George W. Bush's "dancing" on Tuesday at the Dallas memorial for five police officers killed in a protest rally ambush was criticized by some in the social and mainstream media who failed to notice President Barack Obama laughing and swaying to the same music.
Bush, 70, swung his arms and "enthusiastically swayed," reported
USA Today, as he held hands with his wife Laura Bush and first lady Michelle Obama during the playing of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" at Dallas' Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.
A YouTube video that captured Bush moving to a choir's rendition of the song has drawn more than 600,000 views.
The Associated Press called Bush's arm swaying "awkward" and
People magazine said the former president was being criticized on social media for "appearing too exuberant" during the memorial service.
The Atlantic's David A. Graham, though, said Bush's "dancing" was harmless, considering the larger message of the memorial service, and noted that President Barack Obama and the first lady appeared to join in the swaying later in the song.
"Let us (we tweedy band of editors) stipulate that this is hardly the most important or momentous news of the day," Graham said. "Let us stipulate further, however, that as the periodical that first published Julia Ward Howe's abolitionist poem, The Atlantic feels a special obligation to weigh in on the matter. So here it is: Eh, let the guy be."
Bush's spokesman Freddy Ford responded to the Internet criticism on Twitter Wednesday, saying that the president was just "moved" by the song.
Earlier in the memorial service, Bush delivered a brief, moving speech the large audience, noted
Time magazine.
"Today, all of us feel a sense of loss, but not equally," Bush said. "I'd like to conclude with the word of the families, the spouses, and especially the children of the fallen. Your loved one’s time with you was too short. They did not get a chance to properly say goodbye. But they went where duty called. They defended us, even to the end. They finished well. We will not forget what they did for us."
"Your loss is unfair. We cannot explain it. We can stand beside you and share your grief. And we can pray that God will comfort you with a hope deeper than sorrow and stronger than death."