Let me begin by saying Screw the racists. The recently dedicated MLK Memorial is a national disgrace as is the federal holiday honoring Kings birth. King was a street hustling preacher not much different than the rest of them except that he made the big time. Its no wonder Hussein looks up to King. Preacher Hussein got to be president, but nobody is buying his phoney moralizing the way so many were fooled by King. Had King not been assassinated, Im sure he would never have been able to sustain the image he cultivated. The thing about King is that he was a Christian preacher. Socialists and liberals hate Christians; so why do they all pee themselves at the mention of Kings name? Could it be racism? Put it in perspective this way: Imagine how the Left would react if a holiday was named after Billy Graham or foreign-born Mother Cabrini; two Christians who did a lot more for this country than King ever did. Bottom line: Nobody, black or white, whose only claim to fame is moralizing should be honored with tax dollar expenitures. If some of Kings admirers in the private sector want to worship him let them do so out of their own pockets not on public land. The Left, notably the ACLU, screams bloody murder every time they find a Christian symbol on public land or in a government building. Kings monument is just that if one accepts him as a Christian; so where is the Lefts outrage? Even if Kings monument is dedicated to him as an individual rather than to his religion it does not belong on public land. Honoring individuals on public land should be restricted to individuals who contributed to all Americans. King was a dirty little moralist whose racist message was not as obvious as is Jeremiah Wrights; nevertheless, it was racism wrapped in pretty words much like Husseins campaign rhetoric. Let me close by saying I have a dream. Call in the Army Corps of Engineers and dynamite that memorial out of existence. October 16, 2011 9:29 AM Obama dedicates MLK Memorial Last Updated 12:26 p.m. ET WASHINGTON - "An earthquake and hurricane may have delayed this day," said President Obama at the dedication of a memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "but it was a day not to be denied." Mr. Obama said Dr. King has returned to the National Mall - a symbol of the change he galvanized - at a ceremony attended by thousands. The president said that King "stirred our conscience" and made the Union "more perfect." Crowds began at dawn to crowd onto the memorial site, just to the southeast of the steps where King delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech. Designed as what King described as a stone of hope hewn from a mountain of despair, the memorial is the first to a black man on the National Mall and its parks, and the first monument to a non-president on the Mall. "In this place he will stand for all time among monuments of those who fathered this nation and those who defended it," President Obama said, "a black preacher, no official rank or title, who somehow gave voice to our deepest dreams and our most lasting ideas - a man who stirred our conscience and thereby helped make our union more perfect." The president also said the monument was not for the assassinated leader alone: "The movement of which he was a part depended on an entire generation of leaders. Many are here today, and for their service and their sacrifice we owe them our everlasting gratitude. This is a monument to your collective achievement. "Some giants of the civil rights movement like Rosa Parks and Dorothy Height, Benjamin Hooks, Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, they've been taken from us these past few years. This monument attests to their strength and their courage. And while we miss them dearly, we know they rest in a better place. "Finally, there are the multitudes of men and women whose names never appear in the history books. Those who marched and those who sang, those who sat in and those who stood firm. Those who organized and those who mobilized - all those men and women who through countless acts of quiet heroism helped bring about changes few thought were even possible ... faceless, anonymous, relentless young people, black and white, [who] have taken our whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in the formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. To those men and women, those foot soldiers for justice, know that this monument is yours as well." Mr. Obama (who was 6 when King was assassinated) credits him with helping to pave his way to the White House as the nation's first black president. Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and poet Nikki Giovanni were among those who honored the legacy of the nation's foremost civil rights leader. Today's ceremony had been postponed from its original scheduled dat4e by Hurricane Irene. Some attendees started lining up at 5 a.m. and even earlier Sunday morning. Organizers anticipate as many as 50,000 people will attend. By 9 a.m., thousands of seats were filled, and attendees were greeted with bright sunlight. Cherry Hawkins traveled from Houston with her cousins and arrived at 6 a.m. to be part of the dedication. They postponed earlier plans to attend the August dedication, which was postponed because of Hurricane Irene. "I wanted to do this for my kids and grandkids," Hawkins said. She expects the memorial will be in their history books someday. "They can say, `Oh, my granny did that."' Hawkins, her cousin DeAndrea Cooper and Cooper's daughter Brittani Jones, 23, visited the King Memorial on Saturday after joining a march with the Rev. Al Sharpton to urge Congress to pass a jobs bill. "You see his face in the memorial, and it's kind of an emotional moment," Cooper said. "It's beautiful. They did a wonderful job." Some attendees started lining up at 5 a.m. and even earlier Sunday morning. Organizers anticipate as many as 50,000 people will attend. By 9 a.m., thousands of seats were filled, and attendees were greeted with bright sunlight. King Memorial foundation president Harry Johnson called Sunday "a day of fulfillment." About 1.5 million people are estimated to have visited the 30-foot-tall statue of King and the granite walls where 14 of his quotations are carved in stone. The memorial is the first on the National Mall honoring a black leader. The sculpture of King with his arms crossed appears to emerge from a stone extracted from a mountain. It was carved by Chinese artist Lei Yixin. The design was inspired by a line from the famous "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963: "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope." King's "Dream" speech during the March on Washington galvanized the civil rights movement. King's older sister, Christine King Farris, said she witnessed a baby become "a great hero to humanity." She said the memorial will ensure her brother's legacy will provide a source of inspiration worldwide for generations. "He was my little brother, and I watched him grow and develop into a man who was destined for a special kind of greatness," she said. To young people in the crowd, she said King's message is that "Great dreams can come true and America is the place where you can make it happen." King's daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, said her family is proud to witness the memorial's dedication. She said it was a long time coming and had been a priority for her mother, Coretta Scott King, who died in 2006. Bernice King and her brother Martin Luther King III said their father's dream is not yet realized. Martin Luther King III said the nation has "lost its soul" when it tolerates vast economic disparities, teen bullying, and having more people of color in prison than in college. He said the memorial should serve as a catalyst to renew his father's fight for social and economic justice. "The problem is the American dream of 50 years ago ... has turned into a nightmare for millions of people" who have lost their jobs and homes, King said. The choir from King's historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta was scheduled to sing. The nation's first black president, who was just 6 years old when King was assassinated in April 1968 in Memphis, Tenn., will speak about the man he has said "gave his life serving others." Giovanni planned to read her poem "In the Spirit of Martin," and Franklin was to sing. Early in the ceremony, during a rendition of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the crowd cheered when images on screen showed Obama on the night he won the 2008 presidential election. Organizers announced a concert will follow the dedication, featuring Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Sheryl Crow and others. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/16/national/main20121036.shtml
Go to the link following the article for a good look at the MLK memorial. I have to admit I finally see some humor in the thing. The monument turns King into an Oriental-looking white guy. The guys talking in the video made me want to cry. One praises diversity, the other calls King . . . one of our greatest leaders. Government-imposed diversity (multiculturalism) is not something to be proud of. Less so since so many Rights were taken away from so many to implement it. MLK was not our leader by any stretch of the imagination. Our implies he led the nation. He might have been a spiritual leader to some, but he was still an opportunistic street hustling preach to a substantial number of Americans. I suppose that will be forgotten in the fullness of time. Its location is the worst thing about the MLK Memorial. No preacher, or spiritual leader if you prefer, belongs in the National Mall because not a one of them leads everybody. Hell, King did not lead anywhere near a majority of Americans. The only possible good thing that can come out of putting Kings Memorial in the National Mall is that future visitors might compare him to the others who are honored there. Once the comparison is made the obvious question will be What the hell did this guy ever do? By Malcolm Moore, Shanghai 2:39PM BST 22 Aug 2011 The 30ft-tall statue, which forms the centrepiece of a $120 million (£73 million), four-acre memorial to Dr King, opened to the public on Monday on the National Mall in Washington. It is the only memorial on the Mall that does not honour a president or fallen soldiers. Standing in the shadow of the Washington Monument, the statue shows Dr King emerging from a mountain of Chinese granite with his arms crossed and is called The Stone of Hope. However, there has been controversy over the choice of Lei Yixin, a 57-year-old master sculptor from Changsha in Hunan province, to carry out the work. Critics have openly asked why a black, or at least an American, artist was not chosen and even remarked that Dr King appears slightly Asian in Mr Lei's rendering. Mr Lei, who has in the past carved two statues of Mao Tse-tung, one of which stands in the former garden of Mao Anqing, the Chinese leader's son, carried out almost all of the work in Changsha. More than 150 granite blocks, weighing some 1,600 tons, were then shipped from Xiamen to the port of Baltimore, and reassembled by a team of 100 workmen, including ten Chinese stone masons brought over specifically for the project. Dr King's son, Martin Luther King III, has defended the outsourcing. "I have seen probably 50 sculptures of my dad, and I would say 47 of them are not good reflections," he said, to USA Today."This particular artist: he has done a good job." However, Ed Dwight, a sculptor in Denver, said Dr King would be "turning over in his grave" if he knew his likeness had been conceived by someone living under a Communist regime. "He would rise up from his grave and walk into their offices and go, 'How dare you?'" Mr Lei was chosen after the memorial's fund-raisers observed him at work at a stone carver's symposium in Minnesota. Amid the criticism, the architects in charge of the project said that they had visited Mr Lei's studio in Changsha to find he had already carved several versions of the work. He has also prepared a bronze bust of Barack Obama which he intends to gift to the president. The new memorial is next to the Lincoln Memorial, on whose steps Dr King delivered his "I have a dream" speech in 1963, a defining moment in the American Civil Rights movement. The statue will be officially dedicated on Sunday, the anniversary of the speech, but the park has opened in advance to visitors. Around 400,000 people are expected in the run-up to Sunday's event. The statue, meanwhile, will be 11ft taller than the statues in the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials. It is unclear how much money was saved by making it in China. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...artin-Luther-King-memorial-made-in-China.html
*sniff* I think I smell racism. Wow. I'm speechless. EDIT: By the way, why is this in the religion section? Sure, "Reverend" King, but the article and thread really have nothing to do with religion.
If your conclusion makes no sense, you should check your assumptions rather than radnomly speculating an exception. Have you considered the possibility that "socilaists and liberals" don't actually hate Christians? Only if you judge an individual primarily or exclusively on their religion. Like pretty much everyone else, there was a lot more to the man than simply being a Christian.
To Nullity: Erecting a monument to a Christian preacher and putting it in the National Mall is all about religion. Im surprised Hussein and Jeremiah Wright did not put it on the White House lawn. To HonestJoe: I dont care what else he might have been. The media made him famous because he was a Christian preacher whose gig was morality. I have my own morality, I dont need or want his, and I resent using tax dollars to honor him. To Wolverine: Your pie chart is a nice bit of misdirection. In answer to your question: Since forever as the liberal MSM demonstrates time and time again. To cooky: Not half as offensive as the obscene ignorance it takes to buy into Kings legend.
"Could it be racism?" was the speculation. That's a matter of opinion. That fact you're not even willing to consider the possibility that you're in any way wrong is very telling though. You not caring don't stop something being true. You can make a perfectly valid argument against a national monument to this (or any other) private individual. You can't make a legitimate argument on the basis that you're only willing to view MLK through the filter of religion and are thus declaring the monument a Christian one.
He was a major influence in helping blacks achieve equal rights. What rights do you believe were taken away from others in order for this to happen? Yes, he was a Christian, but that fact has nothing to do with why the monument is there. It was erected to recognize his contribution to the equal rights movement.
To HonestJoe: Yes I can. It only has to be a legit argument to me. To Nullity: King had a dream alright; it was the hustlers dream of making a buck off of equality. Theres never been a hustler that made money selling something the people already had. They already had individual liberties; so he had to sell them something he could not deliver, but they would demand from somebody else. Equality fit the bill to a tee. How can I be so sure? Answer: Aside from common sense, King had to know what Aristotle knew more than 2,000 years ago: The worst form of inequality is to try and make unequal things equal. What really bugs me about MLKs defenders is this: They never shut up about all of the flaws liberals assign to Americas white Founding Fathers, but God forbid anybody point out that MLKs equality message was as phoney as he was. Had Kings followers rioted to increase Rights for blacks by tailoring those riots to increase Rights for whites they would have soon learned just how little Socialists/Communists think about Rights for anybody. Note that except for black parasites with soft-touch jobs in federal, state and local governments, the overwhelming majority of black Americans are no better off today than they were before King conned everybody. The thing that hurts the most is that Colonial Americans created the greatest nation ever conceived, while MLK created nothing of value, yet many Americans hold MLK higher than they hold Americas Founders. Hussein is an example. He went around the world apologizing for Americas past, then he shows up at the MLK Memorial spouting the standard MLK puffery. Fools never seem to learn that THERE CAN NEVER BE EQUALITY. If you doubt me just look at the equality cheats in Civil Rights. MLK started out demanding a level playing field, now, the cheats own the ballpark.
Good God! I just learned that the MLK Memorial is okay because it was made in China. My comments follow this brief article: What do the MLK Memorial and Lady Liberty have in common? By Joan Altabe, St. Petersburg Art Examiner Objecting to MLK’s monument because it was made in China seemed appropriate at first – especially since America’s beloved civil rights leader was given the look of Chinese mass murderer Mao Tse-Tung. But a second thought prompts this question: Is our made-in-China complaint just a bad case of provincialism? After all, the Statue of Liberty, a symbol by which the U.S. is known, was made in France - conceived by French politician Edouard Rene de Laboulaye and designed by French artist Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. As well, the city symbol for Sarasota, Florida, Michelangelo’s “David” – pictured on government letterheads, vehicles and street signs - was made in Italy. Even the copy that stands in the Ringling Museum courtyard was made in Italy’s Chiurazzi Foundry, famed for reproducing faithful bronze copies from museum originals. (One of the Chiurazzi replicas stands outside Florence’s City Hall, the original site for “David”. Then there are the numbers of American-made monuments that look like they’re made in ancient Greece. The Lincoln Memorial, neighbor to the MLK Memorial, was styled after Greece’s grandiose Doric temples. At odds with Lincoln’s log cabin beginnings and humble nature, three dozen 44 foot-tall fluted columns surround his likeness. And like the walls of the Lincoln Memorial, the marble panels of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier are also distinctly Grecian, in this case in the form of Grecian goddesses Eirene, Nike and Arete, ancient’s symbols for Peace, Victory, and Valor, respectively. Not that multiculturalism goes only one way. Beijing Airport, the world’s largest and most advanced airport building, was designed by English architect, Sir Norman Foster, who also restored the Reichstag in Berlin. Both projects have been hailed successes. Which takes us back to the question, Is our made-in-China complaint just a bad case of provincialism? Be assured there’ll be no second thoughts in this column about the MLK statue itself, which is way too reminiscent of politburo statuary to be hailed a success. There’s plenty to object to about the way the sculpture looks without picking on the sculptor’s origins. http://www.examiner.com/art-in-st-petersburg/what-do-the-mlk-memorial-and-lady-liberty-have-common I’ve read a bunch of stuff about the memorial. The objections voiced by the memorial’s supporters are not taken seriously by anybody except a few of MLK’s ardent supporters because it’s nit-picking not serious criticism. My objection is location. The memorial does not belong in the National Mall. Pointing out that MLK is the first non-soldier, non-statesman so honored does not justify its location. It simply says one small group was appeased. Had the memorial been situated on private land few Americans would see it. Because it is on the National Mall, in time the head-counters will say that the millions of visitors who go to the Mall annually are going to see the MLK Memorial. Pooh-poohing the made in China complaint with a connection to the Statue of Liberty is a masterstroke of misdirection. Just for the record, I also object to Emma Lazarus’ sonnet appearing inside the statute’s pedestal. Socialists have been making a travesty of America’s sovereignty because of the words in The New Colossus. Since the Left objects so strenuously to the Ten Commandments appearing in public buildings, crap like The New Colossus does not belong on public land either.
This is too much. Hussein slobbered all over MLK’s memorial, now he objects to a prayer at the WWII Memorial, and a prayer by FDR no less! I guess Hussein only respects race hustlers like MLK and hate mongers like Jeremiah Wright. Obama Admin Opposes Prayer at WWII Memorial Republican lawmakers and conservative activists are expressing outrage after the Obama administration announced its objection to adding President Franklin Roosevelt’s D-Day prayer to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. The objection was noted during a congressional hearing on Rep. Bill Johnson’s (R-OH) bill – the “World War II Memorial Prayer Act of 2011.” “It is unconscionable that the Obama administration would stand in the way of honoring our nation’s distinguished World War II veterans,” Johnson said. “President Roosevelt’s prayer gave solace, comfort and strength to our nation and our brave warriors as we fought against tyranny and oppression.” Roosevelt asked the nation to join him in prayer as U.S. and allied troops launched the invasion that led to the defeat of Nazi Germany. He asked God to give the allied troops courage and faith, saying, “With thy blessing we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy.” But Robert Abbey, the director of the Bureau of Land Management, said any plaque or inscription of the prayer would “dilute” the memorial’s central message and therefore “should not be altered.” “It is not a judgment as to the merit of this new commemoration, simply that altering the Memorial in this way, as proposed in HR 2070, will necessarily dilute this elegant memorial’s central message and its ability to clearly convey that message to move, educate, and inspire its many visitors,” Abbey said in written testimony. Abbey explained to lawmakers that altering the memorial would be contrary to the Commemorative Works Act — a law that prohibits “encroachment by a new commemoration on a existing one.” It also respects the design of the “completed work of civic art without alteration or addition of new elements.” Johnson told Fox News that the administration’s objection should “give all Americans a great deal of concern.” “For there to be objections to demonstrating a faith in God at critical points in our nation’s history – particularly D-Day – boggles my mind,” Johnson said. “I was very surprised they were going to object.” Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council said it’s not all that surprising. “This is further evidence that the administration has created an environment that is hostile towards American history – but in particular towards Christianity,” Perkins told Fox News. “I hope America wakes up and realizes what this administration is doing to this country and how they want to radically and fundamentally change America.” “They want to erase every aspect of America’s heritage,” Perkins said of Obama’s administration. “any president, any official in history that has embraced Christianity, is no longer welcome in this administration. That’s the environment they are creating.” Johnson’s bill, which had bipartisan support, is expected to pass a committee vote and he anticipates the full House will support the legislation. With reporting from the Associated Press http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/daily-dispatch/obama-admin-opposes-prayer-at-wwii-memorial.html
To Sooner28: Now that I know youre offended try to be specific. Are you agreeing with me? If not, exactly what do you find so disgusting? If you cant delineate your disgust, perhaps you can explain why you think a two-bit hustling preacher is honored on public land. And would you be so disgusted if I objected to a Muslim cleric having his statue on the National Mall?
Wow....I don't know that you are racists or not- but you certainly are blinded by race and your hatred of anything liberal. You may not approve of Martin Luther King Jr., but your ignorance and insensitivity to how important of an iconic figure he is to one significant minority of the United States is just completely removed from reality. Your post was just dripping with hatred. Exactly the root cause of all of that hate...who knows.
My comments follow this brief article: NEWPORT BEACH (CBS) A bronze statue of former President Ronald Reagan was vandalized early Sunday, according to officials. Police received a call at approximately 5:30 Sunday morning about a possible vandalism in progress at the Bonita Canyon Sports Park. A witness saw a suspect tie something around the top of the statue and the other end to the front of his vehicle. The witness said the suspect then got into his vehicle and put it in reverse in an attempt to pull the statue down. The suspect, described as a male in dark clothing, fled the scene before officers arrived. Police said the vehicle was a tan pickup with an extended cab, circa early 2000s. Its not known if the suspect was trying to simply cause damage to the statue, or try and steal it, as there has been a recent spike in thefts of bronze and copper items across the country. City workers were called to assess the damage to the statue and decide it had to be removed because it was compromised. There is no word from officials on when the statue can be replaced and put back on its pedestal. The statue debuted last month during a dedication memorial to celebrate the former presidents 100th birthday. http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/11/06/ronald-reagan-statue-vandalized-in-newport-beach/ Go to the link for a 26 second video: I doubt if the guy who tried to pull down a bronze statue of Ronald Reagan was a thief as the article speculated. Even if he pulled the statue off of its pedestal how was he going to pick it up and get it on his truck? Does anyone believe he intended to drag it through the streets until he sold it? Dare I suggest that he is a political activist trying to make a statement? Yes I dare. Even if the still unidentified social outlaw is nothing more than a vandal can you imagine the charges of racism that would be filling the airwaves had a vandal defaced MLKs monument? And you can bet that this guy is one petty criminal the Left does not want caught.