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THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8 - 14, 2019 • Page 5
History learned from a Southern funeral
Perhaps Southern funerals
and Northern funerals are similar
in nature, but I have never been
part of a Northern funeral, and
can only comment on those I have
experienced.
A Southern funeral and
visitation, particularly in a small,
close-knit town, will often bring out
a large portion of the community
to greet and extend condolences
to immediate family members of
the deceased. Family members are
expected to stand near the coffin of
their dearly departed for hours on
end as members of the community
pay their respects and share stories
about the person whose body is
lying just feet away.
In no way am I criticizing this
decades-old tradition, but only
commenting on the impacts these
short-lived conversations can have
on the ones left behind who hear
the stories and somehow are able
to retain the information even
though it was shared at a time when
emotions are elevated.
At a recent visitation for my
eldest brother, there were an
estimated 400-plus who gathered in
the local mortuary. The crowd was
so large that the adjacent parlor was
used as overflow space for floral
arrangements and those visiting
my brother’s spouse, children and
grandchildren.
During the course of the three-
hour public visitation, a gentleman
approached one of my sisters and
my other brother and asked if they
were part of the Hewitt family. He
began telling them details of a story
that involved my father-a story
most of our family know little of, as
it happened more than 75 years ago.
As pieces of the puzzle began to
fall into place, I became enthralled
with the story and the idea that
had things gone differently, that
it is very likely that neither I, nor
my siblings, would have existed.
As I delved into researching this
story even further, more pieces
of the puzzle have turned up that
have begun to provide answers to
questions that many in our family
have pondered for years.
After conducting basic research
to determine the validity of the
claims the gentleman made, I
became convinced that he knew
details that our family did not. I
arranged for a meeting with the
gentleman and spent almost three
hours with him as we discussed our
family’s connection to the history of
my hometown.
As I learned more of my
family’s history, I also began doing
additional research on Ancestry,
com and have since found a wealth
of additional information about
ancestors on my father’s side and
have become somewhat obsessed
with gathering as much information
as I can to share with other family
members.
As is the case for many families
who have been in our country for
hundreds of years, there have been
substantial financial gains and
losses through the centuries that
have impacted future generations in
ways both good and bad.
Take the time to listen to the
stories of old; we never know what
we don’t know until those unknown
facts are revealed.
“It wasn ’/ a single attempt. They ’re
doing it as we sit here. And they
expect to do it during the next
campaign. ...I hope this is not the
new normal. I fear it is, ’’former
Special Counsel and FBI Director
Robert Mueller, regarding Russian
election interference attempts,
during his U.S. House testimony on
7/24/2019.
Robert Mueller wrapped up his
nearly four decades of service to
our nation with a less than glorious
farewell appearance on July 24,
before two U.S. House committees,
answering their queries about his
Special Counsel Report on Russian
interference attempts throughout the
2016 presidential election.
Some view Mueller as a patriot
and war hero, with two Bronze
Stars and a Purple Heart among
many honors from his Vietnam era
service in the Marines, or his later
work as a U.S. attorney, deputy
attorney general and F.B.I. director,
appointed and then re-appointed by
three very different presidents from
both major political parties. Others
see a biased partisan tool of
congressional Democrats and/or the
Democratic Party, and still others
see something in between.
Regardless, Mueller’s track
record, accomplishments and
career legacy include the successful
prosecution of former Panamanian
dictator Gen. Manuel Noriega,
the Libyan terrorists responsible
for the Pan Am Flight 103
Mulling on Mueller
M
‘One Man's
Opinion’
Bill Crane
bill.csicrane@gmail.com
(Lockerbie bombing) and John
Gotti, crime boss of the Gambino
family. Mueller was unanimously
confirmed (98-0) as FBI director,
following his nomination by
President George H. W. Bush in
July 2001, despite a then deeply
divided Senate.
Mueller also revealed what is a
well-known "secret" in Washington,
D.C., despite his name being atop
the 450-plus page tome delivered
to the U.S. attorney general in late
March 2019, he clearly didn’t write,
or possibly even read every word. In
the view of some, he may not have
even read his own report closely.
But Mueller should have
expected questions about the
legal meaning of collusion and
its similarity in lay language to
the legal term of conspiracy, as
the special counsel often made
points on such finer distinctions in
the rule of law, as well as Justice
Department standing policy, so that
he not conclude his second report
-focused on potential obstruction
of justice concerns, with a nonlegal
term such as exonerate.
And based on the ground rules
securing Mueller’s appearance and
testimony, the skilled lawyer and
bureaucrat gave himself a series
of outs. Mueller did not answer,
replied he did not recall or was
unaware, or suggested the answer to
a questioning member’s probe was
"in the report"...more than 200 times
during six hours of testimony. And
though I’m not a daily C-SPAN
watcher, I’ve sat through a few
decades of congressional hearings
and can remember no other witness
simply saying, “pass,” when
encountering a question, he did not
like or chose not to answer. For a
moment I thought I was watching
an old episode of The $64,000
Pyramid.
Mueller stuck to his report and
seldom veered from its conclusions,
and yet despite his long-known
preference for the GOP, he clearly
does not like the current president.
He responded to one congressional
query, asked several times,
regarding whether a president no
longer in office, who has previously
committed potential crimes, may
later be further investigated or
prosecuted. There goes that White
House Christmas card list for 2020.
But sadly, America tends to
focus on the flubs more often than
the hard news. When being served
up a low-inside softball, to further
establish Mueller’s conservative
credentials, a GOP congressman,
after reciting his sterling military
service record, smiled and asked
Mueller which U.S. president
appointed him assistant U.S.
attorney in the hard-left leaning
state of Massachusetts. Mueller
first hobbled the ball, asking “Do
you mean which senator?” Before
starring into space and guessing
that the answer was President
George Bush (without specifying
which Bush). The congressman,
unprepared for this memory
gap himself, swallowed, smiled
nervously and said, “According to
my records, you were appointed by
President Ronald Reagan.” Oops.
I was reminded of Reagan’s own
troubled video testimony before
Congress during the 1984 Iran-
Contra hearings, when Reagan’s
most repeated phrase was “I don’t
recall. ” Hopefully, just as Reagan’s
full record, highs and lows, are
now more fully viewed in context,
Mueller can hope that historians and
the long view may later give him
similar perspective. But in the near
term, he can expect more mockery
and comparison to the backbone
and consistency of the famed pasta
which shares his name, and we all
know what happens to overcooked
pasta. It devolves into rubbery,
sticky mush. Bob Mueller deserves
better.
Bill Crane also serves as a
political analyst and commentator
for Channel 2’s Action News, WSB-
AM News/Talk 750 and now 95.5
FM, as well as a columnist for The
Champion, DeKalb Free Press and
Georgia Trend. Crane is a DeKalb
native and business owner, living
in Scottdale. You can reach him
or comment on a column at bill.
csicrane@gmail. com.
