Saturday, August 28, 2010

The March on Washington Can't Be Hijacked

Today is the 47th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and of Martin Luther King, Jr. standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial delivering his famous "I Have A Dream" speech, probably one of the greatest speeches ever given in the history of our country.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that a certain right wing propagandist is holding a rally today on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial claiming he's taking back Martin Luther King's dream. I won't link to this person because I don't want to draw traffic to him through my site. You can Google him yourself or turn on any 24/7 news channel.

While he holds his rally today, take a look back at Reverend King's words, and remember that his Dream still lives and that even though we've elected an African-American president, hate and bigotry based on skin color still exists. Yes, we've come a good distance in achieving Reverend King's Dream, but we haven't come far enough, as is evidenced by the non-stop claims that President Obama is a secret Muslim and is constitutionally ineligible to hold office because he wasn't born in the United States.

It's my wish that we, as a society, could rise above the race-baiting and hate and judge people only on the content of their character rather than the color of their skin (or who they sleep with for that matter).



Here's a great New York Times OpEd by Charles M. Blow called "I Had A Nightmare" that gives a great perspective on today's "Restoring Honor" rally in Washington."

Illinois Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias writes on the Daily Kos today about the rally. I LOVE this post and it's why I'm voting for Giannoulias for Senate. It's well worth a read. My favorite section is below:

I dream of an America that does not depend on foreign oil and ask, why not?

I dream of an America where the prairies of Illinois are filled with wind farms and solar panels and ask, why not?

I dream of a nation where no American ever dies because of a lack of health insurance, where two people who love each other can get married no matter their gender, and where policy is shaped by principle, not campaign contributions, and I ask, why not?

That's my dream, my vision for moving our country forward, and I think a lot of you share that dream. And the only thing standing between that vision of a brilliant, 21st century America isn't a few thousand conservatives rallying in D.C.

It's us, and our willingness to get engaged, stay engaged, to elect progressive leaders and hold them accountable.

I am fired up about this election, about moving this country forward, and about taking our message directly to voters today.

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