December 7, 2018

"The burial of former President George Herbert Walker Bush on the grounds of his presidential library and museum at Texas A&M University on Thursday raises a question."

"Is it possible for former President Barack Obama to be laid to rest at his presidential center in Chicago?"

The Chicago Sun Times comes up with that question.
For now, the answer is no, according to a Bill McCaffrey, a spokesman for the City of Chicago Law Department. Burials in Chicago can only take place in cemeteries, according to city ordinances. The 19.3 acres in Jackson Park to be the site of the Obama Presidential Center is not a legal cemetery.
Noted.

78 comments:

AllenS said...

I would say Barry's first choice would be Kenya.

AllenS said...

Let me change that --

I would say Barack Hussein Obama II's first choice would be Kenya.

There, much better. Barry sounds, so Illinoisish.

Tommy Duncan said...

"Is it possible for former President Barack Obama to be laid to rest at his presidential center in Chicago?"

Let's try it and see what happens.

Amadeus 48 said...

!. Obama will never die.
2. Who the heck would want to be buried in the Obama Center? I can guarantee that Michelle won't.
3. I see something a little more...appropriate. Something like a gigantic, monolithic mausoleum in Millennium (renamed Obama) Park between the Art Institute and the new (Pritzker!) band shell, which will be lit at night and reflected in the Bean (now Cloudgate, soon renamed Obamagate). Barry's corpse (pronounced "corpse") will be on permanent display.
School children--particularly from the wealthier suburbs--will be bused in to see this fallen global hero.

rcocean said...

Obama will be buried in Kauai

Its also possible that he will be cremated and his ashes stored in chicago.

Wince said...

Does this rule apply to cremated remains?

The article doesn't address the issue.

Is cremation so non-presidential that the possibility isn't even considered, or is his resurrection the dominant concern?

Big Mike said...

Nah, he's going to be taken bodily down to Hell.

Abdul Abulbul Amir said...

This is Chicago. A wave of the legislative hand can turn any piece of property into a cemetery.

Fernandinande said...

"Is it possible for former President Barack Obama to be laid to rest at his presidential center in Chicago?"

It doesn't matter much because he'd only be there three days.

Nonapod said...

Obama's funeral will probably be a dull affair.

On the other hand, I hope the Trump presidential funeral is epic. I imagine huge parade with a gold sarcophagus trailed by dozens weeping beauty pagent contestants, and a solemn interment service within a massive ziggurat. And Trump's most faithful acolyte, Sean Hannity, being intered along with Trump for his journey to the afterlife... as the Pharaoh's of old.

Bob Boyd said...

In Chicago, where you are buried determines where your polling place is, so that might be a consideration.

Amadeus 48 said...

AA Amir--And all the cemetery residents get to vote, too!

tim maguire said...

Obama is a Democrat so I'm confident they'll find a way to make it happen if they want to. (Unless the good guys win and the Obama "library" never gets built. That would be something!)

zipity said...

When it comes to the Obamessiah, no rules/laws apply to the gods.

Leland said...

Another question: Will Obama lie in repose or be buried before sunset?

Mark said...

Who said anything about burial?

After all, Lenin was put in a glass case for public display.

rcocean said...

Bush never did anything, but he was a classy guy so his funeral was enjoyable.

Obama never did anything, but he wasn't a vet or CIA director or much of anything other than POTUS. I don't remember Jerry Ford's funeral at all.

Obama's will probably be like that.

I'm forward to Bill Clinton or Hillary's funeral. who would go first?

Dave Begley said...

When did Obama and Chicago Dems ever follow the law?

Barack is bigger than the law!

rcocean said...

Hillary will live to a 100.

Perhaps even more - if someone with a cross doesn't drive a stake through her heart.

Nonapod said...

I'm forward to Bill Clinton or Hillary's funeral. who would go first?

Hard to say. Neither seems in particularly great shape. Hillary has had her share of health scares, but she's animated by pure hatred, avarice, and a powerful sense of entitlement that I imagine pushes her frail body far beyond it's natural life span.

William said...

I can see both Trump and Obama going full tilt boogie in their funerals. You need fun to spell a funeral.. Obama will probably have several of his retainers killed in order to serve him in the afterlife, and they'll compete to be chosen for the honor.. Jimmy Carter might try to tone things down a bit. Maybe go for a pine box in the local churchyard. He'll put the malaise back in funerals.......Hillary's eulogy for her husband will be the high point of Clinton's funeral.. I just hope no one here cheapens the occasion by questioning her sincerity.

rhhardin said...

Bury Obama is his name. Use the Bush library.

Bob Boyd said...

They probably won't play 'At Last' again at Obama's funeral.

gahrie said...

They aren't going to bury Obama...they are going to embalm him and put him on display.

gahrie said...

Mark got there first.

etbass said...

I am guessing Obama will ascend into heaven.

Big Mike said...

@etbass, I am pretty certain he’s headed in the other direction.

Big Mike said...

I see that Althouse believes Chicago Democrats will obey their own laws. How quaint.

Earnest Prole said...

It's hard to think of something more un-American than the burial of an American President at his own dedicated shrine.

gspencer said...

"The 19.3 acres in Jackson Park to be the site of the Obama Presidential Center is not a legal cemetery."

Will it matter when the time comes?

etbass said...

They will need to protect his body, regardless of where it is buried. It will be smothered with relic hunters looking for pieces of bone, etc. for worship.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I would support them making an exception to this rule only if Obama agrees to croak by the end of this year.

Paul said...

gahrie said...

"They aren't going to bury Obama...they are going to embalm him and put him on display."

Yea.. like Roy Roger's horse, Trigger!

RobinGoodfellow said...

"Is it possible for former President Barack Obama to be laid to rest at his presidential center in Chicago?"

From your lips to God’s ears.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Actually - can you imagine Obama's funeral and the mourners trying to board a train to go to Kenya?

Yancey Ward said...

Did they bury RBG when she died?

Yancey Ward said...

Obama will be buried on a Friday, and his followers will be disappointed by the following Monday morning.

Yancey Ward said...

When will Hillary die? Depends on the fine print of her agreement with Satan.

Yancey Ward said...

Bill Clinton will live til he is 100.

Ambrose said...

Someone in Chicago will have a pen and a phone.

bagoh20 said...

The Lightworker deserves nothing less than his own pyramid in the DC mall - one of enormous proportions that blocks out the sun.

GDI said...

Gitmo would be apropos.

bagoh20 said...

Can you imagine being one of those kids forced to sing songs of praise to Obama in elementary school, then growing up and seeing the video. I'd feel like someone reliving molestation as a child, and I would need a shower. I don't hate the guy, but I hate what some Americans did over him.

DavidD said...

Fernandistein said...
“ ‘Is it possible for former President Barack Obama to be laid to rest at his presidential center in Chicago?’

It doesn't matter much because he'd only be there three days.“

Shut down the internet. We’re done here.

stevew said...

If only there were a way to change the place to a legal burial location. Perhaps a phone and a pen would come in handy here?

Rosalyn C. said...

"A federal lawsuit filed by a Chicago nonprofit in an attempt to block the Obama Presidential Center from being built in Jackson Park accuses organizers of pulling an 'institutional bait and switch' by shifting the center’s purpose away from being a true presidential library.

Protect Our Parks Inc. also claims in its lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court on Monday, that the Chicago Park District and the City of Chicago don’t have the authority to transfer public parkland to nongovernmental entity such as the Obama Foundation." https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obamacenter/ct-met-obama-center-lawsuit-20180514-story.html

Essentially, special arrangements were made to violate city law to allow Obama to build his presidential center in a public park, and then he decided to house his foundation there too, I guess for free too.

chuck said...

They're modern day pyramids, of course the presidents should be buried in them.

Anonymous said...

" Bob Boyd said...
In Chicago, where you are buried determines where your polling place is, so that might be a consideration."

Plus 10

Anonymous said...

I'm hoping that Obama goes full Hindu and Michelle is drugged and thrown on the funeral Pyre.

Martin said...

The Obama Center will not be a Presidential Library under the jurisdiction of NARA, either.

But, it'll have a heck of a golf course.

CWJ said...

If memory serves, I recall that Stephen Douglas is buried at his homesite overlooking the Illinois Central tracks. His monument is easily seen from Lake Shore Drive. So is this an exception, predates the ordinance, is the prohibition bullshit, or has my memory failed me?

Humperdink said...

"I'm forward to Bill Clinton or Hillary's funeral. who would go first?"

Bill will go first and be cremated. Hillary will separate the ashes into small prescription size containers and the ashes will be sold. The lucky recipients will also receive a certificate of authenticity. Early estimates from the Clinton Marketing Group indicate that a minimum of 500,000 certified ash containers will be available for purchase - more if the market demands it.

Jupiter said...

Earnest Prole said...
"It's hard to think of something more un-American than the burial of an American President at his own dedicated shrine."

Not hard at all. Barack Hussein Obama.

lohwoman said...

Numerous presidents have been buried on the grounds of their libraries. It is the rule rather than the exception since Hoover died in 1964.

Big Mike said...

Yea.. like Roy Roger's horse, Trigger!

Or Stonewall Jackson’s horse, “Little Sorrel,” on display at VMI in Lexington, VA.

Hagar said...

Yet.

Earnest Prole said...

Numerous presidents have been buried on the grounds of their libraries. It is the rule rather than the exception since Hoover died in 1964.

Kings and dictators like to be buried alone. American presidents should be buried with the rest of us.

PB said...

Nothing as firm as city ordinances in Chicago! A private operation like Obama's "center" wasn't allowed either.

Rumpletweezer said...

Obama doesn't have to die, does he? Can't he just ascend anytime he wishes?

Ignorance is Bliss said...

The burial of former President George Herbert Walker Bush on the grounds...

...that he's dead.

Sorry. That's how my brain tried to finish that sentence.

Maillard Reactionary said...

"Is it possible for former President Barack Obama to be laid to rest at his presidential center in Chicago?"

Only if they are willing to risk it being declared a Superfund site later.

rcocean said...

"The burial of former President George Herbert Walker Bush on the grounds..."

What about "In the coffee grounds"

Tank said...

Lotsa funny stuff above LOL!

Narayanan said...

In Chicago more pertinent question is how often can he vote after burial.

SweatBee said...

Hmm. That's not the question it raised for me at all.

My question was about the practicality of building a giant museum for every individual president in perpetuity, and whether W and H.W. were going to share a museum so they could all be buried together as a family.

As it turns out, W has his own separate museum, but until earlier this year had not planned to be buried there. He had a plot reserved at the Texas State Cemetery until he saw how his parents' burial ground lent their museum "permanence" and changed his plans even though something like $30K had already been spent renovating a plaza for him in Austin.

readering said...

As a Columbia College grad, I was hoping Obama would be buried nearby at the General Grant National Memorial, thereby adding a twist to the perennial question, "Who's buried in Grant's tomb?"

The Godfather said...

The "I'll only need it [the proposed burial site] for three days" was a current joke about JFK (I think the site was Bunker Hill in that case) on the day (Nov. 22, 1963) he was assassinated. I haven't found it funny since that day. Sorry to be a spoiled sport.

Matt Sablan said...

Like any president has ever had the rules as written enforced on them.

Will said...

Oh I don't know about that. The Obama Library site seems to be where good governance, and principles go to die.It's a natural fit for a cemetary.

The project is rife with cronyism, self double-dealing, public trough slurping and broken promises we came to expect from Obama.

For a project that broke so many promises and stifled citizen input it seems Chicago will find a way once again to prove laws are made to be broken..

Just let the Cook County Coroner make the arrangements...;

James Pawlak said...


The "Chicago Sanitary Canal" is available.

Winston said...

What? Is Obama's spot on Mt. Olympus not guaranteed?

Maillard Reactionary said...

The "Chicago Sanitary Canal" is available.

And no doubt some of his buds from the old days are already there, waiting to welcome Him!

What ever happened to Tony Resko, anyway? Still duct-taped to that chair in the basement next to Rev. Wright, or what?

Bad Lieutenant said...

Burials in Chicago can only take place in cemeteries, according to city ordinances.


Something something "Hog Butcher for the World"

Mumble mumble "They use everything about the hog except the squeal."

If the museum/library/bunker was moved to the old Chicago Stockyards site, I'd say it was a great idea to bury BHO there.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Gipper Lives said...

"Is it possible for former President Barack Obama to be laid to rest at his presidential center in Chicago?"

No. He already has a plot in Tehran.

Another one, I mean.

Bunkypotatohead said...

That place will be a ghetto by the time O kicks the bucket. Even he won't want to RIP there.

Paul Doty said...

It hardly matters since he's the Antichrist.

Unknown said...

Laws don't apply to Democrats, and especially not to Obama.