At Jack Valenti’s funeral in Washington on Tuesday, I was reminded of the old observation that the powerful always expect to be the center of attention, including “the bride at the wedding, the corpse at the funeral.”
Senator Pete Domenici arrived 20 minutes late, well after the side doors to St. Matthew’s Cathedral had closed, and at the exact moment the cortege reached the top of the steps and paused before proceeding down the center aisle.
Like most senators, Domenici isn’t used to waiting even for the deceased. He turned sideways to gauge whether he could squeeze past the remains of Valenti, a former Hollywood lobbyist. If it weren’t for pallbearers twice his size, he might have. In a church packed with the likes of Steven Spielberg and Michael Douglas, Domenici marched toward the altar, presuming someone would make room for him. Someone did.
Link via New Mexico FBIHOP.