Was the public send-off for Jack Layton excessive? It's a question some are raising. They in turn are being accused of being tasteless and small-minded.

Christie Blatchford of the National Post was the first to criticize the public outpouring -- the same day Layton died -- starting a torrent of angry e-mails and articles attacking her timing and questioning her motives (although it should be noted she also got fan mail).

Now Magazine's Joshua Errett wrote that the article says more about Blatchford's politics than the mourning of Layton: 

When a police officer dies, as Blatchford wrote in the Globe on January 13, a motorcade of police cars lining the highway is an acceptable tribute. When a police officer dies, a public outpouring of grief is beyond criticism. The same applies in military deaths.

It would appear her simplistic rules evaporate when a uniform is involved. (Or, more like it, when the politics align.)

So there is a double standard.

It's true that many of those who have criticized the way Layton's death became a public spectacle come from the right of the political spectrum. But can concerns over whether the mourning of Layton went too far be put down simply to petty politics?

Jonathan Kay of the National Post makes the case that, no, they can't:

Most of the people who've sent me hate mail in the last few days assume that I despise Layton and his politics. But I don't. He happened to be my MP in the Toronto-Danforth riding, and he was a good one... .

 

The whole experience has led me to ask why so many people respond emotionally to the death of people they've never met, but who happen to be famous or admirable.

The issue of when public mourning crosses the line from appropriate to overdone was explored on the Agenda earlier this year following the death of  Sgt. Ryan Russell. Russell was given a massive police funeral after he was struck by a stolen truck while on duty. The size of that send-off was also questioned.

While the circumstances of Russell's death and funeral are very different from those of Layton, the two situations raise similar questions. Think about Layton's funeral, watch our program on the Russell funeral, and ask yourself the following questions: Are those criticizing Layton's sendoff doing so just because of their politics? Can a public display of mourning go too far, even for a good person deserving of our respect? Share your thoughts by posting a comment below.

Daniel Kitts can be followed on Twitter.