The Personal is Political

I did not intend to watch it.

The NY Times was live streaming Jimmy Carter’s memorial service from National Cathedral, and I happened to glance at the feed as they were seating President Trump and Melania. The two were the first attendees in their row, the second, but behind them— was that Al Gore? And next to him, was that Mike and Karen Pence?

The drama was too good to click away from, and I was riveted by Trump’s uncomfortable demeanor as he turned to shake hands with them in what was his first face to face meeting with Pence in four years.. He was still squirming a little when they seated the next guest, Barack Obama, right next to him. President Obama graciously shook everyone’s hand, including Trump’s, as he found his seat. 

Before I could even consider looking at something else, George and Laura Bush were shown to their seats, next to Obama. Bush seemed a bit befuddled, but he shook Gore’s hand and then Pence’s, but he totally missed Karen Pence reaching out to him and turned his back on her to sit down next to Laura, who was next to Obama.

There were two seats left in the row, and I knew who was coming next. The Clintons approached within seconds, and everybody, except George Bush, rose to greet them. Hillary entered the row first with a face of stone, followed by her affable husband and his aw shucks grin. And it was then that President Bush chose to engage: he tried to say something to her, but she flat out ignored him, so much so, that he shrugged and looked away.

The whole group sat in awkward silence, except for Donald Trump. He was talking Barack Obama’s ear off. President Obama nodded and politely and answered briefly from time to time, but he really kind of looked like the guy who gets stuck next to the inappropriately chatty kid— I think he might have shushed him if he could have.

But then? It got even more uncomfortable. Vice President Harris and her husband were shown to their seats, and when she saw that she would be sitting directly in front of Donald Trump, she made Doug change places with her. She did not speak to anyone, nor did she shake any hands. The tension was broken slightly when President and Mrs. Biden sat down, but there was a lot of program reading until the casket was escorted down the aisle and the actual service began.

More about that tomorrow.