerals are different than weddings not least in whom may attend. To attend a wedding, it is mandatory that one has received an invitation. To attend a funeral or memorial service, however, any genuinely grieving person may simply show up. All are welcome. The only exception is for the funerary rites of famous people, whose families may choose to hold a private service if for no reason but for the sake of not being mobbed at a time when they wish only to commemorate their lost. For example, when John F. Kennedy, Jr. and his wife died, the general public was not admitted to the actual service. This sole exception gives the grieving family of a well-known person the option to close the ceremony.
The Wellstone family willingly opened tonight’s memorial service to the public, and then claimed the right to deny entrance to persons that they disliked, including Richard Cheney, of whom they had no reason to distrust in his statement that he intended to grieve for Paul Wellstone and the others memorialized. No family has the right to pick and choose which mourners will be turned away at the door. Cheney committed no crime against the Wellstones. This was not a private service; it was a public one. Cheney should have been welcomed and allowed to mourn.