Video- President Obama at the "Let Freedom Ring" Concert

Raw VIDEO: Obamas Serve Meals at Soup Kitchen

By GottaLaff



What socialist, fascist Muslim terrorists the Obamas are, giving food out to hungry Americans when they could be hoarding it:

President Barack Obama honored Rev. Martin Luther King's legacy by serving meals to the needy on Monday.

Martin Luther King, Jr., on "Face the Nation"

h/t Booman

VIDEO: President Obama on Dr. King's Legacy

By GottaLaff



In case you missed this earlier:

The President speaks about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the importance of persistence in achieving broader goals in remarks at the Vermont Avenue Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.

Denver schools criticized for Martin Luther King Day menu

Oh puhleeze, there is no way there is a person living that is too dense to get how offensive this is.

DENVER, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Denver school officials have issued a public apology for the lunch of greens and fried chicken dished up for students in honor of Martin Luther King.

The offerings, meant to be a "Southern Style" menu reflecting the assassinated civil rights leader's Dixie origins, offended some parents who considered it an offense stereotype of African-Americans.

A statement posted on the Denver Public Schools Web site Tuesday night apologized for what turned out to be a "highly insensitive" move.

(snip)

Lecia Brooks, interim director of the Civil Rights Memorial Center in Alabama, told the newspaper she was sorry to see the tribute paid King by the Denver schools amount to nothing more than a "chicken lunch."

Civil rights group threatens to fire local leader for gay marriage endorsement

By GottaLaff

People love each other. Some are gay, some are straight. Get. Over. It.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a civil rights group partly founded by Martin Luther King Jr., has threatened to fire the president of its Los Angeles chapter because he supports same-sex marriage.

The Rev. Eric P. Lee, president of the local SCLC chapter for two years, became an outspoken advocate of same-sex marriage during the recent campaign against Proposition 8, an amendment to the state Constitution that banned such unions.

The SCLC national board notified Lee on May 27 that he would have to attend a hearing at its Atlanta headquarters on June 4 to explain his stance on same-sex marriage. If he did not show up, they said, they would suspend and fire him.

Lee did not attend the hearing. He told the board he could not afford the last-minute trip but could participate via conference call. He said he never heard back from the board.

When Lee failed to appear for the hearing, he received an e-mail warning him to set a date to appear or face removal. [...]

But Lee said he was driven to support same-sex marriage by the teachings of King, who helped found the SCLC to champion civil rights 50 years ago.

"Any time one group of people are denied the same rights as other people, it is unequivocally a denial of civil rights," Lee said. [...]

Lee said he is not waiting for approval to continue his advocacy for same-sex marriage.

"I'm not going to let their inaction handcuff me from fighting for justice," he said.

We need about 4 million more like Lee.

Bust of MLK Joins President Obama in Oval Office

Helluva lot better than the Churchill one. You'd think with all their "America Firstiness" the wingnuts would be happy he replaced a British hero with an American one...

Well, here's another way President Obama has put his historic stamp on the presidency. With no fanfare or media attention, President Obama last month added a new decoration to the Oval Office: a 12 5/8" bronze bust of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

(snip)

When the Smithsonian lent the bust to the President Bill Clinton's White House in 2000 to be displayed in the White House Library, that marked, believe it or not, the very first time that the image of an African-American was displayed in a public space in the White House.

Pretty astounding, when you think about it, given the bust's current place of honor.

The King bust sits near the fireplace and adjacent a bust of President Abraham Lincoln, with the two legendary Americans facing President Obama when he sits at the HMS Resolute Desk. The Lincoln bust sits where a bust of Sir Winston Churchill -- on loan from the British Embassy after the 9/11 attacks, and returned before Mr. Obama's inauguration -- once sat.

"We Shall Overcome" - Martin Luther King, Jr.

I'm getting ready to unplug (!) my lifeline and take it to the shop to see if it can be saved. I don't think so, but you never know. Please, if you have a spare fiver, drop it in the kitty so I can replace this 4 year old monstrosity if needed. I'll be back online as soon as I can. Big things happening today.

Rev. Rick Warren to be keynote speaker at MLK commemorative service on the day before inauguration

By GottaLaff

Who the heck's his booking agent?

Rev. Rick Warren, who is President-elect’s controversial pick to give the invocation at his inauguration on Jan. 20, will be the keynote speaker at Martin Luther King, Jr. Annual Commemorative Service at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church on the day before the Inauguration, Atlantic Progressive News reports. Before she passed away, King’s wife, Coretta Scott King, declared that gay marriage was a civil rights issue and denounced a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban it.

Here we go again.

Robert F. Kennedy the Prophet

By GottaLaff

From Voice of America, 1968... 40 years ago, RFK:

Things are moving so fast in race relations a Negro could be president in 40 years. There’s no question about it, in the next 40 years a Negro can achieve the same position that my brother has. Prejudice exists and probably will continue to, but we have tried to make progress and we are making progress. We are not going to accept the status quo.

More from the same post, via the author's (Ronald Goldfarb, former RFK employee) daughter:

“Rosa sat down so Martin could march. Martin marched so Obama could run. Obama is running so our children can fly.”

There is something in the air — about this incredible campaign, this unlikely candidate, our country’s apparent willingness to write a new chapter in our history.

Tears.

Republican drives 600 miles to vote for Obama

By GottaLaff

This is one of those feel-good stories. No, check that. Feel great stories:

The “lines weren’t bad” he said, with a broad smile. Lines were the last thing on Aaron Wheeler’s mind as he explained why he drove 600 miles back to his old hometown from Virginia, where he moved this month, to vote in what he called “one of the proudest days” of his life.

“My family has been Republican for three generations,” he said, but “I knew I had to change and vote Democrat in the first time almost ever.” [...]

What’s influencing his vote? The economy was one factor, he said. But said he he made his decision “when I saw Barack Obama beaten down for no reason by negative things by Palin.”

IWRC* Palin does it again. She's really been helpful to the ticket. You know, kinda like the way salt helps a wound. Or yelling helps laryngitis. Or watching Bill O'Reilly helps a bad mood.

Wheeler reminisced about marching with Martin Luther King as a boy, and referred to the slain civil rights leader when he told me he voted for Barack Obama… “not just because of his color….but in the words of Dr. King, the content of his character.”

“Tears come out of my eyes as I cast my ballot,” he said. “I voted for Barack Obama today.”

Tears just came out of my eyes, too.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

Tidbits, whatnots, thingamajigs

By GottaLaff

Schumer reaches for 60

DENVER — Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) inched ever closer Wednesday to declaring a 60-seat Democratic majority in 2009 to be a distinct possibility.

Lewis: ‘I just hope I make it through my speech’

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a civil rights leader who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., on Wednesday defended former President Bill Clinton against charges of racism.

Clinton to release delegates
DENVER — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) will “release her full delegation on Wednesday afternoon” to vote for Barack Obama, according to a statement from the convention committee.

Plus, Hillary Clinton was just nominated at the Democratic convention.