Bill Gwatney Laid To Rest

Mourners gathered to remember Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman Bill Gwatney at his funeral this afternoon. All of the Arkansas power players were there, including the Clintons. The service seemed to have a good mix of political and personal statements and friends.

I haven't talked about the murder here, because everyone in the national and local news has been discussing it, as has everyone else in the blogsphere. However, I noticed today that many around the blogsphere have made disgruntled comments about the Clinton's attendance at the funeral, accusing them of trying to get some publicity out of every tragedy.

That's ridiculous. Gwatney has been a big name in Arkansas politics for a long time. Perhaps he and the Clintons were just friends and colleagues. I know if someone I worked with died in a horrible and senseless fashion, I would attend their funeral. Gwatney's death should be a reminder about what harm divisive politicking can do (even though we don't know all the details), instead of causing more of it. Those kind of comments frustrate me.

On a more positive note, there's an unofficial Bill Gwatney Tribute that has a lot of fun, personal memories on it. You can add your own if you have something you would like to say.