Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Crashes Military Funeral

Normally, it's hard for a Lt. Governor to get noticed at all. We admit we couldn't have picked Dave Heineman out of a crowd before Mike Johanns left for the Dept. of Agriculture. Pennsylvania's Catherine Baker Knoll has managed to break out of her anonymity with her bizarre behavior. After showing up uninvited at a funeral for a Marine killed in Iraq, she told the family, "I want you to know our government is against this war."

Jay Bryant as the full story at Townhall.com, and we particularly love this quote:

"Reading the story carefully, what stands out to me is this: the Light Governor really thought she was saying something comforting."

"Light Governor," indeed. When this hit the fan Knoll stalled awhile before "appologizing" to the family. As is often the case these days, the parts of the letter actually quoted by the WaPo don't sound like a real appology:

Pa. Gov. Says Apology Sent to Marine's Kin: "In a letter to Goodrich's widow, Amy, Knoll said she left a card in case the family wanted to contact her 'and as a sign of my willingness to help the family through this difficult time in any way I can. To do anything that was deemed insensitive was completely counter to my intent.'

Goodrich, 32, of Westwood, died July 10 in Iraq. His family said that they felt they were owed an apology by Knoll and didn't understand why she attended the funeral in Carnegie.

'Sergeant Goodrich's service was beyond the call of duty,' Knoll's letter said. 'If my regard for his family's grief was seen another way, it is thoroughly regrettable. The fact that you have been offended deserves and receives my most profound apology.'"

Perhaps there was a real apology in the full letter, but there's not much on that score here. The last sentence comes close, but the phrasing throughout is so weird we can't give it full credit.

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