I yield the floor today to the Honorable Dr. Martin Luther King. Although he gave the following speech almost 41 years ago, he could just as easily give it today. Only the locations have changed.




Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence

...The truth of these words is beyond doubt, but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on.

And some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. And we must rejoice as well, for surely this is the first time in our nation's history that a significant number of its religious leaders have chosen to move beyond the prophesying of smooth patriotism to the high grounds of a firm dissent based upon the mandates of conscience and the reading of history. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movements and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us.

Over the past two years, as I have moved to break the betrayal of my own silences and to speak from the burnings of my own heart, as I have called for radical departures from the destruction of Vietnam, many persons have questioned me about the wisdom of my path. At the heart of their concerns this query has often loomed large and loud: "Why are you speaking about the war, Dr. King?" "Why are you joining the voices of dissent?" "Peace and civil rights don't mix," they say. "Aren't you hurting the cause of your people," they ask? And when I hear them, though I often understand the source of their concern, I am nevertheless greatly saddened, for such questions mean that the inquirers have not really known me, my commitment or my calling. Indeed, their questions suggest that they do not know the world in which they live....

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196 comments (Latest Comment: 01/16/2008 05:44:58 by livingonli)

Remember that kid in High School who had to be the best at everything? The biggest, the loudest, the best at sports, the best hair, the hottest girlfriend. That annoying big shot that everyone hated, but all the other guys wanted to hang around with, and all the girls wanted to date. Well, most of the girls. Maybe you were that guy. I was NOT that girl.

These guys always had some little peon that would hang around them, continuing to boost their reputation, doing the big shots homework and taking the fall when he messed up. All the while hoping and praying that the big shot would throw something, anything, their way.

The peons were like the little dog in those Warner Bros cartoons, Chester, an enthusiastic little terrier that would follow the big bulldog, Spike, around - bouncing at his feet and stroking his ego: “That’s my pal, Spike, and he’s big and brave”.




Well, those little Chester’s have grown up and are now running for President of the United States as a Republican.
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59 comments (Latest Comment: 01/14/2008 04:21:24 by livingonli)

I know it's Friday, and I know we all want happy fun time, and for a lot of people it's payday, but for a lot of people... it's not anymore. Most of you have already heard that the jobless rate rose to the 5% mark last month. According to Merrill-Lynch (not exactly a bastion of liberal thought), that was the final straw. They have finally declared that Yes, we are in a recession:

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204 comments (Latest Comment: 01/12/2008 06:47:01 by shelaghc)

The nation has another primary under its belt. As we all know by now, Hillary took the state with Obama in 2nd and Edwards in 3rd. On the Republican side, McCain took the state (not a big surprise there), followed by Romney and Huckabee a distant 3rd. 9ui11iani barely beat out Ron Paul for 4th, which shows just how much a tailspin his campaign is in, and how energized the Ron Paul supporters are.

McCain was called very early, not long after the polls closed. Hillary, however, wasn't called until much later. It was very close all night long, which really helped maintain the level of excitement. It gave us all a chance to watch the pundits blather and eat crow and gaze at their navels (they predicted an Obama blow out).
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217 comments (Latest Comment: 01/10/2008 04:52:00 by livingonli)

The latest tabloid journalistic scuffle was not Brit or Lindsey or Paris, but rather involving Barack Obama. As reported yesterday:

Now I may be snarkily calling Billo a tabloid journalist, but this man is on a news network, he considers himself to be a journalist. He has an audience, albeit a shrinking one, but an audience nonetheless. I am used to seeing this behavior from the paparazzi, and places like OK! magazine, but this just goes too far.
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251 comments (Latest Comment: 01/08/2008 03:20:14 by livingonli)