"I have a dream"

This column was written in 2009,  and given the current political climate, I figured I'd re-post. As I re-read it, I still wonder what Martin Luther King Jr would have thought of the current President.


Today IS a day set aside to celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr, and I can't help but wonder what he would think of President Obama. Obama is a man who screamed "racist" long and loud during his road to the White House, if anyone dared to mention that he may be black. Obama is NOT black, but now sees fit to wrap himself in the mantle of injustices done to all black men. Yes, America does have a sorry history in her treatment of blacks, but from where I sit, being black has not held back many, many blacks from achieving their highest, most noble goals. For many, their ascendancy to positions of influence - where they have made a lasting difference to their communities and their country - has been because of their own dreams, efforts, and hard work.

Never mind that many people elected Obama because of the colour of his skin, (ultimately aided and abetted by the msm, of course.) Am I the only one who finds that more than ironic? From where I sit, it is irrelevant what colour Obama's skin may be. As the resident of the White House, surely what matters the most is his dedication to his country, his ability to unite all Americans in the common goal towards maintaining the US Constitution.

In his soaring rhetoric, Obama carefully appealed to those dissatisfied Americans looking for someone else to blame for the flaws, deficiencies, in their own lives. On the most basic, obvious level, can we say "bailout"? At a time when gazillion dollars are being handed over as a reward to failed business models, and California is unable to pay the elderly citizens of that state even the basic living needs that they paid into, Obama's inauguration is set to be the most expensive, lavish, in US history. Never mind that when President George W. Bush held his $40 million inauguration celebrations, Obama's own party screamed "excess." Guess times have really changed, but that is not 'change' I can believe in.

Obama is fond of invoking John F Kennedy, and, in a cynical political move (or maybe it is my own cynicism?), we have seen the Kennedy clan - you know, the old school Democratic echelon - embrace Obama as the second coming of Camelot.

Newsflash! Those days are GONE! We have all been witness to the empty words of the "memememe" sense of entitlement. That this cacophanous chorus of bleating struck a chord with the majority does not bode well for America, in my opinion.

Obama may well wrap himself in the Kennedy aura, but somebody should remind him that Kennedy's words: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what YOU can do for your country" are more than meaningless words. Oh, sure, Obama has called for a "Day of Service" or some such thing (maybe he should have talked to our troops who serve their country every single day, but I digress).

I have a feeling that Obama will discover a few things very quickly. He will discover that talking the talk means less than zero if you do not walk the walk. [Yes, I added the emphasis this year] He will also discover the fickle nature of the msm. Just as the sycophants are often conspirators in the building up of empty idols, so, too, are the msm often vicious in the tearing down of the pedestals upon which they have set those same idols. As the msm goes, so follow the lemmings - the Americans who swallow the vacuous pablum which the msm serves up daily as "news" or "analysis.

I have a fear that the dream of Martin Luther King Junior, as interpreted by the Obama disciples, will prove to be a nightmare. That is based on all that I have watched from a distance. From the man who supposedly promises change and unity, I see an America divided as never before. I see an America where racism IS front and center, as the media feeds the frenzy and interviews every day black Americans about this momentous time in her history. IF America has made such strides, and racism is not an issue any longer, how come every newscast I hear starts "...America's first black president"? Reminds me of our previous local mayor, who just happened to be in a wheelchair. I swear I got so sick of hearing every newscast prefaced with "north America's only mayor in a wheelchair..." and variations on that.

IF Obama truly means to step beyond the divisions cutting deeply within American society, he should perhaps send a memo out to all his buddies in the msm. Quit with the "first black president, already." I am just sayin'.

Fact is, we are not living in the 1950's when Martin Luther King Junior had a dream. I would like to believe that America is now mature enough to NOT judge a man "by the colour of his skin." I would like to believe that the world that Martin Luther King's children inherited has risen above all that, and now has leaders dedicated to honouring and furthering the greatness of America, not by the colour of their skin, but by the goodness of their colour-blind hearts. I would like to believe that America's leaders can celebrate the United States (and not to the tune of $150m +) and work on their own children's national inheritance.

I want to believe.

And in the meantime? Go read what Martin Luther King Junior's widow has to say on this day:

The Meaning of the

Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

By Coretta Scott King

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday celebrates the life and legacy of a man who brought hope and healing to America. We commemorate as well the timeless values he taught us through his example -- the values of courage, truth, justice, compassion, dignity, humility and service that so radiantly defined Dr. King’s character and empowered his leadership. On this holiday, we commemorate the universal, unconditional love, forgiveness and nonviolence that empowered his revolutionary spirit.

We commemorate Dr. King’s inspiring words, because his voice and his vision filled a great void in our nation, and answered our collective longing to become a country that truly lived by its noblest principles. Yet, Dr. King knew that it wasn’t enough just to talk the talk, that he had to walk the walk for his words to be credible. And so we commemorate on this holiday the man of action, who put his life on the line for freedom and justice every day, the man who braved threats and jail and beatings and who ultimately paid the highest price to make democracy a reality for all Americans.

The King Holiday honors the life and contributions of America’s greatest champion of racial justice and equality, the leader who not only dreamed of a color-blind society, but who also lead a movement that achieved historic reforms to help make it a reality.

On this day we commemorate Dr. King’s great dream of a vibrant, multiracial nation united in justice, peace and reconciliation; a nation that has a place at the table for children of every race and room at the inn for every needy child. We are called on this holiday, not merely to honor, but to celebrate the values of equality, tolerance and interracial sister and brotherhood he so compellingly expressed in his great dream for America....(go read the rest here.)

Maybe all Americans should read these words, and understand their meaning? Maybe all Americans should re-read MLK's "I have a dream" speech, and really live the meaning.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American 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....(here)



Is Obama going to walk the walk? Only time will tell.

*[Bratnote:  In 2014, I think this question has been answered.]*