Monday, January 16, 2006
MLK Day and The Bush Administration
President George W. Bush receives the Black Expo Lifetime Achievement Award by Black Expo Chairman Arvis Dawson during the Indiana Black Expo Corporate Luncheon in Indianapolis, Indiana, Thursday, July 14, 2005. (White House photo by Eric Draper)
Other observations about this administration and its impact to minorities from Gateway Pundit are below:
I love the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.
That may be the reason why I get so upset when I see shameless angry comments as this holiday draws near meant for political gain (see Code Pink's MLK Peace Salute).
Isn't it strange that this holiday, that could be a great occasion to unite our great country, can separate us more than any other American Holiday? And, this is not because Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but because with each year we hear more speeches "against" a group, person, or idea, than "for" all of us. But, here is Dr. Martin Luther King's 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!
This is not a dream owned by just blacks, or just liberals, or just the poor, or the abused. This is a dream for All of America. Everyone owns a piece of this dream!It is not right of one party to claim this dream! It is selfish!
This weekend we will hear some people want to lift themselves up, by putting others down. We will hear from people who want to put their beliefs over the beliefs of others.We will hear people who will want to shut others down, and shut others out of the conversation.
This is not what Dr. Martin Luther King wanted. Those ideas were not taken from his "I Have a Dream" speech.
As you hear words this weekend where you feel shut out of the discussion (Al Gore's impeachment talk on Monday) remember these truths. They won't be repeated often enough.
* The Bush Administration has increased spending on elementary and secondary education by 41 percent.
* Minority students are also making progress at a faster rate, so the achievement gap is narrowing. According to NAEP, African-American and Hispanic fourth graders set records in both reading and math scores. Eighth grade Hispanic and African-American students achieved the highest math scores ever. (January 2006)
* Reading and math scores for African-American nine-year-olds reached their highest levels in the history of the test, with reading scores up 14 points and math scores up 13 points in the past five years.
* African-American Business Ownership Is At An All Time High.
* Bush cut taxes on small businesses, and last year increased Small Business Administration loans to African-American businesses by more than 28 percent.
* The Administration is working to give minority-owned businesses better access to compete for Federal contracts, and has provided $8 billion in New Market Tax credits to boost investment and community development in low-income areas.
* Nearly Half Of All African-Americans Now Own Their Own Home. The minority home ownership rate rose a record 51.6 percent during the first quarter of 2005, as 15.7 ethnic minorities claimed ownership of the roof over their heads, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
* Violent crime is at a 30 year low. Violent crime rates in Canada, the EU and have begun to equal or surpass the rates in the US (see France).
* The Bush Administration has awarded $2 billion in competitive grants to faith-based institutions that are working to transform minority neighborhoods with faith and compassion.
* The Bush Administration partnered with the National Urban League in a new initiative to expand business ownership and entrepreneurship among minorities July, 2004.
* 50 million Iraqis and Afghanis now live in freedom because of the War on Terror - and millions across the broader Middle East are claiming their liberty as well.
* Because of the US and Allies action, there are significantly less people dying daily in Iraq today than when Saddam was in power.
* Minority unemployment rates are lower now (Black 9.3, Latino 6.0) than they were in 1997 (Black 9.9, Latino 7.5)
* Hurricane Katrina was not a racist disaster, not hardly.
* George Bush has put more blacks in prominent positions than any other president in US history.
* The President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief. PEPFAR, the largest international health initiative dedicated to a single disease in history, is providing historic levels of support to the fight against the AIDS pandemic.
* The President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Has Supported Life-Saving Treatments For Approximately 400,000 Sub-Saharan Africans Living With HIV/AIDS.
* And, of course there are the other black history moments that the democrats won't share with you this weekend including the Twenty-Five Historically Significant Black Experiences.
Thanks Gateway Pundit!
I have had just about enough of AL!!!
Flapping off again! He and Ted are just taking turns with spewing crap out of their traps!
Flapping off again! He and Ted are just taking turns with spewing crap out of their traps!
Good post, C.R. I think King would be saddened by some of the comments today, such as those made by Nagin.
Great post, CR.
I think King would be appalled at some of the things going on today.
Amd that Nagin!
Sheesh!
I think King would be appalled at some of the things going on today.
Amd that Nagin!
Sheesh!
Are you forgetting or just didn't know that King ALSO said:
"I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent."
For Bush to try to silence King by misappropriating his message reminds me of this Jesus quote:
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?"
Can I get a witness? (And yes, uaw guy, King WOULD be appalled by a lot of what's happening today.)
"I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent."
For Bush to try to silence King by misappropriating his message reminds me of this Jesus quote:
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?"
Can I get a witness? (And yes, uaw guy, King WOULD be appalled by a lot of what's happening today.)
W might have 're-mis-appropriated' (I'm sure Bush said this somewhere in his life) MLK's remarks, but at least W used his own thoughts and did not plagiarise anything!
Hopefully I'm not 'misremembering' but I believe that school choice has had a very beneficial effect for black children in re: their achievement scores. I've heard many arguments against charter schools but the data I've seen shows that, although not much difference is seen in white childrens' scores, black childrens' scores have shown a marked improvement.
Go school choice!
Loved your entry - I agree with everything you've said in spite of the fact that Dan believes we are apparently trembling under the violence of our own government. (?) Now I could believe that if citizens were being thrown in the gulag for no good reason, or if citizens were being hauled out of their houses in the dead of night to be deposited into a mass grave - but those things do not happen in the United States of America.
Go school choice!
Loved your entry - I agree with everything you've said in spite of the fact that Dan believes we are apparently trembling under the violence of our own government. (?) Now I could believe that if citizens were being thrown in the gulag for no good reason, or if citizens were being hauled out of their houses in the dead of night to be deposited into a mass grave - but those things do not happen in the United States of America.
Monicar, it was King who believed we were apparently trembling under the violence of our own gov't. I merely agreed.
And CR, who are you suggesting plagiarized something? You know that plagiarism means to use without reference. I clearly gave reference to both of my quotes, so exactly who has plagiarized here?
Or are you criticizing me for not using my own words? You see, the point of my post is that, as Jesus recognized, people tend to honor the "trouble-makers" who'd advocate for a better way, but they only honor them AFTER they're dead and no longer causing trouble. That's exactly what Bush is doing and that is my original thought.
So the question becomes: do we believe King was a prophet speaking Truth to Power or was he merely a trouble-maker? Or will you ignore the thrust of the man's life (non-violent revolution) to substitute your own candied version (let's all be sweet to one another)?
And CR, who are you suggesting plagiarized something? You know that plagiarism means to use without reference. I clearly gave reference to both of my quotes, so exactly who has plagiarized here?
Or are you criticizing me for not using my own words? You see, the point of my post is that, as Jesus recognized, people tend to honor the "trouble-makers" who'd advocate for a better way, but they only honor them AFTER they're dead and no longer causing trouble. That's exactly what Bush is doing and that is my original thought.
So the question becomes: do we believe King was a prophet speaking Truth to Power or was he merely a trouble-maker? Or will you ignore the thrust of the man's life (non-violent revolution) to substitute your own candied version (let's all be sweet to one another)?
Not you, Danny Boy - MLKs Phd!
King did great things...and he should be honored for what he did. If he were still with us, he would be asahmed and appalled at what has become of the leadership of Afro Americans.
King did great things...and he should be honored for what he did. If he were still with us, he would be asahmed and appalled at what has become of the leadership of Afro Americans.
Monicar, it was King who believed we were apparently trembling under the violence of our own gov't. I merely agreed.
You are applying this statement to the present day, Dan??? Perhaps I 'un-understood'?
Dan - you and I have had our go-rounds before. Although I have NEVER agreed with ANYTHING that you have ever said - EVER! - I don't believe that I was never sweet about it. ;-)
You are applying this statement to the present day, Dan??? Perhaps I 'un-understood'?
Dan - you and I have had our go-rounds before. Although I have NEVER agreed with ANYTHING that you have ever said - EVER! - I don't believe that I was never sweet about it. ;-)
If MLK were alive, I can GUARANTEE he would speak out against Bush. Bush is the worst president ever, and this neo-fascism is for the birds.
I can GUARANTEE that if MLK were alive today he would go after the Jesse Jacksons and the Nagins of the country.
Their direction is completely opposite of his message.
The Bush administration (and most of the country) has moved beyond judging a person by their color. It's you leftys that just can't let go of it. And shame on you for it.
Their direction is completely opposite of his message.
The Bush administration (and most of the country) has moved beyond judging a person by their color. It's you leftys that just can't let go of it. And shame on you for it.
Wow. Two prophets. Two opposite messages. Both claim to know what was inside King's head.
Monicar, crallspace and I have not said one way or the other that King wouldn't be displeased with Jackson. We said that he would chastise Bush.
We have made that claim on King's pacifist writings and speeches, where he speaks pretty clearly against US violence and warmaking.
Do you disagree with our interpretation of King's voluminous thoughts on the topic, or are you just unfamiliar with how much King criticized our war-making?
Monicar, crallspace and I have not said one way or the other that King wouldn't be displeased with Jackson. We said that he would chastise Bush.
We have made that claim on King's pacifist writings and speeches, where he speaks pretty clearly against US violence and warmaking.
Do you disagree with our interpretation of King's voluminous thoughts on the topic, or are you just unfamiliar with how much King criticized our war-making?
Oh Gawd - the two of you are so tiresome.
First - Bush is not a fascist government as the yutz above has said. Nothing that any commentor has said could be construed to be fascist.
Second - MLK advocated a peaceful resolution to the racial divide in our country.
Third - Neither you nor I know how MLK would feel about the WOT. It is my opinion that MLK would not sit down and allow a terrorist attack on his country go unanswered.
Fourth - I disagree that MLK would chastise Bush.
What more do you want me to say, Dan?
Are you still trembling under the violence of your country?! *Snort*
First - Bush is not a fascist government as the yutz above has said. Nothing that any commentor has said could be construed to be fascist.
Second - MLK advocated a peaceful resolution to the racial divide in our country.
Third - Neither you nor I know how MLK would feel about the WOT. It is my opinion that MLK would not sit down and allow a terrorist attack on his country go unanswered.
Fourth - I disagree that MLK would chastise Bush.
What more do you want me to say, Dan?
Are you still trembling under the violence of your country?! *Snort*
Yes, though not out of fear for myself, but out of concern for truth and justice and peace in the world. And for shame of people who'd twist a peace-loving man's words and actions to endorse a warmonger.
King's words are clear. Don't be obtuse.
King's words are clear. Don't be obtuse.
I happen to believe that MLK loved his country. I believe that MLK understood that positive change can be effected in the United States of America without violence. (It happens all the time Dan.)
I happen to believe that MLK would not have laid down and squealed 'warmonger' for the defense of citizens of his beloved country being slaughtered by islamofascist terrorist bastards.
I do not believe for ONE MINUTE that MLK would be on the side that you are on - the side that hates this country and everything it stands for.
Go live in Siberia Dan. Not many cars there - you can ride your bicycle on the frozen tundra all you want. Impose your twisted beliefs on those around all you want - they might even comply. You'd LOVE it there!
I happen to believe that MLK would not have laid down and squealed 'warmonger' for the defense of citizens of his beloved country being slaughtered by islamofascist terrorist bastards.
I do not believe for ONE MINUTE that MLK would be on the side that you are on - the side that hates this country and everything it stands for.
Go live in Siberia Dan. Not many cars there - you can ride your bicycle on the frozen tundra all you want. Impose your twisted beliefs on those around all you want - they might even comply. You'd LOVE it there!
1. Honest.
2. Not beholden to special interests.
3. Interested in real solutions, not chintzy political maneuvering.
4. One unwilling to break laws or lie to get one's goals accomplished.
5. One that does not believe that the Ends justify the Means.
6. A uniter not a divider.
7. One that believes in God, reading, science, history, reality.
In short, one that probably couldn't be elected.
Thanks for asking. And what sort of leader would you like?
2. Not beholden to special interests.
3. Interested in real solutions, not chintzy political maneuvering.
4. One unwilling to break laws or lie to get one's goals accomplished.
5. One that does not believe that the Ends justify the Means.
6. A uniter not a divider.
7. One that believes in God, reading, science, history, reality.
In short, one that probably couldn't be elected.
Thanks for asking. And what sort of leader would you like?
Sounds like George W. Bush to me, Dan! LOL!
I disagree with your estimation of the man. For instance I don't think that he lied. I don't think he has broken any law. I definitely don't think that he believes the End justifies the Means. (I would peg the Hildebeast for all of those things..) Although he is not perfect and I don't agree with everything he does or says I give him credit for the good that he has done. I do believe, in spite of the vilification by the press and many democrats, that he has upheld his oath.
Some people don't like when Presidents do that.
I disagree with your estimation of the man. For instance I don't think that he lied. I don't think he has broken any law. I definitely don't think that he believes the End justifies the Means. (I would peg the Hildebeast for all of those things..) Although he is not perfect and I don't agree with everything he does or says I give him credit for the good that he has done. I do believe, in spite of the vilification by the press and many democrats, that he has upheld his oath.
Some people don't like when Presidents do that.
One of the first things Bush did when "elected" was to hire two convicted liars, Abrams and Poindexter. They were unrepentant liars who had lied to get us in to illegal wars in Central America.
What does that one little fact tell you?
That Bush believes lying is okay if the cause is just?
That the ends justify the means?
That's not the only thing, that's just one of the first tips that many of us had that this was an immoral man. We just had no idea HOW immoral.
What does that one little fact tell you?
That Bush believes lying is okay if the cause is just?
That the ends justify the means?
That's not the only thing, that's just one of the first tips that many of us had that this was an immoral man. We just had no idea HOW immoral.
In reviewing your original essay here, CR, I wonder if you must think that the 90+ % of blacks that are opposed to Bush must be really dumb? (or, the opposite question would make sense to me: How does one get 90% of a whole race of people opposed to him and what does it say about our society that we choose not to listen to their wisdom?)
90% is crap and I don't trust any poll that has numbers that high...and yet you still can't refute the facts listed in this post. The wisdom of that race lies in those that do not allow the Dems or their thirty plus years of endentured servitude welfare policies define who they are. That is the wisdom of self reliance, not gvt goodies!
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