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Rather than celebrate King's death in Memphis... (1.00 / 0) (#41)
by tbetz on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 06:59:48 PM EST
... thereby exploiting his memory for political gain, Obama chose to honor King's principles, by speaking where RFK spoke the day of King's death, thereby preventing rioting in that city.

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Why is it that (5.00 / 2) (#45)
by kayla on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 07:07:52 PM EST
Speaking at a March that honors King's legacy an example of exploitation, but speaking at the location where RFK spoke the night of King's death on the 40th anniversary of King's death not exploitation?

Let's be consistent here.

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That's right, troll rate me for telling the truth. (none / 0) (#70)
by tbetz on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 02:14:26 PM EST
Hillary's speech was all about her reaction to King's death.  "I, I, I, me, me."  McCain's speech was full of lies about his own history with the MLK holiday.  Entirely self-serving.

Only Obama's speech was about putting King's principles into action.

An excerpt from his Fort Wayne speech:

In the dark days after Dr. King's death, Coretta Scott King pointed out the stars. She took up her husband's cause and led a march in Memphis. But while those sanitation workers eventually got their union contract, the struggle for economic justice remains an unfinished part of the King legacy. Because the dream is still out of reach for too many Americans. Just this morning, it was announced that more Americans are unemployed now than at any time in years. And all across this country, families are facing rising costs, stagnant wages, and the terrible burden of losing a home.

Part of the problem is that for a long time, we've had a politics that's been too small for the scale of the challenges we face. This is something I spoke about a few weeks ago in a speech I gave in Philadelphia. And what I said was that instead of having a politics that lives up to Dr. King's call for unity, we've had a politics that's used race to drive us apart, when all this does is feed the forces of division and distraction, and stop us from solving our problems.

That is why the great need of this hour is much the same as it was when Dr. King delivered his sermon in Memphis. We have to recognize that while we each have a different past, we all share the same hopes for the future - that we'll be able to find a job that pays a decent wage, that there will be affordable health care when we get sick, that we'll be able to send our kids to college, and that after a lifetime of hard work, we'll be able to retire with security. They're common hopes, modest dreams.  And they're at the heart of the struggle for freedom, dignity, and humanity that Dr. King began, and that it is our task to complete.

You know, Dr. King once said that the arc of the moral universe is long, but that it bends toward justice. But what he also knew was that it doesn't bend on its own. It bends because each of us puts our hands on that arc and bends it in the direction of justice.

So on this day - of all days - let's each do our part to bend that arc.

Let's bend that arc toward justice.

Let's bend that arc toward opportunity.

Let's bend that arc toward prosperity for all.

And if we can do that and march together - as one nation, and one people - then we won't just be keeping faith with what Dr. King lived and died for, we'll be making real the words of Amos that he invoked so often, and "let justice roll down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream."



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First of all: (5.00 / 1) (#72)
by kayla on Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 09:51:57 PM EST
Why would somebody troll rate you?  What did you do?

Second of all:  Thank you for posting some of Obama's speech.  I heard this portion and all of Hillary's speech.  Hillary's was good because it acknowledged all that King had accomplished.  I actually thought it was great to hear where she fit in all of it.  King's dream reached out to all different sorts of people and she lived it.  I love when she said that he took her hand and didn't ask who she was or where she was from, but just thanked her for coming.  She also spoke about how King understood that government can expand just as our hearts can and she has faith that the future will further realize his dream.  Barack pretty much said the same thing.  He said that King's work is unfinished while showing that we all connect to it somehow.  Maybe he had a better written speech than her, but that doesn't mean her sole purpose of attending the March was to pander.  I don't understand why location matters at all.

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Ask the obviously-named NO2WONDERBOY... (none / 0) (#73)
by tbetz on Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 04:17:31 PM EST
... who seems to be here solely for the purpose of downrating other people's comments, while contributing nothing to the conversation.

Obaka's remarks seemed to me to be more in the spirit of Dr. King's approach, because he exhorts people to action, while other politicians emphasize "what I will do" or "what I have done."

While activists have always done this, the last Democratic presidential candidate I recall who exhorted Americans to action was JFK.  Others all echo the theme of "I, I, me, me."  Today, when politics has been so corrupted by big money, the idea of the people taking back the government is a winning message, one that is activated by the way the Obama campaign has managed itself and its fundraising.

Something that movement conservatism learned long ago, and that lefties need to take to heart now, is that every day is a campaign day.  No matter who we elect in November, we need to continue this activism as part of our day-to-day routine long after the election campaigns have endedw

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Well, I agree with you (5.00 / 1) (#74)
by kayla on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 07:46:50 AM EST
100%.  But I just can't get behind the idea that Hillary is completely self-serving.  Hillary did have a call to action in her speech as well.  She said we should stop whining about poverty and do something about it.  She said that King always answered the call to action and it's time we do the same.  She's not a lazy politician who's only end is to win.  She is looking beyond that.  She wants to make a change in Washington too.  Just because her message is different doesn't mean it's disingenuous.  And I actually like a politician to say "What I Have Done".  If they've had a successful and productive political life before running, then I have an easier time trusting them.  I actually prefer hearing the "have done"s over the "will do"s.  Barack is more of a "we will do" and "I am doing" type of candidate.  Which I think is a great part of his appeal.  His language is very different from the norm.

These are just two different campaigns, appealing to two different kinds of people.  They'd both be a vast improvement to what we currently have.  Any Democrat is fine with me.  And even though I'm not the biggest fan of Barack, I know that he's not just any Democrat.  He's intelligent, he's inspiring millions, and he's running a great campaign.

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