Friday, August 30, 2013
The GOP's Snubbing of MLK's "I Have A Dream" Speech Commemoration
Snowballs are being tossed around in hell:
O’Reilly said, “Last night during my discussion with James Carville about the Martin Luther King commemoration, I said that there were no Republican speakers invited. Wrong, I was wrong. Some Republicans were asked to speak. They declined, and that was a mistake. They should have spoken. Now, the mistake, entirely on me. I simply assumed that since all the speakers were liberal Democrats, Republicans were excluded. So here’s the tip of the day. Always check out the facts before you make a definitive statement. And when you make a mistake, admit it. By the way, I’m sorry that I made that mistake. It’s very annoying because I know you guys watch The Factor for accuracy.”
O'Reilly's mea culpa is in response to his ham-headed belief that no Republican was invited to speak at the commemoration of the "I Have A Dream" speech. His assumption was based on many on the right's embrace of victimization, which they eagerly claim whenever someone points to their misrepresentations or their rancid bigotry.
O'Reilly laughingly said "I know you guys watch 'The Factor' for accuracy."
I don't think O'Reilly knows what the word "accuracy" really means.
Here's a list of all the exaggerations, misrepresentations, and damn lies O'Lielly has passed onto his willfully gullible viewers:
Bill O'Reilly's Right-Wing Buffoonery: A Brief Catalog
The absence of GOP representatives was a disgrace to The Reverend Martin Luther King's memory.
They declined to participate.
This is the party that has stated again and again that it needs to reach out to minorities. Yet on the anniversary of a man who has been called "a modern founding father" they were nowhere to be found, and by refusing to honor The Reverend Martin Luther King on this historic commemoration, they seal their fate as the party of _______________ and ______________. Fill in the blanks, I'm sure whomever reads this will be far more charitable than I.
Something Was Missing From The March On Washington Anniversary
If Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had seen 50 years into the future, he might have been tempted to add "Democrats and Republicans" to the historically antagonistic pairings — "black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics" — who, in his "I Have A Dream" speech, would one day hold hands and sing, "Free at last."
The parties have seldom seemed so far apart as they did Wednesday, on the 50th anniversary of King's speech and the March on Washington. Not a single Republican elected official spoke at the "Let Freedom Ring" event at the Lincoln Memorial, site of King's 1963 speech, though some were invited.
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio attended an earlier march commemoration on Capitol Hill, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia was traveling in Ohio and North Dakota, according to reports explaining why they had declined invitations.
Former President George W. Bush was invited by event organizers, but declined because of recent heart surgery.
Whatever the reasons, the absence of any prominent past or present Republican official in a speaking role at the commemoration is unlikely to help the party's outreach to minorities.
The hulking marble presence of the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, didn't really make up for the absence of living, breathing GOP officials.
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30 comments:
The usual trolls will be along shortly to explain that Martin Luther King was a communist, a philanderer, a homo, and probably born in Kenya as well. And they'll honestly think that that has something to do with the point.
Republicans think outreach to minorities just means having a few minority politicians in positions of prominence. Make a big show of considering Condi Rice for VP and all will be well.
We're already hearing the cons complaining about the film "The Butler," saying it just dredges up the past, and why do that.
There's also the person who thinks the picture would not merit any awards, even though he hasn't seen it.
A good many of the trolls on conservative blogs are also calling the film "racist."
There really is no hope for those people.
Once again the GOP demonstrates a glaring inability to connect the dots. The relative indifference shown by the GOP leadership to this event (attendance at some other lesser event at a different time and place does not make up for their absence at this one), will have consequences. Perhaps not significant, but only because the GOP lost the minority vote already. It will however further solidify and cement the perceptions minorities already have of the GOP.
LBJ as it turns out was correct. But not for the reasons he stated, rather because the GOP has done much to ensure he his prediction came true.
Having said the above I am frankly growing wearier with each passing day with the constant partisan BS that keeps the nation divided.
We've all participated in in at one time or another to a greater or lesser degree, and if we're honest with ourselves we will admit it. We are just as guilty (or quilty) as FOX Snooze, MSNBC, and the rest of the political hacks and pundits we read and hear from every day.
Perhaps blogging has mellowed me, some. But I wonder just how much the constant sniping at each other, talking past one another, and being hyper critical of each other has contributed to making anything better or improving the reality of life in America.
From where I now sit it seems to me a lot of really intelligent people on both sides of the political divide seem to be walking around with cotton stuffed in their ears, and blinders over their eyes. I say this because I've been there. It is time to stop.
This nation has always had its differences, in fact a very good and productive aspect of life in a a democratic republic. We've always been successful at resolving differences and moving on. Today is different. There doesn't seem to be a real driving interest in finding workable bipartisan solutions to the issues of the day. Rather it has become more about ideology and party loyalty than about solving problems that affect us ALL, whether or not we like to admit it.
For the record, while I see both parties responsible for the current political climate the Republican party does indeed have a greater share of the responsibility for our political gridlock and record low congressional approval ratings.
I apologize Shaw for the somewhat off topis latter part of this comment. But being as "Wicked" a blog hostess as you are I was certain you would understand.
< b>___ A View from the Right ___
Most liberals are very bright,
But tend to be perverted.
They love the dark and fear the light,
And will not be converted.
They answer legalistically
Each charge and witticism.
With hauteur drawn statistically
They mock each criticism.
The Truth does not engage them;
They won't admit they're wrong.
Facts they don't like enrage them,
So resistance grows more strong.
They either will ignore you,
Or treat you to ridicule,
Then brazenly they'll bore you
Telling you that you're a fool.
The process is unending
A matter of attrition.
Their strength lies in not bending
They'll never feel contrition.
~ FreeThinke
MLK was a great inspiration to people of any color and wanted equality for all. His interest was in everyone rising up not kept down.
Can't say that about today's "leaders"
A slanted, biased poem that would have been deleted had a liberal posted something like this--an insult to conservatives--over at AOW's or Geeeeez's blog or any other conservative blog that pretends to be fair-minded.
You have either forgotten or do not approve of the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act which a LIBERAL president ushered through Congress, and which made life better for millions of Americans, and which the idol of conservatives, Ronald Reagan, called "an insult to the south."
That's an example of loving the light and rejecting the dark, despite Reagan's foolish statement. So that part of your poem is false.
It was LIBERALS who gave us:
Women's Right to Vote
Universal Public Education
National Weather Service
Public Universities
Bank Deposit Insurance (FDIC)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Public Broadcasting
Supporting the establishment of Israel
Labor Laws
The Marshall Plan
Winning World War II
Food Safety Laws
Workplace Safety Laws
The Tennessee Valley Project
The Civilian Conservation Corps
The Securites and Exchange Commission
Child Labor Laws
The End of DADT
Medicare
Social Security
Equal Rights For People to Marry Whom They Love
If you truly believe the above represents "loving the dark and not the light," then somewhere in this planet there is a Hobbesian world you'd be happy to live in.
The rest of your insults to liberals--which, of course, includes this blog's host--is nothing more than a passive/aggressive way of being rude to folks whose political beliefs you disagree with.
I have commented at conservative blogs and have had the denizens of those blogs meet my comments with ridicule, insults, and name-calling.
One such malfactor even suggested that a mob of Muslims should attack me.
Nice bunch of folks you hang with, Mr. F.T.
re: conservative's respect for MLK:
Anonymous said...
By the way the Coomor MLL was a womanizing fraud
August 30, 2013 at 11:37 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Commie MLK
Damn spell check smart. Phone
Wonder why minorities who will soon be majorities wouldn't go near that political party it's filled with these sorts of racists.
Our Founding Fathers, from the perspective of history were in fact liberals, indeed revolutionaries thus making them REBELS.
Rebels fighting authoritarian government by Divine Right. Therefore... Our Democratic Republic exists.
When I read prose like the above I always split a gut laughing. I respect, and support limited responsible government by the people, partisan flame breathing firestorms such as the above are simply laughable.
Thanks for posting "Wicked", you supplied my laugh of the day.
I am so very sorry, Madam, that I have annoyed ya,
But have to say your attitude bespeaks of paranoia.
For Heavens sake, Ms Shaw, stop taking everything so damned SERIOUSLY. We all need to make an effort periodically to see ourselves as others see us.
Here I gently try to bring an element of whimsy and satire into the muck and mire of these deadly dull diatribes, and I get treated to A FULL COURT PRESS of LIBERAL PROPAGANDA straight from some activist WAR ROOM.
I am fond of you, as I've publicly admitted often enough to incur the grave displeasure of many about whom I don't give a proverbial damn, but to receive such a hugely disproportionate response to some gentle rib tickling -- in rhyme yet -- tells me it's possible you may take all this MUCH too seriously.
You're beginning to remind me alarmingly of NINOTCHKA before she came under the intoxicating influence of love and romance in Paris. ;-)
Could you explain, then, to me what is paranoid about reporting on the GOP not attending the ceremonies celebrating Dr. King's speech?
I reported on it and then gave my opinion on it.
That's what bloggers do, and what you did. We give our opinions, and they are often quite strong.
There's a bit of--how to put it delicately--partisanship on certain people's part when they label MY opinions as taking things too seriously, but don't chastise the bloggers on the right, whom you visit and give your opinions to, when they and you very seriously assert your opinions.
PS.
I am in no danger of becoming another Ninotchka, since I am already enjoying a thrilling romance, so much so that I'm cross-eyed.
Now are you going to take that seriously?
FT, perhaps it's the company you keep at the blogs aforementioned by "The Wicked One" that belies your true beliefs. Especially because you seem to pander to their idiocy.
Please forgive me if my evaluation is in error.
The TeaCons just love to brag on their racism and sick hatreds. Here's an example of their disgusting bigotry:
Anonymous said...
Why do the progressives feel that it's nesseccery to pay "respect" to Martin Luther King? Who was he anyway? A black who made a speech and was shot by his fellow blacks? Will we be making a hero out of Travon Martin as as well, and giving him a holiday? Enough already with giving blacks a month of holidays !
He was shot by his fellow blacks? Their colossal stupidity is unbelievable. No wonder Americans make fun of them. Has any political group been as assholedly dumb as these people?
Did the GOP send out a memo asking every ignorant asshole to join? Must be. Read the above from a con blog, then wash your eyes with bleach.
I should say I am delighted that you are enjoying a beautiful romance, Ma'am, but I admit to being a wee bit envious of the lucky man involved. Nevertheless, you have my full support, if its making you happy.
At any rate, I know I must be doing something right, because I manage with fair frequency to engender stern and often vulgar disapproval from ALL sides of the political morass.
In my never humble opinion we could do with a lot LESS "ass" in the morass, if you catch my drift? I believe everyone who cares about the political process at all (too few!) is both right AND wrong about all these multi-faceted issues. No one as yet fully understands the questions we should ask much less the answers that should be given. We only THINK we do..
For some reason I feel -- quite strongly -- that it's important to see the irony, the absurdity, the whimsy and the comic-pathetic aspects of the passing show.
Horace Walpole made a valuable observation filled with wisdom back in the eighteenth century,
Life is tragedy to him who feels, but a comedy to him who thinks."
I think we need to cultivate a stronger grasp on a balance between thought and emotion, myself. Too much of either to the exclusion of the other can't help but lead us astray.
@FT --- You're beginning to remind me alarmingly of NINOTCHKA
------
I love that film.
"The last mass trials were a great success. There are going to be fewer but better Russians."
... but that just doesn't seem like Shaw.
Anyway, FT, why didn't the invited Republicans, who I'm sure want to be nameless, attend the anniversary?
@C. Sumner what do you expect from the weirds who comment at those blogs. They don't know history and their favorite thing to do is make fun of black people, especially ones who are smarter than them and have actually done something with their lives. Those weirds think lying about black and gays is something to put on their resumes when they go looking for work at Chick-Fil-A. If they can even qualify to work at wrapping chicken parts.
Our dear Hero, Martin Luther King was under surveillance by the FBI because of his ties to communist organizations.
He did everything possible to promote the Communist's agenda in America.
Also Mr. “I had a Dream” may have had a “WET DREAM” because of his association with white prostitutes and further he used church funds for many of his drunken sex parties.
This was confirmed by one of King's closest associates who confirmed these rumors about King's sexual activities in his 1989 book, "And the Walls Came Tumbling Down."
He said that King did have a weakness for women and engaged in extramarital affairs.
Of course it is being denied by the lefties and the blacks who praise his as the most wonderful person who ever walked on earth and the black Saint of the century. No matter what history shows, millions of blacks and bleeding heart whites still see him as a Hero and a Saint second to only Jesus Christ.
Call me a racist if you will,
So many buffoons; so little time to laugh at them all.
Most people don’t talk about the fact that Martin Luther King was a Republican.”
That’s a quote from Ada Fisher, a Republican National Committeewoman from North Carolina, that was published without qualification or correction this week by ABC News.
Fisher is wrong on two fronts.
First, many people talk about the “fact” that King was a Republican. It is asserted incessantly by conservatives on Twitter and elsewhere on the internet, especially in the lead up to today’s 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. The claim is most prominently advanced by King’s niece, Republican activist Alveda King. Over the years, conservative groups have purchased billboards making the claim.
Second, Martin Luther King Jr. was not a Republican. Or a Democrat.
King was not a partisan and never endorsed any political candidate. In a 1958 interview, King said “I don’t think the Republican party is a party full of the almighty God nor is the Democratic party. They both have weaknesses … And I’m not inextricably bound to either party.”
King did, however, weigh in on the Republican party during his lifetime. In Chapter 23 of his autobiography, King writes this about the 1964 Republican National Convention:
The Republican Party geared its appeal and program to racism, reaction, and extremism.
All people of goodwill viewed with alarm and concern the frenzied wedding at the Cow Palace of the KKK with the radical right. The “best man” at this ceremony was a senator whose voting record, philosophy, and program were anathema to all the hard-won achievements of the past decade.
Don't let the idiot cons try to tell anyone that MLK was a GOPer. They're liars.
MLK supported unions, he supported reparations for black people, and he opposed the war in Viet Nam (as did John Kerry, BTW).
The Republicans who are claiming he was one of them have to be so uninformed as to be laughable.
Here is Dr. King in his own words:
“It is impossible to create a formula for the future which does
not take into account that our society has been doing something special against the Negro for hundreds of years. How then can he be absorbed into the mainstream of American life if we do not do something special for him now, in order to balance the equation and equip him to compete on a just and equal basis? What will it profit him to be able to send his children to an integrated school if the family income is insufficient to buy them school clothes? What will he gain by being permitted to move into an integrated neighborhood if he cannot afford to do so because he is unemployed or has a low-paying job with no future?
In asking for something special, the Negro is not seeking charity.
He does not want to languish on welfare rolls any more than the next
man. He does not want to be given a job he cannot handle. Neither,
however, does he want to be told that there is no place where he can be trained to handle it. Few people consider the fact that, in addition to being enslaved for two centuries, the Negro was, during all those years, robbed of the wages of his toil. No amount of gold could provide an adequate compensation for the exploitation and humiliation of the Negro in America down through the centuries. Not all the wealth of this affluent society could meet the bill. Yet a price can be placed on unpaid wages.”
(M.L. King, Why We Can’t Wait)
Do the folks who claim MLK was a Republican actually read and understand his words?
Interesting:
Impertinent said...
@Z:
"Why does the leftwing rejoice in the negatives? Why WANT to bring us down?"..
That's why I asked the question that's gone unanswered from August 31, 2013 at 9:49 AM...they need to destroy the honor, integrity and demean the accomplishments first. Tear down the country's best and greatest moments, it's heros and great deeds and strides...then the educational system...fill our TV's and movies with porn...crap and corrupt journalists.
Found on the same thread on a con blog:
Spidey said...
The Dims want to have everyone believe that Marty King was a Dimocrap and NOT a Republican, well the fact is that he was a COMMUNIST and COMMUNIST = Democraps, so they can have him. And wrap him up with a ribbon and a bow and keep him.
And this:
O'Reilly apologized for having said nobody was invited, incorrectly, and, of course, the leftwing media's playing that up BIG TIME. "Oh BOY, O'Reilly goofed and we can prove this one!"
Also, I don't want the Dr King bashing here AT ALL.
So the nutters blame the Democrats for the nutters posting anti-MLK (American hero) trash on their own blogs?
They are seriously disturbed wackos.
More MLK bashing and hating on con blogs, and they complain that liberals are negative? Bwahahaha! Seriously, they are deranged!
Guess WhoAugust 31, 2013 at 7:06:00 AM EDT
Can anyone tell us why it is that every January, the country and especially the media go into a frenzy of adulation for the so-called "Reverend” Martin Luther King, Jr. King has a national holiday declared in his honor, an honor given to no other American, not even Washington, not even Kennedy, not Jefferson, not Lincoln. execpt the generic-sounding "President's Day." that kind of wraps them all together A liberal judge has sealed the FBI files on King until the year 2027. Why is that? What are they hiding? And why are they hiding it? What don’t they want us to know about this so called Black God, this wonderful Black Messiah!
Because they don’t want to tarnish his image!! Because they don’t want us to know that he was a Radical, and Not a Saint! In his day he was considered a dangerous troublemaker by the FBI.. Why is that? To the other Black race pimps he’s made out to be Jesus and Gandhi all wrapped into one.
But to many, including myself he was a Marxist because he like Obama believed and preached that "radical redistribution of wealth." He was also critical of Capitalism. Just like our current Marxist Messiah!
We have seen some conservatives trying to find fault with the organizers of the march for not inviting the GOP Senator from So. Carolina...
Turns out he, along with every other Republican member of Congress was invited to the march, and from those that accepted, invitations to speak would be issued.
Sadly, not one member of the Republican caucus could make room in his or her schedule to attend this event.
So here's what I'm wondering... Do conservatives just not care? Are they aware that the language that they are using to be critical of African Americans, not the criticisms themselves, but the language, is turning off not just African American voters, but swing voters as well?
Look at the comments above. What does the style and tone of those comments say to someone, independent of the actual criticisms?
I am looking for a way to put a refusal to attend the march in context alongside the openly disdainful comments above, that sadly are not the exception.
Maybe this explains it...
http://www.salon.com/2013/08/31/the_conservative_crackup_how_the_republican_party_lost_its_mind/
"They are seriously disturbed wackos."
@George White 5:46
I disagree.
Not seriously disturbed, seriously boring.
Come back when you have something REALLY interesting to post.
Thanks.
So sorry, Ms. Shaw. I guess boring is worse than being stupid, but they do go together, don't they. Especially on those blogs.
Later.
Yes, they do, GW. It's all so boring because it's all so predictable from the same group. First they pretend to honor Dr. King, then the same group slanders him? Are they bi-polar? And they want to make this giant among men one of theirs? Can they please make up their bifurcated minds?
Dave,
I'd like to be able to understand the mind of a con. Reading the above comments from them (and this is not the first time I've read these insults about MLK from them), I just am weary. Weary about a political party that seems devoted to destroying itself.
Dave, without getting into a lengthy explanation here is my response: Once I was a republican, I no longer am. Is it any wonder why?
I ask the above of republicans and await thier response.
What's up with all this hate comming from from the frightwing on MLK?
I thought they were too busy hating on the Hawaiian Kenyan.
But Shaw, it gives you a wealth of things to blog about does it not? Remember, a blogger needs such imbecilic drivel to remain focused on exposing idiocy.
Enjoy the Labor Day weekend. It's Portuguese Festa weekend and people from CT, RI, Eastern MA, NY descend on our small town today to enjoy the festivities, social connections, and food. Always fun.
Portuguese kale soup and Portuguese mussels with chorizo sausage, fresh cherry tomatoes and basil, are among my favorites.
Enjoy the festival.
Our street here in Boston's North End is closed today for its annual block party. Hope these heavy t-storms end soon.
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