Walsh Politicizes Hadiya Pendleton's Funeral By Claiming Michelle Obama Is Politicizing Hadiya Pendleton's Funeral

By Chuck Sudo in News on Feb 8, 2013 11:00PM

Former congressman Joe Walsh’s Twitter bio reads “I may have left Washington, but I'm not going away.” Like a bad rash or halitosis, he’s making good on that promise. Since his failed campaign to hold on to his congressional seat, Walsh told supporters at a South Loop rally last month he was going to walk the earth (or at least the Land of Lincoln) to build a grassroots movement that would “scare Republicans and Democrats;” announced this week he would form a SuperPAC to fight Karl rove-led attempts to defeat Tea Party candidates in elections; and has encouraged supporters to use civil disobedience to oppose the Affordable Care Act and any attempts at gun control legislation.

America’s angriest Tea Partier took to his Twitter feed to accuse First Lady Michelle Obama’s upcoming attendance of Hadiya Pendleton’s funeral as being used to raise a political point. And he did so in his own heavy handed, uncouth way.

If anyone knows how to politicize something, it's Walsh, who later spoke with DNAInfo Chicago about his comments.

"If I were one of the 3-, 4-, 500 African-American families in the last year that lost somebody to gun violence, I'd be so offended that Michelle Obama is 'heartbroken' over Miss Pendleton's death. She's never used that word before. Neither her or the president or Rahm Emanuel have ever really acknowledged the other murders over the last year. I just found that offensive."

DNAInfo pointed out that Emanuel has, in fact, repeatedly mentioned the city's murder rate over the past year. And we didn't see Walsh use the term "heartbroken" over Pendleton's murder or the other 500-plus homicides in Chicago over the past 13 months. But that's par for the course for Walsh.

Walsh theorized that the First Lady's attendance at Pendleton's funeral is being used to move forward with calls for gun control legislation across the country. Again, Walsh is on the wrong side of this issue, at least according to a December ABC News/Washignton Post poll that showed 56 percent of respondents favored tighter gun controls in the immediate wake of the Newtown, Conn. school shooting. A new poll from Quinnipac University shows 56 percent of their respondents favor a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips, and 92 percent of Americans favor universal background checks. So even Walsh's calls for civil disobedience regarding stricter gun laws is passe right now.

At least he can still do what he does best: Take pot shots at people.