Whose government is it, anyway?

According to this report in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (hardly a tool of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy), Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor used the funeral of a young Marine as a soapbox to attack the Bush administration over the war in Iraq:

The family of a Marine who was killed in Iraq is furious with Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll for showing up uninvited at his funeral this week, handing out her business card and then saying "our government" is against the war.

Rhonda Goodrich of Indiana, Pa., said yesterday that a funeral was held Tuesday at a church in Carnegie for her brother-in-law, Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich, 32.

She said he "died bravely and courageously in Iraq on July 10, serving his country."

In a phone interview, Goodrich said the funeral service was packed with people "who wanted to tell his family how Joe had impacted their lives."

Then, suddenly, "one uninvited guest made an appearance, Catherine Baker Knoll."

She sat down next to a Goodrich family member and, during the distribution of communion, said, "Who are you?" Then she handed the family member one of her business cards, which Goodrich said she still has.

"Knoll felt this was an appropriate time to campaign and impose her will on us," Goodrich said. "I am amazed and disgusted Knoll finds a Marine funeral a prime place to campaign."

Goodrich said she is positive that Knoll was not invited to the funeral, which was jammed with Marines in dress uniform and police officers, because the fallen Marine had been a policeman in McKeesport and Indiana County.

"Our family deserves an apology," Rhonda Goodrich said. "Here you have a soldier who was killed—dying for his country—in a church full of grieving family members and she shows up uninvited. It made a mockery of Joey's death."

What really upset the family, Goodrich said, is that Knoll said, 'I want you to know our government is against this war,' " Goodrich said.

She said she is going to seek an answer from Gov. Ed Rendell's administration if it opposes the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Our government" is against the war? Whose government is Ms. Knoll talking about? Certainly not the government of the people of the United States—who, according to this poll, still believe the Iraq war is part of the price we must pay to keep America safe from terror.

I propose that we all start demanding answers from the Rendell administration—and an apology from Lieutenant Governor Knoll.

Here's a link to email the Governor; here's one for Ms. Knoll. (Please be polite.)

Let's see what they have to say for themselves.

UPDATE: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says that Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell plans to deliver an apology to the family of Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich:

Written apologies will be sent to a fallen Marine's relatives angered by Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll's uninvited appearance at the soldier's funeral and her criticism of the war in Iraq, Gov. Ed Rendell said Sunday.Rendell said he will send a personal letter to the family of the late Marine Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich, of Westwood, and will ask Knoll to do the same. Goodrich, 32, a police officer and infantry unit leader, died July 10 in a mortar attack in Hit, Iraq.

Rendell said he hadn't spoken with Knoll about the incident, but was disturbed by the family's charge that she made a political statement against the war.

"It's not the business of state government to support the war, but our state supports the men and women who are fighting this war," Rendell said during an appearance in Mt. Washington.

In my view, Rendell's "apology" still falls short of the mark. It's not the business of state government to support the war, only the men and women who are fighting it? But aren't those same men and women supporting the war at the peril of their own lives? How can you support one without the other, Governor?

Meanwhile, there's still no apology of any sort from the Lieutenant Governor or her office.

Stay tuned.