What a contrast between this great man and today's "civil rights leader", such as Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan. Martin Luther King was a committed friend of the Jewish people, informing anyone who would listen to him about how invaluable Jewish support for the civil rights movement was: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120951797764154811.html?mod=djemEditorialPage.
Today, many Jews are still supporters of the self-proclaimed civil rights leaders I listed above, and I suspect that this support is more a matter of habit than anything else. I question why this is the case, given that today's Black civil rights leaders, to be blunt, are no friends of the Jews. This friendship has become very much a one-way street...................
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Memo to self: Find Ted Rall's marbles
It's apparent that he has completely lost them. Rall is and has been suffering from a terminal case of BDS, but even by those standards, it's apparent that he has now become completely unhinged: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucru/20080429/cm_ucru/arrestbush.
You see, he wants President Bush arrested. For torture. Immediately. Yup, the fact that Bush 43 will be out of office in less than eight months is completely irrelevant to Rall. I could throw my hands up in the air in disgust, but Rall and his fellow angry lefties simply aren't worth it.
You see, he wants President Bush arrested. For torture. Immediately. Yup, the fact that Bush 43 will be out of office in less than eight months is completely irrelevant to Rall. I could throw my hands up in the air in disgust, but Rall and his fellow angry lefties simply aren't worth it.
Dishonour in the name of honour
I don't know of a more horrific practice than the act of committing an "honour killing". Judith Apter Klinghoffer writes in her blog on the History News Network website about several recent episodes, each one more depressing and frightening than the one before: http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/49860.html.
Again, WHERE are the western feminist organizations on this issue? Where are the condemnations from NOW? Why are they silent? Until they speak loudly and unequivocally on this issue, they have zero credibility in my eyes.
Again, WHERE are the western feminist organizations on this issue? Where are the condemnations from NOW? Why are they silent? Until they speak loudly and unequivocally on this issue, they have zero credibility in my eyes.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Yeah, that'll teach them!
The governor of a northern Saudi Arabian province is apparently a little peeved that some men are daring to (gasp!) flirt with women, and he has ordered that if men are caught doing this, they are to have their hair cut. No, really: http://abcnews.go.com/WaterCooler/wireStory?id=4746156.
Every time that I think that the Iranians have cornered the market on narrow-minded, regressive thinking, the Saudis one up them.............
Every time that I think that the Iranians have cornered the market on narrow-minded, regressive thinking, the Saudis one up them.............
REAL racists are Republican
Barack Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe analyzes the electability of his candidate, and in response to a question on whether race will be a factor in determining Obama's electability, posits that most racists are already going to vote for John McCain anyway: http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/no_20080425_7012.php.
Q: Well, one of the things to which some Democrats point -- the Clinton campaign has not said this publicly at least, but one certainly hears it in talking to supporters in more of a background way. Look at the racial polarization in the last several contests -- Pennsylvania, Ohio, Mississippi -- is that going to be a problem? Is race going to be a problem for Barack Obama in the general election?
Plouffe: We really don't think so. I mean the vast, vast majority of voters who would not vote for Barack Obama in November based on race are probably firmly in John McCain's camp already.
That about says it all, doesn't it?
Q: Well, one of the things to which some Democrats point -- the Clinton campaign has not said this publicly at least, but one certainly hears it in talking to supporters in more of a background way. Look at the racial polarization in the last several contests -- Pennsylvania, Ohio, Mississippi -- is that going to be a problem? Is race going to be a problem for Barack Obama in the general election?
Plouffe: We really don't think so. I mean the vast, vast majority of voters who would not vote for Barack Obama in November based on race are probably firmly in John McCain's camp already.
That about says it all, doesn't it?
Miami drivers
I have always been a big fan of a good humour writer, and one of my favourites over the years has been Dave Barry, who still writes occasionally for the Miami Herald. Yesterday, he contributed this hysterical piece on Miami drivers, a subject that is near and dear to me given that I lived in Miami for three years: http://www.miamiherald.com/dave_barry/story/512599.html.
What I found particularly fascinating was that Miami is apparently introducing traffic circles to its driving world. Given that Miami drivers are already notorious for their complete lack of understanding of the rules of the road, that could make driving in the city even more fun than it already is!
What I found particularly fascinating was that Miami is apparently introducing traffic circles to its driving world. Given that Miami drivers are already notorious for their complete lack of understanding of the rules of the road, that could make driving in the city even more fun than it already is!
Monday, April 28, 2008
A defensive President Peanut Farmer.....
.........writes in the New York Times (where else?) about why he chose to speak with Hamas terrorists: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/opinion/28carter.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin. It's a stunning read, if for no other reason than he admits that the "promises" he obtained from Hamas' leadership are essentially valueless, and yet he believes them (or professes to believe them) nonetheless.
There is no depth to which this man will not sink.
There is no depth to which this man will not sink.
The angry left spews even more venom towards Israel
Even for the Israel-haters who seemingly populate Europe, this is a new low: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-israel-is-suppressing-a-secret-it-must-face-816661.html.
Rarelyam I left speechless by the words and actions of those who hate Israel, but such is the case here............
Rarelyam I left speechless by the words and actions of those who hate Israel, but such is the case here............
Not a surprise to me
Despite ample evidence that it is a terrorist group, Peru's Tupac Amaru has been kept off the EU's list of terrorist groups by a variety of NGO's, including one run by the lovely and talented George Soros: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120934263440048541.html?mod=djemEditorialPage.
I have to ask, is there a person in this country who has done more with his considerable wealth to impede the interests of the United States than Soros? If a world leader is an enemy of the United States, George Soros is sure to be that leader's friend. Soros also provides the millions of dollars which keeps Moveon.org running, aand yet I'll bet that 90% of Americans have no clue who he is. In this case, ignorance is definitely not bliss....................
I have to ask, is there a person in this country who has done more with his considerable wealth to impede the interests of the United States than Soros? If a world leader is an enemy of the United States, George Soros is sure to be that leader's friend. Soros also provides the millions of dollars which keeps Moveon.org running, aand yet I'll bet that 90% of Americans have no clue who he is. In this case, ignorance is definitely not bliss....................
Friday, April 25, 2008
The demise of the Banana Boys
Apparently, there are some extremely humourless school officials in the Chicago area. A group of seniors devised a prank that saw a student in a gorilla costume chase around a bunch of others dressed in banana suits: http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/913009,CST-NWS-prank24.article. Personally, I think that this is absolutely hysterical, but school officials did not and suspended the students for what they called "a serious prank".
With all that's going on now, this is what concerns these people?
With all that's going on now, this is what concerns these people?
Another courageous resister to the evil Bush regime
That's what German Talis is. You see, he verbally abused First Lady Laura Bush and her daughter, Jenna Bush, and when a man and his family took him to task for it, he tried to punch out their handicapped daughter: http://www.nypost.com/seven/04232008/news/regionalnews/police__bush_basher_smashes_disabled_tee_107782.htm.
What a swell guy!
What a swell guy!
Gallows humour
Many jokes have in them a grain of truth, which is why they are funny. This one really amused me...........
Subject: FW: The Biker and the Lion
A biker was riding by the zoo, when he saw a little girl leaning into the lion's cage. Suddenly, the lion grabbed her by the cuff of her jacket and tried to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents. The biker jumped off his bike, ran to the cage and hit the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch. Whimpering from the pain the lion jumped back and let go of the girl. The biker then took her to her terrified parents, who thanked him endlessly.
A reporter saw the whole scene, and addressing the biker, said, 'Sir, this was the bravest thing I saw a man do in my whole life.''Why, it was nothing,' said the biker, 'really. The lion was behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger, and acted as I felt right.''I noticed a patch on your jacket,' said the journalist.
'Yeah, I ride with an Israeli motorcycle club,' the biker replied. 'Well, I'll make sure this won't go unnoticed. I'm a journalist with the New York Times, you know, and tomorrow's papers will have this on the front page.' The following morning the biker bought the paper to see if it indeed brought out the news of his actions. On the front page was the headline:
'ISRAELI GANG MEMBER ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH'
Subject: FW: The Biker and the Lion
A biker was riding by the zoo, when he saw a little girl leaning into the lion's cage. Suddenly, the lion grabbed her by the cuff of her jacket and tried to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents. The biker jumped off his bike, ran to the cage and hit the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch. Whimpering from the pain the lion jumped back and let go of the girl. The biker then took her to her terrified parents, who thanked him endlessly.
A reporter saw the whole scene, and addressing the biker, said, 'Sir, this was the bravest thing I saw a man do in my whole life.''Why, it was nothing,' said the biker, 'really. The lion was behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger, and acted as I felt right.''I noticed a patch on your jacket,' said the journalist.
'Yeah, I ride with an Israeli motorcycle club,' the biker replied. 'Well, I'll make sure this won't go unnoticed. I'm a journalist with the New York Times, you know, and tomorrow's papers will have this on the front page.' The following morning the biker bought the paper to see if it indeed brought out the news of his actions. On the front page was the headline:
'ISRAELI GANG MEMBER ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH'
Another great summation of President Peanut Farmer
Bernard-Henry Levi, in an article translated from the original French by the Wall Street Journal, neatly summarizes the loathesome ex-President, a man whose hatred of Israel is perhaps rivaled only by his hatred of the United States: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120908506974843623.html?mod=djemEditorialPage.
I won't profess to know what makes President Peanut Farmer tick. I can only comment that for all of the good he did with Habitat for Humanity, he has now washed that away completely (and then some) with his ad hoc foreign policy and arrogant self-importance..............
I won't profess to know what makes President Peanut Farmer tick. I can only comment that for all of the good he did with Habitat for Humanity, he has now washed that away completely (and then some) with his ad hoc foreign policy and arrogant self-importance..............
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Rupert Murdoch on "The West"
The following is adapetd from a speech Mr. Murdoch recently gave: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120882641077833349.html?mod=djemEditorialPage. Say what you want about him, he is a tireless defender of western values and he truly gets it when it comes to dealing with the threats that western culture faces.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Thank YOU, President Peanut Farmer
He's managed to screw Israel even more than he had previously, which I guess was his goal from the start. Hamas has announced that it will "agree" to a 10-year "hudna" (cease fire) if Israel withdraws to its pre-1967 borders: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080421/ap_on_re_mi_ea/syria_hamas_israel. Of course, a hudna is NOT a peace treaty--it is a ceasefire which the Muslim who makes it can break at any time and for any reason--and Hamas has said that it will never recognize Israel under any circumstances.
So, what has President Peanut Farmer really accomplished? Nothing other than to put even more pressure on Israel while placing precisely none on the Arab states.
So, what has President Peanut Farmer really accomplished? Nothing other than to put even more pressure on Israel while placing precisely none on the Arab states.
Hockey Talk
The NHL playoffs continue. Several series are over, In the East, the Pittsburgh Penguins, as expected, trashed the "We've been ready for the golf course since January" Ottawa Senators in four straight. The New York Rangers continued their domination of the New Jersey Devils by ousting the latter in five games. The Philadelphia Flyers have a chance to close out the Washington Ovechkins, I mean, the Washington Capitals, in Game Six of their series tonight. That leaves just one series, where the Montreal Canadiens taken on the Boston Bruins in Game Seven of their series, and that is also tonight. As readers of this blog know, I have been a diehard Habs fan my whole life. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I am going to reprint the contents of an e-mail I sent to a friend on Sunday morning after Montreal lost Game Six on Saturday night:
"This team is gutless and leaderless, and I am almost hoping that Boston does win tomorrow night [editor's note: that's tonight, now]. The Bruins have been the better team now in five of the six games in the series, They deserve to win, unlike the Hab-nots. Frankly, if not for Carey Price's heroics in Game Two (and Game Four, now that I think about it), last night would have been the series clinching win for Boston.
The Bruins have shown more heart and effort than the Canadiens on virtually every shift. They want it more. I am completely disgusted with the Habs' play. And, it's fairly obvious that Claude Julien is badly outcoaching Guy Carbonneau. You're right, even if Montreal somehow does win tomorrow night, something which I seriously doubt, the team will get clobbered by either Philadelphia or New York in the second round. I'd rather it not waste my time and just lose tomorrow.
We could be looking at yet another piece of negative Habs' history--the first team in the history of the franchise to blow a 3-1 series lead. As I said, in order to avoid a second round humiliation, let them go ahead and do it now, rather than lose in five in Round Two."
That sums up my feelings pretty accurately right now!
Out west, the Detroit Red Wings finally eliminated the stubborn Nashville Predators in six games yesterday, and a few hours later, the Dallas Stars made sure that we would have a new Stanley Cup Champion this year by completing a six game upset of the Anaheim Ducks. In Calgary, the Flames made sure that we'd have some hockey to watch tomorrow night by winning game six against the San Jose Sharks last night, setting up a winner take all match in Game Seven. Regardless of who wins, the survivor might now have much left for the next round, as this has been an extremely bruising series. Finally, the Colorado Avalanche served notice that they will be a force in the post-season when they road the hot goaltending of Jose Theodore to a first round, six game elimination of the Minnesota Wild.
If things shake out the way I expect, we will see Pittsburgh host Boston and Philadelphia play New York in the East, while out west one of the great playoff rivalries of the 1990s will be renewed when Detroit hosts Colorado, with the winner of that series to take on the winner of the San Jose-Dllas tilt.
"This team is gutless and leaderless, and I am almost hoping that Boston does win tomorrow night [editor's note: that's tonight, now]. The Bruins have been the better team now in five of the six games in the series, They deserve to win, unlike the Hab-nots. Frankly, if not for Carey Price's heroics in Game Two (and Game Four, now that I think about it), last night would have been the series clinching win for Boston.
The Bruins have shown more heart and effort than the Canadiens on virtually every shift. They want it more. I am completely disgusted with the Habs' play. And, it's fairly obvious that Claude Julien is badly outcoaching Guy Carbonneau. You're right, even if Montreal somehow does win tomorrow night, something which I seriously doubt, the team will get clobbered by either Philadelphia or New York in the second round. I'd rather it not waste my time and just lose tomorrow.
We could be looking at yet another piece of negative Habs' history--the first team in the history of the franchise to blow a 3-1 series lead. As I said, in order to avoid a second round humiliation, let them go ahead and do it now, rather than lose in five in Round Two."
That sums up my feelings pretty accurately right now!
Out west, the Detroit Red Wings finally eliminated the stubborn Nashville Predators in six games yesterday, and a few hours later, the Dallas Stars made sure that we would have a new Stanley Cup Champion this year by completing a six game upset of the Anaheim Ducks. In Calgary, the Flames made sure that we'd have some hockey to watch tomorrow night by winning game six against the San Jose Sharks last night, setting up a winner take all match in Game Seven. Regardless of who wins, the survivor might now have much left for the next round, as this has been an extremely bruising series. Finally, the Colorado Avalanche served notice that they will be a force in the post-season when they road the hot goaltending of Jose Theodore to a first round, six game elimination of the Minnesota Wild.
If things shake out the way I expect, we will see Pittsburgh host Boston and Philadelphia play New York in the East, while out west one of the great playoff rivalries of the 1990s will be renewed when Detroit hosts Colorado, with the winner of that series to take on the winner of the San Jose-Dllas tilt.
Even the New York Times had to report on this
Hamas, apparently unsatisfied with the results of the steady rain of rockets and missiles launched at Sderot, Ashkelon and other Israeli cities, has returned to the tried and true terrorist tactic of homicide bombings: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/world/middleeast/20mideast.html?_r=1&oref=slogin. The interesting thing here is the target of the attacks--border crossings where goods cross for civilians, such as food, fuel, etc. As my entry headline reads, even the New York Times had to report on this. Yet, I have little doubt that within a few days, there will be more cries in the MSM, including the NYT, on how Israel "must do more" to ease the "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza, totally ignoring the fact that it has been completely caused by Hamas and its fellow terrorists. And Israel is bracing for more: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208422645429&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Passover and making sure we don't forget
Tomorrow night marks the start of the Jewish holiday of Passover. To all of my Jewish readers I wish you a healthy and happy Passover. Celebrate your Seders and enjoy the company of good friends and/or family, because that truly is "what it's all about".
As well, please give a thought and say a prayer for the missing Israeli soldiers, all of whom have been in captivity or whose fate has been unknown for far too long:
Gilad Shalit
Ehud Goldwasser
Eldad Regev
Zecharia Baumel
Tzvi Feldman
Yekutiel Katz
Ron Arad
Guy Hever
http://www.freethesoldiers.org/local_includes/downloads/18388.pdf.
As well, please give a thought and say a prayer for the missing Israeli soldiers, all of whom have been in captivity or whose fate has been unknown for far too long:
Gilad Shalit
Ehud Goldwasser
Eldad Regev
Zecharia Baumel
Tzvi Feldman
Yekutiel Katz
Ron Arad
Guy Hever
http://www.freethesoldiers.org/local_includes/downloads/18388.pdf.
Biting the hand that fuels you
Literally. Israel continues to supply fuel to the Gaza Strip, the condemnations of the U.N. notwithstanding. So, how does the terrorist statelet say thank you? By firing on the fuel trucks: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3533205,00.html.
I don't suppose that we'll see this story splashed all over the front page of the New York Times, will we?
I don't suppose that we'll see this story splashed all over the front page of the New York Times, will we?
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Well said
Kathleen Parker is an Orlando-based Op-Ed columnist who also writes for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.l She just wrote an excellent piece on why Barack Obama's comment about those rubes who inhabit the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has ticked off so many people: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-parker17aprilsbapr17,0,1487035.story.
She makes an excellent point. Obama denies being an elitist. Fine, he's entitled to do just that, but the fact of the matter is that he made his comments in SAN FRANCISCO, the heart of the liberal elitist beast, and despite his unquestionable eloquence, actions speak much louder than words. His actions are indicative of his being the prototypical elitist.
She makes an excellent point. Obama denies being an elitist. Fine, he's entitled to do just that, but the fact of the matter is that he made his comments in SAN FRANCISCO, the heart of the liberal elitist beast, and despite his unquestionable eloquence, actions speak much louder than words. His actions are indicative of his being the prototypical elitist.
This is what passes for art these days?
Some idiotic woman at Yale injected herself with fertility drugs while simultaneously ingesting abortion-inducing drugs so that she could display "the results" of the abortion drugs: http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/24513.
I admit, I am utterly incapable of understanding the thought process that led to a conclusion that this was a good idea. Apparently, I am on an island on this one. One of her fellow students indicated that he was intrigued by "the creativity and beauty" of the project.
I admit, I am utterly incapable of understanding the thought process that led to a conclusion that this was a good idea. Apparently, I am on an island on this one. One of her fellow students indicated that he was intrigued by "the creativity and beauty" of the project.
Playoff passion
It's hard for a non-Montrealer to understand the fervor that Montreal Canadiens' fans have for their team. I will say, a lot of the passion seemed to vanish with the Habs' move from the Forum to the Molson (now the Bell) Centre, a considerably larger (it seats about 5,000 additional people) and more impersonal venue. It seemed as though the fabled "Forum Ghosts", who seemed to bedevil so many playoff opponents over the years, had not made the move to the new building. Of course, that move also coincided with a marked decline of the team, as the team missed the playoffs more often than it made them.
This year's team, which was picked by most pundits to miss the playoffs (Author's note: I made the same prediction) shocked everyone by winning the Eastern Conference regular season title, and it is now up three games to one in its first round series against archrival Boston. The atmosphere at the Bell Centre has been electric, to say the least, and the Canadiens have gone from having virtually no home ice advantage to having one of the most formidable home ice presences in the league, a fact noted by Boston hockey writer Kevin DuPont: http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/articles/2008/04/13/this_rink_gives_you_chills/.
I don't know how long the Habs' run will last (even if Montreal closes out Boston, formidable teams in New York, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia or Washington lie lurking in the weeds, not to mention a powerhouse team from the Western Conference), but I'm sure going to enjoy it while it does.................
This year's team, which was picked by most pundits to miss the playoffs (Author's note: I made the same prediction) shocked everyone by winning the Eastern Conference regular season title, and it is now up three games to one in its first round series against archrival Boston. The atmosphere at the Bell Centre has been electric, to say the least, and the Canadiens have gone from having virtually no home ice advantage to having one of the most formidable home ice presences in the league, a fact noted by Boston hockey writer Kevin DuPont: http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/articles/2008/04/13/this_rink_gives_you_chills/.
I don't know how long the Habs' run will last (even if Montreal closes out Boston, formidable teams in New York, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia or Washington lie lurking in the weeds, not to mention a powerhouse team from the Western Conference), but I'm sure going to enjoy it while it does.................
Hamas gets it
Everyone gets it. President Peanut Farmer's meeting with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal bestows a legitimacy on the terrorist group that it could never have previously imagined: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/16/AR2008041600758.html.
Of course, I am acting under the assumption that legitimizing the terrorist entity is EXACTLY what President Peanut Farmer wants to do. He's not that stupid; in fact, I think that he knows precisely the consequences of this decision, though there are many who believe that he really is that naive and moronic, including Michael Young, the Editor of Lebanon's Daily Star: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=5&article_id=91072.
For more on what Hamas REALLY thinks, the beliefs of President Peanut Farmer notwithstanding, go here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/16/AR2008041602899.html.
Of course, I am acting under the assumption that legitimizing the terrorist entity is EXACTLY what President Peanut Farmer wants to do. He's not that stupid; in fact, I think that he knows precisely the consequences of this decision, though there are many who believe that he really is that naive and moronic, including Michael Young, the Editor of Lebanon's Daily Star: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=5&article_id=91072.
For more on what Hamas REALLY thinks, the beliefs of President Peanut Farmer notwithstanding, go here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/16/AR2008041602899.html.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
STILL can't stay away from this story
President Peanut Farmer's latest "words of wisdom": http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3532211,00.html.
Among the highlights of this article:
1) Yasser Arafat fought for "just causes" (like killing Leon Klinghoffer and other Americans?)
2) President Peanut Farmer met with and warmly embraced Nasr a-Din Shaar, Hamas' Deputy Prime Minister (Why wouldn't he? They share a mutual hatred for Israel).
3) President Peanut Farmer claimed that Israel was dodging its obligations as set out in the Annapolis "Peace Conference" (and I guess that firing rockets at Israel on a daily basis means that the Palestinians are holding up their end of the bargain).
4) Carter bemoaned not being able to visit the "besieged" Gaza Strip (I guess that President Peanut Farmer must have missed those shipments of fuel and food to Gaza.).
Among the highlights of this article:
1) Yasser Arafat fought for "just causes" (like killing Leon Klinghoffer and other Americans?)
2) President Peanut Farmer met with and warmly embraced Nasr a-Din Shaar, Hamas' Deputy Prime Minister (Why wouldn't he? They share a mutual hatred for Israel).
3) President Peanut Farmer claimed that Israel was dodging its obligations as set out in the Annapolis "Peace Conference" (and I guess that firing rockets at Israel on a daily basis means that the Palestinians are holding up their end of the bargain).
4) Carter bemoaned not being able to visit the "besieged" Gaza Strip (I guess that President Peanut Farmer must have missed those shipments of fuel and food to Gaza.).
The JTA shills for Barack Obama
This puff piece is just the latest in a series of Obamamania articles by a Jewish establishment organization which doesn't get that Mr. Obama has unapologetically surrounded himself with people who don't like Jews or Israel: http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news/article/2008041020080410obamainterview.html. No criticism of him on his association with Jeremiah Wright, Louis Farrakhan, etc. Just an almost gleeful reporting on how he is picking up support with Jewish Democrats (are there that many stupid people out there?).
Appalling. That's the only worse I can use to describe this..............
Appalling. That's the only worse I can use to describe this..............
Denial times two
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prides himself on being a Holocaust denier, so it certainly didn't require a large "leap of logic" for him to out himself as a 9/11 Truther: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/16/world/main4019128.shtml. The scary thing is that so many people reading this article undoubtedly agree with him.............
Remember, HE'S the moderate, Part Two
Mahmoud Abbas is supposed to be the "moderate" alternative to Hamas, or so the MSM and State Department (not to mention the EU) keeping telling us. Well, what's this moderate about to do? He's going to give a couple medal to female terrorists who were directly involved in terrorist attacks which killed Israelis: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208246580507&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull. For the record, neither of the two women is even remotely remorseful for what they did: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3232591,00.html.
Think that this story will be picked up by CNN? The New York Times? Washington Post? ABC News? Yeah, me neither.................
UPDATE (4/17/08, 10:50 a.m.): The Jerusalem Post is reporting that the awards have been "revoked": http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208356970235&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.
Think that this story will be picked up by CNN? The New York Times? Washington Post? ABC News? Yeah, me neither.................
UPDATE (4/17/08, 10:50 a.m.): The Jerusalem Post is reporting that the awards have been "revoked": http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208356970235&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
A shocker!
A survey of Arab media has found that (I hope that you're all sitting down as you read this)..................Arab media outlets are biased against Israel: http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=QatarNews&month=April2008&file=Local_News2008041534756.xml.
No, it's true! Really!
No, it's true! Really!
Delegitimizing Israel
As Israel's 60th Anniversary approaches, the level and base level of the rhetoric against it continues to increase. The Charlotte (North Carolina) Oberserver just offered its Op-Ed page to one Edith Garwood, who in a few words claims that Israel is essentially an illegitimate country and that the Palestinians should have the immediate right of return: http://www.charlotte.com/409/story/576063.html. The fact that this would mean the end of Israel would no doubt be a source of great happiness to Ms. Garwood.
Another anti-Israeli screed was penned by someone by the name of Bill Slavick. I've never heard of the guy, but he clearly doesn't like Israel very much, describing it as the "bully of the region": http://bangornews.com/news/t/viewpoints.aspx?articleid=162956&zoneid=35. I am sure that Iran would be most distressed to read that it has been dislodged from that particular perch.
Another anti-Israeli screed was penned by someone by the name of Bill Slavick. I've never heard of the guy, but he clearly doesn't like Israel very much, describing it as the "bully of the region": http://bangornews.com/news/t/viewpoints.aspx?articleid=162956&zoneid=35. I am sure that Iran would be most distressed to read that it has been dislodged from that particular perch.
Blatant hypocrisy
You have to admire the Democrats, if for no other reason than they are utterly brazen in their hypocrisy. On one hand, they screech incessantly that they will "restore the United States' standing in the world", and that they will mend the fences with our allies. Yet, on the other, and even while they do not control the presidency, they are undermining allies: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120821999415914691.html?mod=djemEditorialPage. Changing House of Representatives rules to kill the Colombia-United State Free Trade Deal is but one example. We also have Barack Obama threatening to re-open NAFTA, so as to go after those nasty Canadians.
Yup, there is no way better way to mend the fences than by putting the screws to one of your closest allies...............
Yup, there is no way better way to mend the fences than by putting the screws to one of your closest allies...............
Monday, April 14, 2008
The way a fly is attracted to manure.........
...........I can't stay away from the President Peanut Farmer/Hamas story. Not surprisingly, the Left thinks that his meeting with Hamas is a WONDERFUL idea because Israel.......you know......is a fascist/apartheid country: http://firedoglake.com/2008/04/12/god-bless-jimmy-carter-the-best-friend-israel-ever-had/.
You can always count on the Angry Left for calm, reasoned thought, especially when it comes to the subject of Israel.
You can always count on the Angry Left for calm, reasoned thought, especially when it comes to the subject of Israel.
Summarizing the Sixties
A good friend of mine sent me a link to a website that has a great summary of the 1960s, which can be found here: http://moreoldfortyfives.com/TakeMeBackToTheSixties.htm. I found it absolutely fascinating, and I wonder if someday people in the 2040s will look back at the 2000s the way we regard the 1960s...............
If nothing else, the music during the retrospective is great!
If nothing else, the music during the retrospective is great!
Taking the meeting
Israeli President Shimon Peres, who agreed to meet with President Peanut Farmer as part of the latter's Middle East Tour, apparently didn't fill his role as the Court Jew too well. Peres, a dove if there ever was one, was quite critical of President Peanut Farmer's decision to meet with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/974463.html.
One would think that President Peanut Farmer would get the idea that what he's doing is wrong when he's being criticized by the likes of Shimon Peres, the U.S. State Department, Condhimmileeza Rice, etc., but that's apparently too much to ask of the Israel-hating former President. He still thinks that it's a wonderful idea, and that Hamas must be a part of any peace agreement. I'm not sure exactly what part of "we want all of the Jews in Israel to die" President Peanut Farmer doesn't understand, but it's clear that he doesn't understand Hamas' true goal, which is this: http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1739.htm. He doesn't even get the "Palestinian Authority's" plan for the Middle East, which is this: http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1738.htm.
How out of touch is he? Even the Chicago Tribune asks rhetorically whether his Nobel Peace Prize can be revoked: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0411edit2apr11,0,1544961.story.
One would think that President Peanut Farmer would get the idea that what he's doing is wrong when he's being criticized by the likes of Shimon Peres, the U.S. State Department, Condhimmileeza Rice, etc., but that's apparently too much to ask of the Israel-hating former President. He still thinks that it's a wonderful idea, and that Hamas must be a part of any peace agreement. I'm not sure exactly what part of "we want all of the Jews in Israel to die" President Peanut Farmer doesn't understand, but it's clear that he doesn't understand Hamas' true goal, which is this: http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1739.htm. He doesn't even get the "Palestinian Authority's" plan for the Middle East, which is this: http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1738.htm.
How out of touch is he? Even the Chicago Tribune asks rhetorically whether his Nobel Peace Prize can be revoked: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0411edit2apr11,0,1544961.story.
More Democratic turmoil
There are reports on the news services that former Veep Al Gore and President Peanut Farmer are going to ask Senator Hillary Clinton to give up her presidential campaign, in the hope of uniting the party before the convention this summer: http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/04/13/report-carter-and-gore-to-team-up-against-clinton-to-end-her-presidential-bid/.
I'm not sure if this would benefit the Republicans or not.
I'm not sure if this would benefit the Republicans or not.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The Holocaust Declaration
Charles Krauthammer writes ominously on Realclearpolitics' website about the impending arrival of Iran to the list nuclear-armed nations: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/04/deterrence_to_defend_israel.html. It is his suggestion that the United States place Israel under its nuclear umbrella. I don't know if this will be adequate, but it would be a start.........
A despicable man
Just seeing President Peanut Farmer's name makes me ill, but there he is again, justifying his decision to meet with the homicidal leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080413/ap_on_re_us/carter_mideast. So the man want to wipe out every Jew in Israel. No big deal as far as President Peanut Farmer is concerned, because in his delusional world view, Hamas is "necessary" to the fictitious peace process. How wacked out is he? Even the State Department and EU are against this meeting.
I'd love to know what Senators Clinton and Obama think of this decision?
I'd love to know what Senators Clinton and Obama think of this decision?
Friday, April 11, 2008
Dishonest Headline of the day
The Financial Times authored the following headline, "Israeli civil defence drill raises regional tension", which is attached to an article which can be found here: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/94c10b38-0505-11dd-a2f0-000077b07658,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F94c10b38-0505-11dd-a2f0-000077b07658.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ft.com%2Fsearch%3FqueryText%3DIsraeli%2Bcivil%2Bdefense%2Bdrill%2Braises%2Bregional%2Btension%26aje%3Dtrue%26dse%3D%26dsz%3D%26x%3D8%26y%3D13.
As more articles than can be counted have pointed out, the Israeli drill was conducted in response to the neverending barrage of Hamas rockets, the ominous threat of more powerful and renewed rocket attacks from Hezbollah, and the growing threat of Iranian missiles being launched at Israel (which the Iranians would dearly love to fire). Yet, in the Financial Times' world, it's Israel's DEFENSIVE drill which is increasing tension.
Nope, no bias here. Just keep moving along............
As more articles than can be counted have pointed out, the Israeli drill was conducted in response to the neverending barrage of Hamas rockets, the ominous threat of more powerful and renewed rocket attacks from Hezbollah, and the growing threat of Iranian missiles being launched at Israel (which the Iranians would dearly love to fire). Yet, in the Financial Times' world, it's Israel's DEFENSIVE drill which is increasing tension.
Nope, no bias here. Just keep moving along............
Barack Obama's supporters, Part Two
They now apparently include a Los Angeles clergyman who accuses Jews of "enslaving" African Americans: http://www.standwithus.com/app/iNews/view.asp?ID=350.
Does this mean that Obama hates Jews? Of course not, but given that one story after another is coming out on how people connected to him are anti-Semitic, I think that it's entirely fair to question his judgment and what kind of President he would be.
Does this mean that Obama hates Jews? Of course not, but given that one story after another is coming out on how people connected to him are anti-Semitic, I think that it's entirely fair to question his judgment and what kind of President he would be.
Sure seems reasonable to me!
Richard Falk, the rabidly anti-Israel Princeton professor who was assigned by the United Nations Human Rights Commission to permanently investigate Israeli "abuses" against the Palestinians, is a 9/11 Truther (shocking, I know): http://www.nysun.com/news/foreign/un-official-calls-study-neocons-role-911. In his warped world view, those EEEEEEEEVVVVVVVIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Neo-Cons (translation: JEWS) were behind the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks because they needed an excuse to remake the world.
I'm sure that we can count on plenty of reasonable pronouncements out of him in the years to come..........
I'm sure that we can count on plenty of reasonable pronouncements out of him in the years to come..........
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Liberal Elitists
I'm an avid reader of Sports Illustrated, which I devour as soon as it arrives in my mailbox every Wednesday. Occasionally, the magazine will delve into politics, but it usually stays away from the subject, though sometimes it just can't help itself. Last week, it had a blurb about which Presidential candidate various athletes from different sports were supporting. That section elicited the following letter to the editor from one Andrew B. Williams of San Francisco:
"There are only two reasons people ever vote Republican: They are millionaires or they are naive. Professional athletes are both."
I just love the condescension which is dripping from every word in that letter. Williams did everything but say that Republican voters are stupid. Given that SI edits letters for space and content, he may very well have done so. Well, Mr. Williams, I don't consider myself naive, and I'm certainly no millionaire. What does that make me (go ahead, you KNOW that you want to call me stupid.)?
"There are only two reasons people ever vote Republican: They are millionaires or they are naive. Professional athletes are both."
I just love the condescension which is dripping from every word in that letter. Williams did everything but say that Republican voters are stupid. Given that SI edits letters for space and content, he may very well have done so. Well, Mr. Williams, I don't consider myself naive, and I'm certainly no millionaire. What does that make me (go ahead, you KNOW that you want to call me stupid.)?
It's about time
Israel is finally responding to the pernicious and incessant bias against it by the United Nations Human Rights Commission and its new investigator Richard Falk, by barring him from the country: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/08/africa/ME-GEN-Israel-UN-Barred.php. Falk has compared Israel to Nazi Germany, and he has stood by those comments in recent interviews. Israel for some reason is concerned about his ability to be impartial. Really? I can't imagine that a U.N. hack would ever be anything less than completely impartial when it comes to Israel.......................
Hunker down
We're all going to be dying in 30-40 years because of global warming, and those that aren't dying will be cannibals, or so says Ted Turner: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120770387977600195.html?mod=djemEditorialPage.
You see, according to Red Ted, we all spend too much (he has a point there), and consume too much and we have too many kids. I have to say, I just love it when the super rich, who possess more than most of us will ever have in our lifetimes, tell us that we plebeians have too much.
You see, according to Red Ted, we all spend too much (he has a point there), and consume too much and we have too many kids. I have to say, I just love it when the super rich, who possess more than most of us will ever have in our lifetimes, tell us that we plebeians have too much.
Gee, ya think????
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker is sounding the warning bells about the collapsing dollar, noting that the patter of what is going on now is very similar to what happened in the late 1970s, ie., stagflation: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120769723589099695.html?mod=djemEditorialPage.
Well, I must say that I'm glad that someone other than me has noticed. Certainly, Ben Barnanke, the current Fed Chairman, hasn't seen the writing on the wall. It goes without saying that the White House and Congress haven't realized it either. The recommendation I would make? Save, save, and save some more...........
Well, I must say that I'm glad that someone other than me has noticed. Certainly, Ben Barnanke, the current Fed Chairman, hasn't seen the writing on the wall. It goes without saying that the White House and Congress haven't realized it either. The recommendation I would make? Save, save, and save some more...........
President Peanut Farmer thinks he's still the President
Worse yet, he's never met an anti-Israeli with whom he didn't want to cuddle up. His latest act of insanity is to plan a meeting with Khaled Meshal, the homicidal (Jewicidal?) leader of Hamas: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,348413,00.html. You gotta love President Peanut Farmer. If you hate Israel, he's more than happy to meet with you. However, if you're a supporter of Israel, such as Alan Dershowitz, he runs for the hills.
The man's depravity knows no end...................
The man's depravity knows no end...................
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Girls gone wild
Stories like this just make me sick to my stomach. Is this the kind of high school world that my oldest is just six years away from joining? Six girls and two boys in the Lakeland area of Florida have been arrested and charged with viciously beating another girl to the point of unconsciousness: http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=77707. It gets worse. They filmed it, and you can view the film--if your stomach can handle it--at the link.
And it gets even worse than that. The attackers, who were all girls (the boys were apparently lookouts) are not only not remorseful, they seemed, according to police reports, to be more concerned about missing cheerleading practice and not going to the beach the next weekend. The Sherriff's Department's press release is chilling: http://www.tampabays10.com/images/pdfs/Teenager-Beaten-By-Other-Teens.pdf.
What kind of world do we live in? Is this the natural progression of a world where getting famous, getting yourself seen, however you do it, is the be-all and end-all? Is it an inevitable outcome from a generation where sites such MySpace, Facebook annd YouTube show just about everything?
And it gets even worse than that. The attackers, who were all girls (the boys were apparently lookouts) are not only not remorseful, they seemed, according to police reports, to be more concerned about missing cheerleading practice and not going to the beach the next weekend. The Sherriff's Department's press release is chilling: http://www.tampabays10.com/images/pdfs/Teenager-Beaten-By-Other-Teens.pdf.
What kind of world do we live in? Is this the natural progression of a world where getting famous, getting yourself seen, however you do it, is the be-all and end-all? Is it an inevitable outcome from a generation where sites such MySpace, Facebook annd YouTube show just about everything?
I guess that it could be worse
Following up on my last post, a school in the U.K. sent a letter home to a student's parents because.........are you ready for this...........he is too flatulent: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1006721.ece.
I never knew that breaking wind could cause such a stir.
I never knew that breaking wind could cause such a stir.
Idiocy
Another over-reaction by another nitwit in the nation's school system. A Principal in Denver had a student suspended because the eight year old sniffed his Sharpie marker: http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=89333. Apparently, this dunce of a Principal wanted to send a message about substance abuse, but was completely ignorant of the fact that there is no possible way to get high by smelling a Sharpie. And, now all markers have been removed from the school.
These are the types of morons who are educating our children.
These are the types of morons who are educating our children.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Playoff Hockey is here!
I'm a happy man, sports-wise! My Montreal Canadiens are not only in the post-season, they are the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference (ie., cannon fodder for the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals). Without further ado, here are my predictions on the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The team's seed is noted in parentheses:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
1) Boston Bruins (#8) at Montreal Canadiens (#1): Montreal swept Boston in all eight games this season, with many of those games not even of the competitive variety. I do not see that trend continuing in the post season. The Bruins will play the Canadiens tought, and the series will go six hard-fought games before Montreal (hopefully!) prevails.
2) Ottawa Senators (#7) at Pittsburgh Penguins (#2): This is a return engagement from last year's first-round playoff matchup, which Ottawa won last year in five games. This year, the Penguins will return the favour to the stumbling Senators. Pittsburgh in five.
3) Philadelphia Flyers (#6) at Washington Capitals (#3): Philadelphia comes into the playoffs on a decent roll, having lost just four times in regulation time in its last 17 games. However, NO team is hotter than Washington, which is led by Alexander Ovechkin, the most exciting and complete player in the game. The Caps win this clash, but it'll go seven games.
4) New York Rangers (#5) at New Jersey Devils (#4): The Devils have Martin Brodeur and not much else. New York is too deep and home ice advantage means nothing for these two teams. The Rangers will steamroll the Devils in five games.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1) Nashville Predators (#8) at Detroit Red Wings (#1): Perennially, the Red Wings enter the playoffs as the #1 overall seed, as is the case this year, but it seems as though all those great regular seasons are rarely followed by Stanley Cup titles. That said, Nashville did an amazing job just getting to the playoffs, given the turmoil that surrounded the franchise after last season. Detroit wins this series in five games, and it could very well be over in four.
2) Calgary Flames (#7) at San Jose Sharks (#2): I see the Sharks as the best team in the Western Conference, but that is nothing new for this team. Will the playoff performance finally meet up with the level of talent on the team? On the other hand, Calgary is just a few seasons removed from a Stanley Cup finals appearance, and many of the players from that team are still there. I say that the Sharks begin the process of exorcising those post-season demons. San Jose in six.
3) Colorado Avalanche (#6) at Minnesota Wild (#3): The Avs, like the Caps in the East, come into the playoffs on a major roll. This is obviously not the same team as the one which Stanley Cups in 1996 and 2001, but there are some constants (Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg--when he's healthy). The Wild, on the other hand, are New Jersey west, trapping anyone and everyone. That won't be enough there. Colorado in six.
4) Dallas Stars (#5) at Anaheim Ducks (#4): This would be a legitimate conference final, but one of these two Cup contenders will be gone in the first round. Most likely it will be the Stars, who will have trouble generating scoring chances and scoring goals against the rock-solid Ducks defense. Anaheim in five.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
1) Boston Bruins (#8) at Montreal Canadiens (#1): Montreal swept Boston in all eight games this season, with many of those games not even of the competitive variety. I do not see that trend continuing in the post season. The Bruins will play the Canadiens tought, and the series will go six hard-fought games before Montreal (hopefully!) prevails.
2) Ottawa Senators (#7) at Pittsburgh Penguins (#2): This is a return engagement from last year's first-round playoff matchup, which Ottawa won last year in five games. This year, the Penguins will return the favour to the stumbling Senators. Pittsburgh in five.
3) Philadelphia Flyers (#6) at Washington Capitals (#3): Philadelphia comes into the playoffs on a decent roll, having lost just four times in regulation time in its last 17 games. However, NO team is hotter than Washington, which is led by Alexander Ovechkin, the most exciting and complete player in the game. The Caps win this clash, but it'll go seven games.
4) New York Rangers (#5) at New Jersey Devils (#4): The Devils have Martin Brodeur and not much else. New York is too deep and home ice advantage means nothing for these two teams. The Rangers will steamroll the Devils in five games.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1) Nashville Predators (#8) at Detroit Red Wings (#1): Perennially, the Red Wings enter the playoffs as the #1 overall seed, as is the case this year, but it seems as though all those great regular seasons are rarely followed by Stanley Cup titles. That said, Nashville did an amazing job just getting to the playoffs, given the turmoil that surrounded the franchise after last season. Detroit wins this series in five games, and it could very well be over in four.
2) Calgary Flames (#7) at San Jose Sharks (#2): I see the Sharks as the best team in the Western Conference, but that is nothing new for this team. Will the playoff performance finally meet up with the level of talent on the team? On the other hand, Calgary is just a few seasons removed from a Stanley Cup finals appearance, and many of the players from that team are still there. I say that the Sharks begin the process of exorcising those post-season demons. San Jose in six.
3) Colorado Avalanche (#6) at Minnesota Wild (#3): The Avs, like the Caps in the East, come into the playoffs on a major roll. This is obviously not the same team as the one which Stanley Cups in 1996 and 2001, but there are some constants (Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg--when he's healthy). The Wild, on the other hand, are New Jersey west, trapping anyone and everyone. That won't be enough there. Colorado in six.
4) Dallas Stars (#5) at Anaheim Ducks (#4): This would be a legitimate conference final, but one of these two Cup contenders will be gone in the first round. Most likely it will be the Stars, who will have trouble generating scoring chances and scoring goals against the rock-solid Ducks defense. Anaheim in five.
A self-fulfilling prophecy
Given the relentlessly negative media coverage of Israel, ESPECIALLY by the BBC, it is no surprise that a BBC world survey would find that the Jewish state, which is the only western democracy in the Middle East, is regarded with among the most negative views accorded any country in the world: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/02_04_08_globalview.pdf.
Gee, BBC, ya think that this might have something to do with the fact that you and your terrorist-enabling and supporting cohorts in the MSM have incessantly portrayed Israel in a light that would make the Khmer Rouge look benevolent by comparison? I'm just wondering.
Of course, it also is interesting to me that voters were NOT asked to rate Saudi Arabia, Syria, Libya, Sudan, etc, etc.: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7324337.stm. I wonder what the findings would have been had those countries been included.
Gee, BBC, ya think that this might have something to do with the fact that you and your terrorist-enabling and supporting cohorts in the MSM have incessantly portrayed Israel in a light that would make the Khmer Rouge look benevolent by comparison? I'm just wondering.
Of course, it also is interesting to me that voters were NOT asked to rate Saudi Arabia, Syria, Libya, Sudan, etc, etc.: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7324337.stm. I wonder what the findings would have been had those countries been included.
Stumbling along
I don't know what became of the Bush 43 administration, but whatever it is, it's not good. Claudia Rosset has ane excellent summary of the foreign policy bumbling by the administration over the last few years: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20080407_Bush_foreign_policy_settles_into_weird_state_of_denial.html. Its willful refusal to acknowledge Palestinian terrorism for what it is, its continued coddling of Iran, its completely unfathomably passive reaction to North Korea's ongoing refusal to comply with its nuclear de-weaponization program, etc., etc. This administration has all the hallmarks of a sick, tired government that no longer cares. If that's that case, then I just wish that it would go now.......................
Getting it
I've always admired Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman as a person who "gets it". We may be on different sides of the political spectrum on many issues, but when it comes to national security, there is no question that he understands the stakes: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120752308688293493.html?mod=djemEditorialPage. It's rare to find a (former) Democrat who is willing to take his (former) party to task for their defeatist, myopic view on Iraq, and I commend him for it.
On the same line, evidence is mounting that Iranian forces are actually involved in the fighting against Iraqi and American forces in the city of Basra: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3690010.ece. At what point will our feckless State Department and the equally feckless Bush 43 Administration finally acknowledge that Iran is now taking the fight to us? Will we respond (fat chance, I know)?
On the same line, evidence is mounting that Iranian forces are actually involved in the fighting against Iraqi and American forces in the city of Basra: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3690010.ece. At what point will our feckless State Department and the equally feckless Bush 43 Administration finally acknowledge that Iran is now taking the fight to us? Will we respond (fat chance, I know)?
Friday, April 4, 2008
As I began this somber anniversary, so I end it
My first post today contained one of Dr. King's greatest speeches, and I urge you all to read it again. Well, my last post today contains Dr. King's last speech, and it too was a great one, given less than 24 hours before he was assassinated:
Thank you very kindly, my friends. As I listened to Ralph Abernathy in his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself, I wondered who he was talking about. It's always good to have your closest friend and associate say something good about you. And Ralph is the best friend that I have in the world.
I'm delighted to see each of you here tonight in spite of a storm warning. You reveal that you are determined to go on anyhow. Something is happening in Memphis, something is happening in our world.
As you know, if I were standing at the beginning of time, with the possibility of general and panoramic view of the whole human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me, "Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in?" — I would take my mental flight by Egypt through, or rather across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the promised land. And in spite of its magnificence, I wouldn't stop there. I would move on by Greece, and take my mind to Mount Olympus. And I would see Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Euripides and Aristophanes assembled around the Parthenon as they discussed the great and eternal issues of reality.
But I wouldn't stop there. I would go on, even to the great heyday of the Roman Empire. And I would see developments around there, through various emperors and leaders. But I wouldn't stop there. I would even come up to the day of the Renaissance, and get a quick picture of all that the Renaissance did for the cultural and esthetic life of man.
But I wouldn't stop there. I would even go by the way that the man for whom I'm named had his habitat. And I would watch Martin Luther as he tacked his ninety-five theses on the door at the church in Wittenberg.
But I wouldn't stop there. I would come on up even to 1863, and watch a vacillating president by the name of Abraham Lincoln finally come to the conclusion that he had to sign the Emancipation Proclamation.
But I wouldn't stop there. I would even come up to the early thirties, and see a man grappling with the problems of the bankruptcy of his nation. And come with an eloquent cry that we have nothing to fear but fear itself.
But I wouldn't stop there. Strangely enough, I would turn to the Almighty, and say, "If you allow me to live just a few years in the second half of the twentieth century, I will be happy." Now that's a strange statement to make, because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land. Confusion all around. That's a strange statement.
But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century in a away that men, in some strange way, are responding — something is happening in our world. The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee — the cry is always the same — "We want to be free."
And another reason that I'm happy to live in this period is that we have been forced to a point where we're going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demand didn't force them to do it. Survival demands that we grapple with them. Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it's nonviolence or nonexistence.
That is where we are today. And also in the human rights revolution, if something isn't done, and in a hurry, to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty, their long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed. Now, I'm just happy that God has allowed me to live in this period, to see what is unfolding. And I'm happy that He's allowed me to be in Memphis.
I can remember, I can remember when Negroes were just going around as Ralph has said, so often, scratching where they didn't itch, and laughing when they were not tickled. But that day is all over. We mean business now, and we are determined to gain our rightful place in God's world.
And that's all this whole thing is about. We aren't engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying that we are God's children. And that we don't have to live like we are forced to live.
Now, what does all of this mean in this great period of history? It means that we've got to stay together. We've got to stay together and maintain unity. You know, whenever Pharaoh wanted to prolong the period of slavery in Egypt, he had a favorite, favorite formula for doing it. What was that? He kept the salves fighting among themselves. But whenever the slaves get together, something happens in Pharaoh's court, and he cannot hold the slaves in slavery. When the slaves get together, that's the beginning of getting out of slavery. Now let us maintain unity.
Secondly, let us keep the issues where they are. The issue is injustice. The issue is the refusal of Memphis to be fair and honest in its dealings with its public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers. Now, we've got to keep attention on that. That's always the problem with a little violence. You know what happened the other day, and the press dealt only with the window-breaking. I read the articles. They very seldom got around to mentioning the fact that one thousand, three hundred sanitation workers were on strike, and that Memphis is not being fair to them, and that Mayor Loeb is in dire need of a doctor. They didn't get around to that.
Now we're going to march again, and we've got to march again, in order to put the issue where it is supposed to be. And force everybody to see that there are thirteen hundred of God's children here suffering, sometimes going hungry, going through dark and dreary nights wondering how this thing is going to come out. That's the issue. And we've got to say to the nation: we know it's coming out. For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.
We aren't going to let any mace stop us. We are masters in our nonviolent movement in disarming police forces; they don't know what to do, I've seen them so often. I remember in Birmingham, Alabama, when we were in that majestic struggle there we would move out of the 16th Street Baptist Church day after day; by the hundreds we would move out. And Bull Connor would tell them to send the dogs forth and they did come; but we just went before the dogs singing, "Ain't gonna let nobody turn me round." Bull Connor next would say, "Turn the fire hoses on." And as I said to you the other night, Bull Connor didn't know history. He knew a kind of physics that somehow didn't relate to the transphysics that we knew about. And that was the fact that there was a certain kind of fire that no water could put out. And we went before the fire hoses; we had known water. If we were Baptist or some other denomination, we had been immersed. If we were Methodist, and some others, we had been sprinkled, but we knew water.
That couldn't stop us. And we just went on before the dogs and we would look at them; and we'd go on before the water hoses and we would look at it, and we'd just go on singing "Over my head I see freedom in the air." And then we would be thrown in the paddy wagons, and sometimes we were stacked in there like sardines in a can. And they would throw us in, and old Bull would say, "Take them off," and they did; and we would just go in the paddy wagon singing, "We Shall Overcome." And every now and then we'd get in the jail, and we'd see the jailers looking through the windows being moved by our prayers, and being moved by our words and our songs. And there was a power there which Bull Connor couldn't adjust to; and so we ended up transforming Bull into a steer, and we won our struggle in Birmingham.
Now we've got to go on to Memphis just like that. I call upon you to be with us Monday. Now about injunctions: We have an injunction and we're going into court tomorrow morning to fight this illegal, unconstitutional injunction. All we say to America is, "Be true to what you said on paper." If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they hadn't committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right. And so just as I say, we aren't going to let any injunction turn us around. We are going on.
We need all of you. And you know what's beautiful tome, is to see all of these ministers of the Gospel. It's a marvelous picture. Who is it that is supposed to articulate the longings and aspirations of the people more than the preacher? Somehow the preacher must be an Amos, and say, "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Somehow, the preacher must say with Jesus, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to deal with the problems of the poor."
And I want to commend the preachers, under the leadership of these noble men: James Lawson, one who has been in this struggle for many years; he's been to jail for struggling; but he's still going on, fighting for the rights of his people. Rev. Ralph Jackson, Billy Kiles; I could just go right on down the list, but time will not permit. But I want to thank them all. And I want you to thank them, because so often, preachers aren't concerned about anything but themselves. And I'm always happy to see a relevant ministry.
It's all right to talk about "long white robes over yonder," in all of its symbolism. But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here. It's all right to talk about "streets flowing with milk and honey," but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can't eat three square meals a day. It's all right to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God's preachers must talk about the New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do.
Now the other thing we'll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. Now, we are poor people, individually, we are poor when you compare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget that collectively, that means all of us together, collectively we are richer than all the nations in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? After you leave the United States, Soviet Russia, Great Britain, West Germany, France, and I could name the others, the Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world. We have an annual income of more than thirty billion dollars a year, which is more than all of the exports of the United States, and more than the national budget of Canada. Did you know that? That's power right there, if we know how to pool it.
We don't have to argue with anybody. We don't have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don't need any bricks and bottles, we don't need any Molotov cocktails, we just need to go around to these stores, and to these massive industries in our country, and say, "God sent us by here, to say to you that you're not treating his children right. And we've come by here to ask you to make the first item on your agenda fair treatment, where God's children are concerned. Now, if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that we must follow. And our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you."
And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy—what is the other bread?—Wonder Bread. And what is the other bread company, Jesse? Tell them not to buy Hart's bread. As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now, only the garbage men have been feeling pain; now we must kind of redistribute the pain. We are choosing these companies because they haven't been fair in their hiring policies; and we are choosing them because they can begin the process of saying, they are going to support the needs and the rights of these men who are on strike. And then they can move on downtown and tell Mayor Loeb to do what is right.
But not only that, we've got to strengthen black institutions. I call upon you to take your money out of the banks downtown and deposit your money in Tri-State Bank—we want a "bank-in" movement in Memphis. So go by the savings and loan association. I'm not asking you something we don't do ourselves at SCLC. Judge Hooks and others will tell you that we have an account here in the savings and loan association from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. We're just telling you to follow what we're doing. Put your money there. You have six or seven black insurance companies in Memphis. Take out your insurance there. We want to have an "insurance-in."
Now these are some practical things we can do. We begin the process of building a greater economic base. And at the same time, we are putting pressure where it really hurts. I ask you to follow through here.
Now, let me say as I move to my conclusion that we've got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point, in Memphis. We've got to see it through. And when we have our march, you need to be there. Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together.
Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness. One day a man came to Jesus; and he wanted to raise some questions about some vital matters in life. At points, he wanted to trick Jesus, and show him that he knew a little more than Jesus knew, and through this, throw him off base. Now that question could have easily ended up in a philosophical and theological debate. But Jesus immediately pulled that question from mid-air, and placed it on a dangerous curve between Jerusalem and Jericho. And he talked about a certain man, who fell among thieves. You remember that a Levite and a priest passed by on the other side. They didn't stop to help him. And finally a man of another race came by. He got down from his beast, decided not to be compassionate by proxy. But with him, administering first aid, and helped the man in need. Jesus ended up saying, this was the good man, this was the great man, because he had the capacity to project the "I" into the "thou," and to be concerned about his brother. Now you know, we use our imagination a great deal to try to determine why the priest and the Levite didn't stop. At times we say they were busy going to church meetings—an ecclesiastical gathering—and they had to get on down to Jerusalem so they wouldn't be late for their meeting. At other times we would speculate that there was a religious law that "One who was engaged in religious ceremonials was not to touch a human body twenty-four hours before the ceremony." And every now and then we begin to wonder whether maybe they were not going down to Jerusalem, or down to Jericho, rather to organize a "Jericho Road Improvement Association." That's a possibility. Maybe they felt that it was better to deal with the problem from the causal root, rather than to get bogged down with an individual effort.
But I'm going to tell you what my imagination tells me. It's possible that these men were afraid. You see, the Jericho road is a dangerous road. I remember when Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem. We rented a car and drove from Jerusalem down to Jericho. And as soon as we got on that road, I said to my wife, "I can see why Jesus used this as a setting for his parable." It's a winding, meandering road. It's really conducive for ambushing. You start out in Jerusalem, which is about 1200 miles, or rather 1200 feet above sea level. And by the time you get down to Jericho, fifteen or twenty minutes later, you're about 2200 feet below sea level. That's a dangerous road. In the days of Jesus it came to be known as the "Bloody Pass." And you know, it's possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it's possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking. And he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt, in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"
That's the question before you tonight. Not, "If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day and every week as a pastor?"
The question is not, "If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?" "If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?" That's the question.
Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. And I want to thank God, once more, for allowing me to be here with you.
You know, several years ago, I was in New York City autographing the first book that I had written. And while sitting there autographing books, a demented black woman came up. The only question I heard from her was, "Are you Martin Luther King?"
And I was looking down writing, and I said yes. And the next minute I felt something beating on my chest. Before I knew it I had been stabbed by this demented woman. I was rushed to Harlem Hospital. It was a dark Saturday afternoon. And that blade had gone through, and the X-rays revealed that the tip of the blade was on the edge of my aorta, the main artery. And once that's punctured, you drown in your own blood—that's the end of you.
It came out in the New York Times the next morning, that if I had sneezed, I would have died. Well, about four days later, they allowed me, after the operation, after my chest had been opened, and the blade had been taken out, to move around in the wheel chair in the hospital. They allowed me to read some of the mail that came in, and from all over the states, and the world, kind letters came in. I read a few, but one of them I will never forget. I had received one from the President and the Vice-President. I've forgotten what those telegrams said. I'd received a visit and a letter from the Governor of New York, but I've forgotten what the letter said. But there was another letter that came from a little girl, a young girl who was a student at the White Plains High School. And I looked at that letter, and I'll never forget it. It said simply, "Dear Dr. King: I am a ninth-grade student at the White Plains High School." She said, "While it should not matter, I would like to mention that I am a white girl. I read in the paper of your misfortune, and of your suffering. And I read that if you had sneezed, you would have died. And I'm simply writing you to say that I'm so happy that you didn't sneeze."
And I want to say tonight, I want to say that I am happy that I didn't sneeze. Because if I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1960, when students all over the South started sitting-in at lunch counters. And I knew that as they were sitting in, they were really standing up for the best in the American dream. And taking the whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around in 1962, when Negroes in Albany, Georgia, decided to straighten their backs up. And whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can't ride your back unless it is bent. If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been here in 1963, when the black people of Birmingham, Alabama, aroused the conscience of this nation, and brought into being the Civil Rights Bill. If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have had a chance later that year, in August, to try to tell America about a dream that I had had. If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been down in Selma, Alabama, been in Memphis to see the community rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering. I'm so happy that I didn't sneeze.
And they were telling me, now it doesn't matter now. It really doesn't matter what happens now. I left Atlanta this morning, and as we got started on the plane, there were six of us, the pilot said over the public address system, "We are sorry for the delay, but we have Dr. Martin Luther King on the plane. And to be sure that all of the bags were checked, and to be sure that nothing would be wrong with the plane, we had to check out everything carefully. And we've had the plane protected and guarded all night."
And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?
Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
Thank you very kindly, my friends. As I listened to Ralph Abernathy in his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself, I wondered who he was talking about. It's always good to have your closest friend and associate say something good about you. And Ralph is the best friend that I have in the world.
I'm delighted to see each of you here tonight in spite of a storm warning. You reveal that you are determined to go on anyhow. Something is happening in Memphis, something is happening in our world.
As you know, if I were standing at the beginning of time, with the possibility of general and panoramic view of the whole human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me, "Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in?" — I would take my mental flight by Egypt through, or rather across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the promised land. And in spite of its magnificence, I wouldn't stop there. I would move on by Greece, and take my mind to Mount Olympus. And I would see Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Euripides and Aristophanes assembled around the Parthenon as they discussed the great and eternal issues of reality.
But I wouldn't stop there. I would go on, even to the great heyday of the Roman Empire. And I would see developments around there, through various emperors and leaders. But I wouldn't stop there. I would even come up to the day of the Renaissance, and get a quick picture of all that the Renaissance did for the cultural and esthetic life of man.
But I wouldn't stop there. I would even go by the way that the man for whom I'm named had his habitat. And I would watch Martin Luther as he tacked his ninety-five theses on the door at the church in Wittenberg.
But I wouldn't stop there. I would come on up even to 1863, and watch a vacillating president by the name of Abraham Lincoln finally come to the conclusion that he had to sign the Emancipation Proclamation.
But I wouldn't stop there. I would even come up to the early thirties, and see a man grappling with the problems of the bankruptcy of his nation. And come with an eloquent cry that we have nothing to fear but fear itself.
But I wouldn't stop there. Strangely enough, I would turn to the Almighty, and say, "If you allow me to live just a few years in the second half of the twentieth century, I will be happy." Now that's a strange statement to make, because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land. Confusion all around. That's a strange statement.
But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century in a away that men, in some strange way, are responding — something is happening in our world. The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee — the cry is always the same — "We want to be free."
And another reason that I'm happy to live in this period is that we have been forced to a point where we're going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demand didn't force them to do it. Survival demands that we grapple with them. Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it's nonviolence or nonexistence.
That is where we are today. And also in the human rights revolution, if something isn't done, and in a hurry, to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty, their long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed. Now, I'm just happy that God has allowed me to live in this period, to see what is unfolding. And I'm happy that He's allowed me to be in Memphis.
I can remember, I can remember when Negroes were just going around as Ralph has said, so often, scratching where they didn't itch, and laughing when they were not tickled. But that day is all over. We mean business now, and we are determined to gain our rightful place in God's world.
And that's all this whole thing is about. We aren't engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying that we are God's children. And that we don't have to live like we are forced to live.
Now, what does all of this mean in this great period of history? It means that we've got to stay together. We've got to stay together and maintain unity. You know, whenever Pharaoh wanted to prolong the period of slavery in Egypt, he had a favorite, favorite formula for doing it. What was that? He kept the salves fighting among themselves. But whenever the slaves get together, something happens in Pharaoh's court, and he cannot hold the slaves in slavery. When the slaves get together, that's the beginning of getting out of slavery. Now let us maintain unity.
Secondly, let us keep the issues where they are. The issue is injustice. The issue is the refusal of Memphis to be fair and honest in its dealings with its public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers. Now, we've got to keep attention on that. That's always the problem with a little violence. You know what happened the other day, and the press dealt only with the window-breaking. I read the articles. They very seldom got around to mentioning the fact that one thousand, three hundred sanitation workers were on strike, and that Memphis is not being fair to them, and that Mayor Loeb is in dire need of a doctor. They didn't get around to that.
Now we're going to march again, and we've got to march again, in order to put the issue where it is supposed to be. And force everybody to see that there are thirteen hundred of God's children here suffering, sometimes going hungry, going through dark and dreary nights wondering how this thing is going to come out. That's the issue. And we've got to say to the nation: we know it's coming out. For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.
We aren't going to let any mace stop us. We are masters in our nonviolent movement in disarming police forces; they don't know what to do, I've seen them so often. I remember in Birmingham, Alabama, when we were in that majestic struggle there we would move out of the 16th Street Baptist Church day after day; by the hundreds we would move out. And Bull Connor would tell them to send the dogs forth and they did come; but we just went before the dogs singing, "Ain't gonna let nobody turn me round." Bull Connor next would say, "Turn the fire hoses on." And as I said to you the other night, Bull Connor didn't know history. He knew a kind of physics that somehow didn't relate to the transphysics that we knew about. And that was the fact that there was a certain kind of fire that no water could put out. And we went before the fire hoses; we had known water. If we were Baptist or some other denomination, we had been immersed. If we were Methodist, and some others, we had been sprinkled, but we knew water.
That couldn't stop us. And we just went on before the dogs and we would look at them; and we'd go on before the water hoses and we would look at it, and we'd just go on singing "Over my head I see freedom in the air." And then we would be thrown in the paddy wagons, and sometimes we were stacked in there like sardines in a can. And they would throw us in, and old Bull would say, "Take them off," and they did; and we would just go in the paddy wagon singing, "We Shall Overcome." And every now and then we'd get in the jail, and we'd see the jailers looking through the windows being moved by our prayers, and being moved by our words and our songs. And there was a power there which Bull Connor couldn't adjust to; and so we ended up transforming Bull into a steer, and we won our struggle in Birmingham.
Now we've got to go on to Memphis just like that. I call upon you to be with us Monday. Now about injunctions: We have an injunction and we're going into court tomorrow morning to fight this illegal, unconstitutional injunction. All we say to America is, "Be true to what you said on paper." If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they hadn't committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right. And so just as I say, we aren't going to let any injunction turn us around. We are going on.
We need all of you. And you know what's beautiful tome, is to see all of these ministers of the Gospel. It's a marvelous picture. Who is it that is supposed to articulate the longings and aspirations of the people more than the preacher? Somehow the preacher must be an Amos, and say, "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Somehow, the preacher must say with Jesus, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to deal with the problems of the poor."
And I want to commend the preachers, under the leadership of these noble men: James Lawson, one who has been in this struggle for many years; he's been to jail for struggling; but he's still going on, fighting for the rights of his people. Rev. Ralph Jackson, Billy Kiles; I could just go right on down the list, but time will not permit. But I want to thank them all. And I want you to thank them, because so often, preachers aren't concerned about anything but themselves. And I'm always happy to see a relevant ministry.
It's all right to talk about "long white robes over yonder," in all of its symbolism. But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here. It's all right to talk about "streets flowing with milk and honey," but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can't eat three square meals a day. It's all right to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God's preachers must talk about the New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do.
Now the other thing we'll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. Now, we are poor people, individually, we are poor when you compare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget that collectively, that means all of us together, collectively we are richer than all the nations in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? After you leave the United States, Soviet Russia, Great Britain, West Germany, France, and I could name the others, the Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world. We have an annual income of more than thirty billion dollars a year, which is more than all of the exports of the United States, and more than the national budget of Canada. Did you know that? That's power right there, if we know how to pool it.
We don't have to argue with anybody. We don't have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don't need any bricks and bottles, we don't need any Molotov cocktails, we just need to go around to these stores, and to these massive industries in our country, and say, "God sent us by here, to say to you that you're not treating his children right. And we've come by here to ask you to make the first item on your agenda fair treatment, where God's children are concerned. Now, if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that we must follow. And our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you."
And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy—what is the other bread?—Wonder Bread. And what is the other bread company, Jesse? Tell them not to buy Hart's bread. As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now, only the garbage men have been feeling pain; now we must kind of redistribute the pain. We are choosing these companies because they haven't been fair in their hiring policies; and we are choosing them because they can begin the process of saying, they are going to support the needs and the rights of these men who are on strike. And then they can move on downtown and tell Mayor Loeb to do what is right.
But not only that, we've got to strengthen black institutions. I call upon you to take your money out of the banks downtown and deposit your money in Tri-State Bank—we want a "bank-in" movement in Memphis. So go by the savings and loan association. I'm not asking you something we don't do ourselves at SCLC. Judge Hooks and others will tell you that we have an account here in the savings and loan association from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. We're just telling you to follow what we're doing. Put your money there. You have six or seven black insurance companies in Memphis. Take out your insurance there. We want to have an "insurance-in."
Now these are some practical things we can do. We begin the process of building a greater economic base. And at the same time, we are putting pressure where it really hurts. I ask you to follow through here.
Now, let me say as I move to my conclusion that we've got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point, in Memphis. We've got to see it through. And when we have our march, you need to be there. Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together.
Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness. One day a man came to Jesus; and he wanted to raise some questions about some vital matters in life. At points, he wanted to trick Jesus, and show him that he knew a little more than Jesus knew, and through this, throw him off base. Now that question could have easily ended up in a philosophical and theological debate. But Jesus immediately pulled that question from mid-air, and placed it on a dangerous curve between Jerusalem and Jericho. And he talked about a certain man, who fell among thieves. You remember that a Levite and a priest passed by on the other side. They didn't stop to help him. And finally a man of another race came by. He got down from his beast, decided not to be compassionate by proxy. But with him, administering first aid, and helped the man in need. Jesus ended up saying, this was the good man, this was the great man, because he had the capacity to project the "I" into the "thou," and to be concerned about his brother. Now you know, we use our imagination a great deal to try to determine why the priest and the Levite didn't stop. At times we say they were busy going to church meetings—an ecclesiastical gathering—and they had to get on down to Jerusalem so they wouldn't be late for their meeting. At other times we would speculate that there was a religious law that "One who was engaged in religious ceremonials was not to touch a human body twenty-four hours before the ceremony." And every now and then we begin to wonder whether maybe they were not going down to Jerusalem, or down to Jericho, rather to organize a "Jericho Road Improvement Association." That's a possibility. Maybe they felt that it was better to deal with the problem from the causal root, rather than to get bogged down with an individual effort.
But I'm going to tell you what my imagination tells me. It's possible that these men were afraid. You see, the Jericho road is a dangerous road. I remember when Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem. We rented a car and drove from Jerusalem down to Jericho. And as soon as we got on that road, I said to my wife, "I can see why Jesus used this as a setting for his parable." It's a winding, meandering road. It's really conducive for ambushing. You start out in Jerusalem, which is about 1200 miles, or rather 1200 feet above sea level. And by the time you get down to Jericho, fifteen or twenty minutes later, you're about 2200 feet below sea level. That's a dangerous road. In the days of Jesus it came to be known as the "Bloody Pass." And you know, it's possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it's possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking. And he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt, in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"
That's the question before you tonight. Not, "If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day and every week as a pastor?"
The question is not, "If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?" "If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?" That's the question.
Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. And I want to thank God, once more, for allowing me to be here with you.
You know, several years ago, I was in New York City autographing the first book that I had written. And while sitting there autographing books, a demented black woman came up. The only question I heard from her was, "Are you Martin Luther King?"
And I was looking down writing, and I said yes. And the next minute I felt something beating on my chest. Before I knew it I had been stabbed by this demented woman. I was rushed to Harlem Hospital. It was a dark Saturday afternoon. And that blade had gone through, and the X-rays revealed that the tip of the blade was on the edge of my aorta, the main artery. And once that's punctured, you drown in your own blood—that's the end of you.
It came out in the New York Times the next morning, that if I had sneezed, I would have died. Well, about four days later, they allowed me, after the operation, after my chest had been opened, and the blade had been taken out, to move around in the wheel chair in the hospital. They allowed me to read some of the mail that came in, and from all over the states, and the world, kind letters came in. I read a few, but one of them I will never forget. I had received one from the President and the Vice-President. I've forgotten what those telegrams said. I'd received a visit and a letter from the Governor of New York, but I've forgotten what the letter said. But there was another letter that came from a little girl, a young girl who was a student at the White Plains High School. And I looked at that letter, and I'll never forget it. It said simply, "Dear Dr. King: I am a ninth-grade student at the White Plains High School." She said, "While it should not matter, I would like to mention that I am a white girl. I read in the paper of your misfortune, and of your suffering. And I read that if you had sneezed, you would have died. And I'm simply writing you to say that I'm so happy that you didn't sneeze."
And I want to say tonight, I want to say that I am happy that I didn't sneeze. Because if I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1960, when students all over the South started sitting-in at lunch counters. And I knew that as they were sitting in, they were really standing up for the best in the American dream. And taking the whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around in 1962, when Negroes in Albany, Georgia, decided to straighten their backs up. And whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can't ride your back unless it is bent. If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been here in 1963, when the black people of Birmingham, Alabama, aroused the conscience of this nation, and brought into being the Civil Rights Bill. If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have had a chance later that year, in August, to try to tell America about a dream that I had had. If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been down in Selma, Alabama, been in Memphis to see the community rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering. I'm so happy that I didn't sneeze.
And they were telling me, now it doesn't matter now. It really doesn't matter what happens now. I left Atlanta this morning, and as we got started on the plane, there were six of us, the pilot said over the public address system, "We are sorry for the delay, but we have Dr. Martin Luther King on the plane. And to be sure that all of the bags were checked, and to be sure that nothing would be wrong with the plane, we had to check out everything carefully. And we've had the plane protected and guarded all night."
And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?
Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
A price to be paid
The bizarro world that is Berkeley, California, may finally start to pay a price for its relentlessly left-wing, anti-American activity. One business has publicly announced that it is moving its headquarters out of the city due to the negative publicity associated with being a Berkeley-based corporation: http://www.dailycal.org/article/101127/local_company_to_leave_berkeley_due_to_protests.
There was one very telling comment at the end of the article which I found to be a very telling indicator of the mindset of those running the city:
"I'm sorry to hear they're leaving, but I think it's inevitable given the conflict that is happening with the Marine recruiting center," [Downtown council member Dona] Spring said. "... I don't see how the businesses in that square can sustain the kind of controversy that the Marine recruiting center has had on that locale."
So, this idiot politician is blaming the Marines for the problem. No, it has NOTHING to do with the license to intimidate and harass that the city council has given to Code Pink and its seditious allies.
There was one very telling comment at the end of the article which I found to be a very telling indicator of the mindset of those running the city:
"I'm sorry to hear they're leaving, but I think it's inevitable given the conflict that is happening with the Marine recruiting center," [Downtown council member Dona] Spring said. "... I don't see how the businesses in that square can sustain the kind of controversy that the Marine recruiting center has had on that locale."
So, this idiot politician is blaming the Marines for the problem. No, it has NOTHING to do with the license to intimidate and harass that the city council has given to Code Pink and its seditious allies.
Finally, the right decision
The United States and Israel have apparently decided at long last to boycott the U.N.'s 2009 "anti-racism conference", known more commonly as Durban II: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/971779.html. Canada had announced long ago that it would not attend, as this conference has all the hallmarks of being an even bigger anti-Israel, anti-American hatefest than was the 2001 conference. It should never have taken the Americans or Israelis this long to make a decision that required no thought at all. Then again, with the current leadership in Israel and Condi "The Queen of Appeasement" Rice running the show here, maybe I should be more surprised that the right decision was made at all. Of course, there is still plenty of time for Israel and the United States to get it wrong, and you can be sure that none of the European countries will follow suit.
Swiss miss
Micheline Calmy-Rey is the useful idiot Foreign Minister of Switzerland, and has made quite the international name for herself with her incessant anti-American, anti-Israeli actions: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120726161788787931.html?mod=djemEditorialPage. Think of Jacques Chirac as the Swiss Foreign Minister and you'll get a good idea of what her attitudes might be. Her latest act was to sign a huge energy deal with the Iranian government, and to wear a hijab while meeting with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
What a delightful person...............
What a delightful person...............
Martin Luther King, January 15, 1928-April 4, 1968
The text of arguably his greatest speech:
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
And in the words of U2, one of the great rock groups of all time, this tribute to Reverend King (the song "Pride", from 1984's The Unforgettable Fire):
One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come, he to justify
One man to overthrow
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed on an empty beach.
One man betrayed with a kiss
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
(nobody like you...)
Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love...
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
And in the words of U2, one of the great rock groups of all time, this tribute to Reverend King (the song "Pride", from 1984's The Unforgettable Fire):
One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come, he to justify
One man to overthrow
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed on an empty beach.
One man betrayed with a kiss
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
(nobody like you...)
Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love...
Thursday, April 3, 2008
The latest educational insanity
This was inevitable. A six-year old boy who slapped the bottom of a fellow student who was female has been labeled as an "offensive sexual toucher", and this description will follow him around on his permanent record: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/02/AR2008040203463_pf.html.
Since when did horseplay become harassment? Are we that disconnected from reality?
Since when did horseplay become harassment? Are we that disconnected from reality?
A good indication of a messed-up society
Five Philadelphia teens have been arrested and will be charged with murder for a brutal and unprovoked assault on a Starbucks manager who committed no other sin other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20080403_Four_more_Gratz_teens_charged_in_subway_death.html. The reason that these degenerates attacked him? There was none. They have already admitted that they did it on a lark.
If that isn't awful enough, there was one part of the article which just blew my mind:
A youth who would give his name only as Ty said he was walking into school when a teacher called out, "Turn around!" Ty stopped on stairs and stepped back as a procession of police went past. He could tell they had someone in custody, but he couldn't tell who.
"I've never seen no cop come into the school and take somebody out," he said yesterday, wondering which of his classmates had been arrested. "We probably know every last one of them."
Ty, 15, said he was interested to know whether the youth already in custody had identified the other alleged killers.
"Me personally, the way I was raised, I wouldn't snitch," he said.
I can't even begin to comprehend the mindset that would think this way. I don't know "Ty's" last name, but he is unquestionably a sociopath in the making.
If that isn't awful enough, there was one part of the article which just blew my mind:
A youth who would give his name only as Ty said he was walking into school when a teacher called out, "Turn around!" Ty stopped on stairs and stepped back as a procession of police went past. He could tell they had someone in custody, but he couldn't tell who.
"I've never seen no cop come into the school and take somebody out," he said yesterday, wondering which of his classmates had been arrested. "We probably know every last one of them."
Ty, 15, said he was interested to know whether the youth already in custody had identified the other alleged killers.
"Me personally, the way I was raised, I wouldn't snitch," he said.
I can't even begin to comprehend the mindset that would think this way. I don't know "Ty's" last name, but he is unquestionably a sociopath in the making.
Air Canada flights the target of the Summer 2006 airplane bombing plot
This doesn't--or it shouldn't, anyway--come as much of a surprise: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2008/04/03/bomb-plot.html.
Of course, I have little doubt that the left in Canada will read reports like this and become even more vocal about how Canada needs to pull out immediately from Afghanistan, and that it should distance itself as much as is possible from the United States. Bet on it.
Of course, I have little doubt that the left in Canada will read reports like this and become even more vocal about how Canada needs to pull out immediately from Afghanistan, and that it should distance itself as much as is possible from the United States. Bet on it.
Iraq as Vietnam
The Democratic Party seems to have made that connection long ago, rightly (or as I believe) wrongly. Now, we are about to fight an election which, the economic issues aside, will be largely about the future of American policy in Iraq: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120718399181985179.html?mod=djemEditorialPage. Do we pull out quickly? What kind of presence will we keep in the country, if any? So many questions. I wonder, though, if the Democrats fully understand the prospects of a precipitous withdrawal. This is NOT Vietnam. There was never any danger of the Vietnamese coming over here and blowing up buildings or people. That very frightening prospect does exist with respect to Iraq.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
This just seems wrong
Alex Rodriguez, the uber-talented, uber-rich third baseman for the evil empire of the baseball world, the New York Yankees, makes $6 million a year MORE than the ENTIRE ROSTER of the Florida Marlins: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/A-Rod-could-pay-Marlins-salaries-still-have-6?urn=mlb,74571.
Spy wars of tomorrow
If anyone else read the book "Deception Point", by Dan Brown, they read in the beginning of the book about tiny robotic spy devices designed to look like flies, and which we were no bigger than insects. This technology is a lot closer to reality than one might have thought: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,345192,00.html.
What concerns me is that if we have this, our enemies will have it soon after. It goes both ways, you know...............
What concerns me is that if we have this, our enemies will have it soon after. It goes both ways, you know...............
Two Brits get it
One is Pat Condell. The other is Michael Gove, a Conservative Member of Parliament, who penned an erudite discussion of how common anti-Semitism has become these days, to the point where even the most base of accusations (the one that Jews manipulate foreign policies of countries for their own good) is not only widely accepted, it is now praised: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/michael_gove/article3653736.ece.
This is not a good time to be a Jew.........if there ever was such a time.
This is not a good time to be a Jew.........if there ever was such a time.
Shilling for terrorism
The Los Angeles Times has allowed Saudi frontman John Esposito to publish an Op-Ed in which he once again decries ANY connection between Islam and terrorism: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-esposito2apr02,0,6118014.story. Now, Esposito is a fraud, and anyone with half a brain knows that, but as Dennis Prager rightfully asked on his radio show today, would the L.A. Times have allowed a paid lobbyist for the tobacco industry to publish tripe like this on its pages and call it an "opinion piece"? I somehow doubt it.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Republican dirty tricks
We're still seven months away from the 2008 General/Presidential Election and Barack Obama has not yet secured the Democratic Party nomination, yet already so-called Progressives are screeching and whining about how the election could or might be lost because of racist Republican dirty tricks: http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=conservatives_hate_based_campaign_against_obama. Yup, if Obama loses, it could only be because he is Black. It could never be because, say:
1) People realize just how far to the left he is;
2) He is soft on terror;
3) Americans don't want their taxes hiked;
4) He would effectively surrender in Iraq, something that would be very bad in the long run for the United States;
5) He is in favour of socialized medicine, something most Americans do not want (though they certainly do want health care reform);
6) His views on abortion are out of touch with the views of even most abortion supporters;
7) His ambivalence (and I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt by using the term "ambivalent") towards the State of Israel, the only true American ally in the Middle East, is out of touchwith the views of most people in this country, as they actually seem to like Israel (which poll after poll shows);
8) Americans are rightfully leery of someone who would talk without preconditions to the likes of Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Basher Assad, something even Hillary Clinton won't do;
9) His threat to essentially tear up the NAFTA agreement would hurt the United States in the long run.
Those nine reasons came to me immediately. No doubt, if I gave it some more thought, many more would come to mind. But, that would go against the self-hating rhetoric of the left in the country, which has already decided that this is a horrible, racist country, no matter what anyone may say.
1) People realize just how far to the left he is;
2) He is soft on terror;
3) Americans don't want their taxes hiked;
4) He would effectively surrender in Iraq, something that would be very bad in the long run for the United States;
5) He is in favour of socialized medicine, something most Americans do not want (though they certainly do want health care reform);
6) His views on abortion are out of touch with the views of even most abortion supporters;
7) His ambivalence (and I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt by using the term "ambivalent") towards the State of Israel, the only true American ally in the Middle East, is out of touchwith the views of most people in this country, as they actually seem to like Israel (which poll after poll shows);
8) Americans are rightfully leery of someone who would talk without preconditions to the likes of Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Basher Assad, something even Hillary Clinton won't do;
9) His threat to essentially tear up the NAFTA agreement would hurt the United States in the long run.
Those nine reasons came to me immediately. No doubt, if I gave it some more thought, many more would come to mind. But, that would go against the self-hating rhetoric of the left in the country, which has already decided that this is a horrible, racist country, no matter what anyone may say.
Pat Condell speaks out
You had to know that Pat Condell would have a few choice words about Fitna and the Western dhimmis who are falling all over themselves to proclaim it as "hate speech". Listen to what he has to say here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3_qelW5qp4.
Fair questions
Stanley Kurtz has written an interesting piece in the National Review about the foreign money trail leading to U.S. colleges and universities: http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=NThkMDM2NDcyM2U3ZmE0YzlmNTFkNjYyNzY5MDY1Mjg. The questions asked are pertinent and important. I don't think that anyone cares if, for example, Brazil or Japan donate money to a particular school, because there is no likelihood that those countries are trying to alter or influence Americans by doing so. When the money comes from Saudi Arabia, or rich Saudis who have a history of trying to do just that (influence U.S. policy), the examination needs to be different. Sorry, but that's reality.
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