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limpyhobbler

(8,244 posts)
Wed Jan 16, 2013, 07:50 PM Jan 2013

Don’t You Dare Conflate MLK and Obama [View all]

by Glen Ford

Back in 1964, under prodding from a BBC interviewer, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. predicted that a Black person might be elected president “in 25 years or less.” Four years later, shortly before his assassination, King confided to actor/activist Harry Belafonte that he had “come to believe we're integrating into a burning house." We now see that the two notions are not at all contradictory. At least some African Americans have achieved deep penetration of the very pinnacles of white power structures – integrating the White House, itself – while conditions of life for masses of Black folks deteriorate and the society as a whole falls into deep decay...

One school of thought holds that corporate servants like Obama could not have taken root in Black America if Dr. King, Malcolm X and a whole cadre of slain and imprisoned leaders of the Sixties had not been replaced by opportunistic representatives of a grasping Black acquisitive class. In any event, had King survived, his break with Obama would have come early. Surely, the Dr. King who, in his 1967 “Where Do We Go from Here” speech called for a guaranteed annual income would never have abided Obama’s targeting of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in the weeks before his 2009 inauguration. Forty-five years ago, King’s position was clear: “Our emphasis must be twofold: We must create full employment, or we must create incomes.” The very notion of a grand austerity bargain with the Right would have been anathema to MLK.

Were Martin alive, he would skewer the putative leftists and their “lesser evil” rationales for backing the corporatist, warmongering Obama. As both a theologian and a “revolutionary democrat,” as Temple University’s Prof. Anthony Monteiro has described him, MLK had no problem calling evil by its name – and in explicate triplicate. His militant approach to non-violent direct action required him to confront the underlying contradictions of society through the methodical application of creative tension. He would make Wall Street scream, and attempt to render the nation ungovernable under the dictatorship of the Lords of Capital. And he would deliver a withering condemnation of the base corruption and self-serving that saturates the Black Misleadership Class.

He would spend his birthday preparing a massive, disruptive action at the Inauguration.
from http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/don%E2%80%99t-you-dare-conflate-mlk-and-obama
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Is Glen Ford speaking for Dr King? Cooley Hurd Jan 2013 #1
Would you care to comment demwing Jan 2013 #2
I agree with it. limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #3
You believe Obama demwing Jan 2013 #4
pretty much limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #5
Well there it is /nt demwing Jan 2013 #10
what? limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #19
Listen, I'm glad you are straight forward about your beliefs demwing Jan 2013 #20
"Does Barack Obama represent the political tradition of Martin Luther King?" limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #21
If it deserves serious discussion, then discuss it seriously demwing Jan 2013 #25
It seemed like a serious commentary to me. limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #30
What war has he started? obama2terms Jan 2013 #22
I think if MLK were alive he would be harshly critical of Obama's brutal drone warfare policies. limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #33
This type of writing Summer Hathaway Jan 2013 #6
Very well said...n/t monmouth3 Jan 2013 #7
I completely disagree with what you just said. limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #8
It takes absolutely no thought whatsoever Summer Hathaway Jan 2013 #15
If MLK were alive today he would be really disappointed in President Obama. limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #18
Well let's see here obama2terms Jan 2013 #23
You make a lot of good points and I agree with much of that. limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #32
Ah, yet another man Summer Hathaway Jan 2013 #24
It's cool to say how a particular political philosopher from history would view modern events. limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #35
There is nothing "cool" Summer Hathaway Jan 2013 #36
Actually it's very cool to learn about the philosophical ideas of liberation and non-violence limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #39
... Summer Hathaway Jan 2013 #41
Do you understand that a person can present their opinion without expressly labeling it an opinion? limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #43
Mr. Ford does not Summer Hathaway Jan 2013 #44
I feel like you don't understand how to tell facts from opinions. limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #45
It has nothing to do with Obama Summer Hathaway Jan 2013 #47
+1 Politicub Jan 2013 #13
Exactly.... Its pure conjecture bullshit Still Sensible Jan 2013 #17
Hiding behind MLK is a great tactic. JoePhilly Jan 2013 #29
hackneyed. Not hack-kneed Bluenorthwest Jan 2013 #27
One was a man of peace. The other won the Nobel peace prize. nt cbrer Jan 2013 #9
somehow they both won a Nobel Peace Prize. limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #11
Thanks cbrer Jan 2013 #12
You're just a ray of sunshine, aren't you? Politicub Jan 2013 #14
What's your point? limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #16
That "dialogue" with you has very little Shivering Jemmy Jan 2013 #26
That made no sense limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #31
Apparently, today is "Speak for a famous dead person" day. JoePhilly Jan 2013 #28
It's cool to say how a particular political philosopher from history would view modern events. limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #34
Actually, you can not make those claims with any authority. JoePhilly Jan 2013 #37
I agree, nobody can actually know 100% for sure how a historical figure would view current events. limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #38
But it is not so obvious. JoePhilly Jan 2013 #40
It was his opinion. One doesn't have to say "this is my opinion" because it's implied. limpyhobbler Jan 2013 #42
I don't think conflating an activist with a politician or religious leader with a politician is good stevenleser Jan 2013 #46
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