MLK Today?

In the wake of the terrible shooting in Tucson nine days ago and on this day in which we celebrate the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. there is much talk about his philosophy of peace and nonviolence. A friend just posted his "I have a dream.." speech on Facebook and rued the fact that he isn't here today. It got me to thinking. What if he were still alive today?

In my humble opinion he would continue to be much maligned as he was in the 1960s, both for the color of his skin and because of his views on non-violence. Were he alive today, Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Sarah Palin and others would call him a racist and rant and rave against him on a regular basis. He would be called a wimp because of his views on non-violence. They would say that violence is necessary to achieve their goals. It is necessary to continue the wars that they love so much. He would be tagged a socialist, a communist, and all of the other misused "ists" that they can come up with. He would be characterized as a "trouble maker," stirring up African Americans, Latinos, and other minorities against whites. In short he would still be a target.

This country has in many ways returned to the racist, violent days of the 1950's and 1960's. In those days the right wing press railed against integration and African Americans on a daily basis. Today it has broadened its horizons to include gays, Latinos, Muslims, and other non-Christians. Today its rants reach many more people because of the Internet and cable news. Were Martin Luther King to return to this earth on his birthday, he would find great changes have taken place, but in many ways things are still the same.

Death Panels, Birthers, and Common Sense

Since President Obama was elected, the nuts have come out from under their rocks. People you thought were normal, commonsense types have gone completely berserk. There are more conspiracy theories than you can count and many people that I know have swallowed them hook, line and sinker. There were Sarah Palin's death panels. Supposedly, if a national health care law was passed, there would be government panels who would decide if you deserved health care or not, especially if you were a senior citizen. Makes complete sense, doesn't it?

Then there are the birthers, those who would have you believe that the President is not an American citizen. The fact that he was born in Hawaii, has a birth certificate, and his birth announcement was published in a Hawaii newspaper has no effect on those who buy this claim. The coup de grace of course is the fact that his mother was an American citizen, which automatically makes him a U.S. citizen. No president's citizenship has been questioned like this. Even politicians who were considered to be somewhat sane, have jumped on the birther bandwagon, and, now, with the recent T-publican gains in state legislatures, there is talk of bills being introduced in state legislatures, requiring future presidential candidates to show proof of citizenship before their name is placed on that state's ballot.

Intertwined with the birther movement is the Obama is a Muslim foolishess. The President attends Christian services regularly and has for years. He often invokes his Christian faith in speeches. Yet, the Muslim haters regularly accuse him of being a Muslim, using his middle name and fake documents as proof. I often receive emails, falsely claiming that he is giving Muslims special treatment and planning a Muslim takeover of the U.S.

In today's news, comedian, Rush Limbaugh questions the President's Thanksgiving proclamation, saying,

"[Obama] said that Thanksgiving is about the Indians saving us, with their agriculture and everything else. The true story of Thanksgiving is socialism failed. Of course we showed them gratitude! We shared our bounty with them, not because we didn't know how to make it. It was because we first failed as socialists. Only when we turned capitalists did we have plenty. The Indians didn't teach us capitalism."

Now I ask you. Does this make any sense whatsoever? Yet, I'm sure there were people listening to this buffoon, nodding their heads in agreement: "Darn right. Them socialist Puritans deserved to die for being Socialists." Socialists? The Puritans? I'm still scratching my head on this one. Talk about revisionist history!

Common sense. Such a great concept. However, common sense requires, as we used to say, "using one's head for something besides a hat rack." In this particular case, putting ones prejudices aside helps a bit as well.

Love Abortion?

My most recent post was about voters and how they are led like sheep to vote against their own best interests. There were several comments, one of which stumped me, because it had no relation to the post. This isn't unusual because I have found that reading comprehension is a major issue out there. However, this one had me shaking my head.

One of my blogging friends, Rainlillie, commented that Teapublicans maintain issues to keep voters roped into voting for them. The issue she used as an example was Roe vs. Wade. She indicated that if Teapublicans ever allow the repeal of that decision, they will lose a major wedge issue that keeps their platform alive for that segment of their voting population. I responded to that with an amen.

Then an anonymous reader responds with, "Why are you in love with Roe v Wade? Do you hate babies? Murder, pure and simple. I hate it!" Obviously, this person did not read the post, which had nothing to do with Roe vs. Wade, and did not even mention it. When I questioned the comment, the reader responded with, " I think you removed something from your post so that you can deny it." Of course I did not edit the post. The fact that the reader did not read the post in the first place became very evident with the second comment.

Emotions override common sense and make people take things for granted without checking the facts. This is so often the case in politics. TV viewers watch Glen Beck and take everything he says as gospel. Their emotions are so provoked that they often commit acts of violence. Others read an anonymous email that really makes no sense, but they are incensed and pass it on because it confirms their fears. It makes for great fun at their expense, but it is also very sad that they are so easily manipulated.

Love Abortion? Who does? I don't know a soul that "loves" abortion, but this anonymous commenter apparently has been lead like a lamb to slaughter to believe that there are those who do. It's all about emotion over common sense.