I had very liberal friends who thought it just as wrong when Reagan died and he had that big State funeral.
I made the statement that when Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter died that I would have to listen to the same stuff on their guys. SO fair is fair.
No one who has been President really has clean hands on a lot of things. So they get the big send off.
What I wonder is will we have two state funerals before November, Clinton and Carter. That is almost too much to contemplate.
Well, Clinton WAS impeached, after all. And lost his law license for several years (not that he ever used it, but losing one’s law license is a BIG thing). The man swore under oath before a federal judge (not to mention all the other times). A gutless Senate chose not to convict, so he skated. So he really isn’t in the same category as other former presidents.
Carter was (and is) a dufus who earned the resounding defeat he received. But, he does deserve a state funeral as a former POTUS. Once out of office he showed himself to be a very small and petty man. First POTUS in my lifetime to badmouth his successor while that successor was in office (after defeating him). Most have held their tongues, as you see with both Bushes. I don’t expect that dignity from Obama, either.