by Glynn Wilson

The end of an era passed Tuesday as the dignified widow of our generation's Moses was eulogized and laid to rest in Atlanta, Georgia, the capital of the New South and the American Civil Rights movement.

It must have been hard for President George W. Bush to sit on the same stage with Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter and Bill and Hillary Clinton, considering the divergent legacies of the Republican and Democratic parties in honoring King's legacy. But Bush squirmed and smirked through it all in the interest of drawing a few more black votes to the GOP.

Former President Clinton stole the show and, along with his wife Hillary, was greeted like a rock star by the largely Democratic Party crowd.

Coretta Scott King was not just an icon, Clinton said. "She was a person as well as a symbol, an embodiment of her husband's legacy."

In a message all disgruntled Americans should heed, he pointed out that when Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down in Memphis, she could have given up the movement and concluded, "I have stumbled on enough stony roads," Clinton said, "and we would have all forgiven her and honored her."

Instead, he said, she went to Memphis and marched on behalf of the poor, hardworking garbage workers, "the scene of the worst nightmare of her life."

"We all have to remember that," Clinton said, and ask ourselves: "What are WE going to do with the rest of our lives? If you want to treat Coretta as a role model, then model her behavior."

He said Americans should not have to fear standing up for what they believe in and protesting when they disagree with their country's policies.

Former President Jimmy Carter, who has accused Bush of breaking the law in relation to the Iraq war and ordering the wiretapping and eavesdropping on Americans by the NSA and other government agencies, treated the Bush's coldly, not even meeting eyes with the president on the podium or offering a handshake before or after his eulogy.

Carter, who in many ways owes his successful bid for the presidency in 1976 to being embraced by Coretta Scott King and the Civil Rights movement and the support of the African-American community, took a direct jab at Bush by pointing out how the FBI violated the civil liberties of the Kings in the 1960s "when they became the targets of secret government wiretapping and other surveillance."

He reminded everyone that the struggle for civil rights is not over.

"We only have to remember the color of the faces of those in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, those most devastated by Katrina, to know that there are still not equal opportunities for all Americans," he said. "It is our responsibility to continue their crusade."

The Rev. Joseph Lowery, one of the founders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, also captivated the audience in his special poetic eulogy.

"She summoned the nation's to study war no more," he said, extending the message of Dr. King "against poverty, racism and war."

"We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there," he said, as the crowd got on its feet and began to clap and cheer. "But Coretta knew, and we know, that there are weapons of misdirection right down here."

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, speaking after the president, also injected politics into her remarks, describing how Coretta Scott King spoke out against "the senselessness of war" with a voice that was heard "from the tintop roofs of Soweto to the bomb shelters of Baghdad."

From watching and rewatching the service, surely one of the most important inspirational events in recent times, it is worth asking, as Clinton said, what are we going to do with the rest of our lives?

As we going to stand by and watch the Republicans and corporations continue to ruin our country and our lives in this new era of corporate fascism?

Will we cower in fear when the vice president comes to town? Or will we stand up and be counted and risk jail and torture to save this land?

Who will be the next Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King in the new era? Any votes for putting Bill and Hillary back in the White House?