Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

16 Oct 2011 11:53

tags

U.S.: MLK memorial dedication: King’s message about reducing poverty

  • We should be reminded of what Dr. King was attempting to do when he was assassinated at 48 years [sic] of age. He was trying to put poverty on the American agenda. If he could speak to us today — and he will be speaking to us on Sunday — he would tell us that we should provide people with a living wage, end the wars, bring the troops home. He would say, ‘Do not forget the least of us.’
  • Rep. John Lewis • Speaking about Martin Luther King Jr. before the hurricane-delayed dedication of the civil rights leader’s memorial. Lewis knows a thing or two about all this civil rights/poverty thing, due to the fact that he marched with King in Selma, Ala. — and notably got injured in the process. (Edit: As one of our readers noted, Lewis incorrectly stated King’s age. He was 39 when he died. He gave his “I Have a Dream” speech, which the dedication was originally timed to celebrate, 48 years ago.)  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Feb 2011 21:58

tags

Politics: Haley Barbour remembered stuff that actually didn’t happen

  • memory Attempting to burnish his non-racist credentials, Haley Barbour recalled a 1962 Martin Luther King speech in his hometown of Yazoo. “He spoke out at the old fairground and it was full of people, black and white,” he said in December.
  • reality A heartening tale, but according to Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Garrow, there’s no record of it actually happening. MLK only came to Yazoo once, in 1966, and didn’t hold a rally when he was there. Whoops!
  • candid According to Barbour’s comments, he “paid more attention to the girls than to [Martin Luther] King.” We don’t doubt that, if the speech had happened, this would have been the case, so at least he isn’t being 100% disingenuous. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Apr 2010 14:30

tags

U.S.: Arizona immigration: The latest on their (home) plate

  • “solely” Arizona lawmakers, realizing they created a huge controversy with the law, are trying to change one word to make it all go away: The law uses the word “solely” in regards to race, which allows for racial profiling. They plan to take it out.
  • baseball The state could also lose the 2011 MLB All-Star Game as a result of a boycott of the law. Surprisingly, the state has been down this road before. in 1993, the state lost the Super Bowl as a result of their blocking of MLK Day.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jan 2010 21:30

tags

Politics: Max Headroom: MLK reminds us how far our discourse has fallen


  • One way to think of it … Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a.k.a. the guy who ticks us off with his useless quips, claims the Massachusetts senate race is a “referendum” on health care. It might just be, but what we’d like to see is a referendum on stalling tactics like Mr. McConnell’s.

  • … and another way On the other side of the aisle, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz, who we’ve seen thus far as kind of a left-leaning screen chewer in the vein of a Fox News host, said that he’d “try to vote ten times” to keep Scott Brown from winning. Sorry, friends, but this isn’t cool, either. (Hat tip @jessehines)

  • Blast from the past For a little perspective on the state of talk show chatter, here’s a clip from Martin Luther King Jr.’s last interview with Meet the Press back in 1967. We’ve devolved far from this sort of televised debate. We’ve gone from this to crap like Ed Schultz’s blabbering. We’ve fallen far.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

20 Jun 2009 22:23

tags

U.S., World: Obama’s quoting MLK in support of Iran protests

  • Martin Luther King once said, ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian people’s belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.
  • President Barack Obama • Speaking on the Iranian protests. Taking a different turn from the guarded language he had previously been using to describe the conflict, he’s now actively encouraging the protests by Iranians. Which, of course, should make Iranian leadership happy. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
top tags