Sometimes It’s Okay to Laugh at a Funeral

Jimmy Carter’s funeral hosted a comically awkward situation for his predecessors.

What’s that old saying about laughing at a funeral? Maybe it’s just a faux pas, but whatever the case, I admit I got a kick last week out of the images coming out of Jimmy Carter’s funeral at the National Cathedral — not just the photos and video, but also the online reactions to them.

From an attendance perspective alone, the scene was pretty remarkable. Seated together in recognition of a former U.S. president (who lived for an entire century) were all five living presidents, five vice presidents, and four first ladies. (I think I have those numbers right).

The names, however, felt like less of a story than the awkward dynamics they presented.

As I watched all those past, present, and future leaders seated so closely together, I couldn’t help but imagine each of their perspectives … and the flowchart arrows one could draw between them.

Let’s go through the lineup in the picture above, shall we?

If you’re Joe Biden, you’re standing just a few feet from the man you unseated from office four years ago, a guy who — after denying you a peaceful transfer of power, getting impeached twice, facing multiple federal indictments, and being criminally convicted — just won a second term as president… because you couldn’t come to terms with your own unfitness to serve.

If you’re Kamala Harris, you’re standing next to a guy who, despite being so mentally and politically compromised that he had to be strong-armed out of last year’s presidential race to avoid a certain loss for your party, has been publicly saying that he could have done what you, in fact, did not do: beat the “fascist” (your words) standing adjacent from you, who, in addition to all of his other baggage, handed you the enormous political advantage of melting down during your one and only debate with him (which is best remembered for him carrying on about migrants eating cats and dogs).

If you’re Donald Trump, you’re standing beside a guy whose presidency you tried to delegitimize with false claims that he was foreign-born, who you called the founder of ISIS, and who you’ve repeatedly confused for the sitting president. Down a couple seats from you is a guy you called a war criminal and claimed knew about the 9/11 attacks beforehand but did nothing to stop them. You’re adjacent from a woman (accompanied by her husband) who you called dumb, stupid, and a fascist, who you suggested wasn’t really black, and who you implied traded sexual favors for her advancement in politics. Next to her is a guy whose presidency you tried to overthrow, and called the “worst president in history” and an “old, broken-down pile of crap.” Behind you is a guy you called a coward for allowing a not-stolen election to be stolen, and whose life you cavalierly dismissed as a violent mob stormed through the U.S. Capitol threatening to hang him. Further down is a woman whose bowel movements you publicly mused over, next to her husband who you accused of murder. Oh, and you also publicly called for the imprisonment of a number of those around you.

If you’re Barack Obama, you’re rubbing shoulders with a guy you compared to Fidel Castro and called a “fascist”, along with mocking his penis size, and years ago launching his political career when you slammed him at a White House Correspondents Dinner. Standing adjacent from you is a guy whose “ability to fuck things up” you famously warned people never to underestimate. To your right is a guy you blamed for pretty much everything that went wrong during your first term as president, and further down the row is a woman you prevented from becoming the nation’s first female president.

If you’re Hillary Clinton, you’re standing just a few seats down from a guy who, despite polls showing at the time that he was the least popular presidential nominee in decades, beat you for the White House — a loss your ego still prevents you from fully accepting, and still compels you to refer to him as an “illegitimate president.”

If you’re Mike Pence, you’re standing adjacent from a guy you said was unfit to serve the term in office he is about to begin, and hadn’t seen in four years despite serving as his vice president, because he effectively viewed your decision to follow the Constitution as a capital offense… and replaced you with a younger and beardier model.

If you’re Al Gore, you’re seated behind a guy you still make snarky jokes about beating (though he beat you), in a church you poorly predicted would be underwater by now.

If you’re George W. Bush, you’re… Well, you’re probably feeling just fine since you haven’t publicly knocked anybody in the room, called them names, questioned their legitimacy to serve, or declared them unfit. W!

And if you’re Bill Clinton, you’re probably not paying attention to anyone seated around you, because you’re busy checking out one of Jimmy Carter’s great-granddaughters across the room.

(Sorry. I couldn’t resist.)

Beyond imagining what was going on in all these people’s minds, I found their interactions (or lack thereof, in some cases) rather entertaining.

There was Mike Pence’s wife, Karen, refusing to shake Donald Trump’s hand (or even acknowledge him).

“We’ve been married 44 years and she loves her husband,” Mike Pence later said when asked about the incident, not needing to explain any further how his wife felt about what Trump had done to her spouse.

Then there was Barack Obama and Donald Trump, thought by many to be archnemeses, seemingly enjoying each other’s company like old college frat brothers.

It was quite a moment.

“I just think politics is all WWE,” mused podcaster, Charlamagne Tha God, about the exchange. “And, you know, meanwhile we out here cutting off family and friends and business relationships because of who somebody chose to vote for… [Obama] was calling him a fascist just like his VP called him Hitler. Would you giggle with Hitler?”

And of course there was George W. Bush sidestepping Donald Trump entirely, and yucking it up with everyone else.

I found it all very entertaining (including the music selection), and from what I could tell, the late Jimmy Carter was paid the proper respect.

I wish our political landscape outside of funerals was even a fraction as fun.