Letters to the Editor
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@maureen Martha Mitchell and bits
Unfortunately, I don't remember much about Martha, other than she got into trouble. Doc is probably in a better position than me to fill you in. As I mentioned before, JFK has achieved a mythical status, so you critique him at your peril. The same thing has happened to MLK, which was why it was ill-advised for Hillary to make her MLK-LBJ comparision. Yet, if you listen to the speechs made by JFK or MLK, they still resonate after 40 years, they still compel. I think I'd rather choose to follow in their footsteps than in LBJ's. They are the ones invoking a limitless future and exhorting us to work towards it. My zen monk friend has this hoky chinese saying: "Piss in a glass of water, and everyone notices. Piss in a raging river and no one will".
I'm getting bored with the same old ding-dong about race and gender, the indignation and so on, so I don't think I'll stick around for much longer.
Well, I admit it's a peculiarly American obssession, but one not unique to our country. I think quite a few of us are starting to find it tedious as well.
My take is that a lot of this stuff has lain dormant for decades, like junk on the bottom of an otherwise placid lake. Since there appears to be a tendency to view race and gender progress as a zero sum game, a lot of folks want their candidate to win. As you've probably noted, it's always the other side that's stirring the pot.
Meanwhile McCain is getting endorsements from 'Christian' leaders who think the US is required to engage in a holy war against a few billion muslims. That makes the Obama Hillary dustup chump change.
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@Uncle Fester - LBJ v MLK/JFK
think I'd rather choose to follow in their footsteps [ JFK MLK on speeches] than in LBJ's.
Great insight Doc. So wonderful to know that some nice speeches were more important than signing the civil rights act into law. ;-)
See this is where Obama's folks lose me.
Under the Clinton Admin, unquestionably the most black friendly Admin since LBJ and Lincoln, black median income rose 17,000 dollars annually and black poverty fell 22%, yet Obama's supporters can be counted upon to trash them with a white hot fire. Meanwhile back in South Chicago, Obama's constituents are in a worse place than ever; he made no noteable gains or progress for them - nor did particularly try to.
Go figure. As they say no good deed goes unpunished. But at the end of the day results SHOULD BE what counts.
I agree - to an extent - with the persons who argue that in Iowa enough whites voted for Obama (thanks to Oprah's still fresh effort) to excite blacks and perhaps think he was viable. So what? It still amounts to black people rushing to align behind a candidate because of his race.
That's all. We're all saying the same things over and over and over now.
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@ShawnWM LBJ v MLK
Shawn, I'm sure you know that LBJ met with MLK several times. I think it is absurd to say that shifting the viewpoint of an entire nation is 'just making speeches'. There is a a MLK day, there is not an LBJ day.
Let's not forget the downside of LBJ either such as his connections to Texas Oil and his escalation of vietnam so that he we wouldn't look weak against Goldwater. I haven't forgotten.
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Fester v Shawn
Fester is right, predictably enough. LBJ rode a wave of post-JFK national sentiment, and his own quite impressive knowledge of how congress works, to pass the civil rights and voting rights acts of 64 and 65. It was the civil rights movement, of which MLK was the eloquent champion, that made it all possible. It's almost baseball season, so I'll make it simple for Shawn: MLK was the starting pitcher, and LBJ was a pinch hitter. Watch out for those eloquent darkies, though. Empty suits. No voting record. Nothing but words.