Three Ways To NOT Honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a civil rights icon.  His birthday is January 15, and the national holiday that honors him is Monday, January 21.  During the holiday, there will be many events taking place that will honor  Dr. King and his sacrifices for the sake of civil rights and equality.  Choirs will sing classic hymns, including "We Shall Overcome."  Preachers will preach.  Speakers will speak. Dancers will dance liturgical dances.  And somewhere, someone will be doing a spot-on rendition of Dr. King's speeches, including the "I Have A Dream" speech and Dr. King's on eulogy speech.   And in Chicago, at least one radio station will play Dr. King's speeches over house music.  Yes, there will be many ways to honor Dr. King.

But some people just don't want to do right.  They want to "honor" Dr. King by shoehorning him and his image into their own agenda.  That's not to say that Dr. King is a deity, but there should be a modicum of respect for the man and what he stood for.  The following people do NOT have that modicum of respect.

Free At Last, To Shake Your A**, Thank God Almighty, We Are Free At Last...

According to the site that hosts this image, this was a real flyer.

We've all seen flyers like this before.  Some of us may have gone to the "King Holiday Weekend" parties in our own club-hopping days.  But to use Dr. King's image for these parties is just ridiculous.  There is no reason to do this.  The Boondocks summed all of this up nicely in their "Return of the King" episode.  If we're going to honor Dr. King, we don't need to deify him.  But at the same time, we don't need to put him on pluggers and flyers for parties that have absolutely nothing to do with who he was and what he stood for. When I think of these kinds of flyers, I think of a great line from Public Enemy's "Rightstarters", from their debut album "Yo Bum Rush The Show":

Just growin'/not knowin about your past/now you're lookin' pretty stupid while you're shakin' your a**...

Very stupid, indeed.

We Honor King By Bragging About Guns!!

Pictured:  Tone-deaf gun nut

Larry Ward is the chairman of, and is promoting Gun Appreciation Day.  He is also convinced that Dr. King would have appreciated "Gun Appreciation Day."  Yes, because of there is anything that a nonviolent activist, one who promoted non-violent protests even in the face of naked hostility, would appreciate, is the power of the gun.  Who else but one who was ASSASSINATED BY A GUNMAN would appreciate what guns mean to this country?  If anyone knew anything about Dr. King, they would imagine that the last thing that he would appreciate would be a day that recognizes an instrument of death.  That's like saying that Mahatma Gandhi would appreciate "MMA Appreciation Day" or that Lady Gaga would appreciate "Chick Fil A Appreciation Day."

Dr. Martin King Was A Republican, So You Should Be A Republican!

Yeah, um... no.

This is the one that grinds my gears (tm - Peter Griffin) the hardest.  The Republican Party of today, as well as their Pet Negro Apologists (like the National Black Republican Association, the guys who parrot this drivel) insist that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King would have been a Republican.  While it is obvious that Dr. King would not have been a Democrat at that time, there is no evidence that states that Dr. King was a Republican, or aligned himself with any political party.

And please understand that the Republicans of the Civil Rights Era are NOT the Republicans of today.  The Republicans at that time were the progressives, while the Democrats were the conservatives.  And in today's Republican party, you have accusations of voter suppression, the harboring and support of racist politicians, and the outright racist attitudes towards the first Black president.  Does anyone actually believe that the party that welcomes Patrick Buchanan and David Duke and Sarah Palin would be the kind that would attract a Dr. King?  The Republicans of today have called Barack Obama "uppity", and continue to question his citizenship.  The Republicans of today have called Barack Obama a "Food stamp President", and they insist that anyone who supported him only does so because they want free stuff, or they have the same skin color.

"You are correct, sir."

The Republican party wants to co-opt the image of King, by cherry-picking and quoting their favorite part of Dr. King's speech, which includes the statement about the content of one's character.  But they conveniently ignore the content of character of those who disagree with them.  And they CERTAINLY ignore the content of character of those within their ranks, like Boss Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Michelle Malkin, ad nauseum ad infinitum.  

And finally, remember where Dr. King was, and what he was doing, when he was assassinated.  He was in Memphis, Tennessee.  He was supporting the striking sanitation workers there.  He was there to support union workers.  And we know that to this day, the Republican Party is trying its outright best to DESTROY the unions, both in the public sector and the private sector.  This is the complete antithesis of what Dr. King stood for.

So, if the Republicans want to claim Dr. King as one of their own, then they ought to pay attention to what Dr. King supported, and did not support.  And until the GOP begins to operate against discrimination, against voter suppression, and against outright racist propaganda directed towards President Obama, and operate in favor of worker rights, fair treatment in the workplace, civil rights for all, and everything else that Dr. King stood for, they need to have several seats.

Yes, the dunce cap is assigned to you too.

It's Chicago Political Circus Time!

Artist's rendition of the 2nd Congressional District Congressional Seat

It's official.  Jesse Jackson Jr. has resigned from his seat as Congressman of the 2nd Congressional District.  This came as an absolute shock to no one with a pulse and a brain stem.  Yes, you hear people like Danny Davis and Bobby Rush and others display a sense of disappointment and maybe even faux outrage at how all of this went down.  But please believe that very little in politics comes as a surprise.  The handwriting was on the wall during all of the events leading up to Jackson's resignation, including his non-campaign campaign in which he won handily.  You know that his campaign staff was working hard to assure that he overcame any general election challenges.

Don't mind us.  We're mobilized and waiting for orders from Congressman Jackson.

Now that Jesse Jackson, Jr. was easily reelected to another term as Congressman for the 2nd Congressional District, he did what any self-respecting politician would do.

He stepped down.  In his resignation letter (click on the link, and there's another link to the actual letter), Jackson cites his illness as part of the reason why he's stepping down.  And in a rare moment of political candor, he acknowledges his mistakes and plans on dealing with the responsibly.  And we wish (former) Congressman Jackson all the best in his recovery, as well as his legal shenanigans (side note:  His wife Sandi is an alderman... does she even represent her ward?  Ah, that's a question for someone else, I suppose).

What does this mean for voters of the 2nd Congressional District?  It means that for the second time in a row, this seat was vacated because the Congressman resigned.  Meet Mel Reynolds, Jackson's predecessor.  And pay attention, because his name will come up again.

Remember me?  I kinda hope you don't.

What this also means is that a special election will have to be held to replace Congressman Jackson.  For what it's worth, the law requires that unlike a senator, a new Congressman can't be appointed to his seat.  Had this law applied to the Senate, who knows how things would have turned out? 

'Sup.  Still no word on my appeal?  No worries... as Rudyard Kipling once said... 

ANYWAY, I digress.

A special election will have to be held, and already, some potential candidates are starting to stake their claims.

Debbie Halvorson

This is Debbie Halvorson.  As of yesterday, during an interview on the radio, she stated that she is not running for Jackson's seat.  However, it's still early on.  She was Jackson's most serious primary challenger, and she entered the race when the 2nd Congressional District lines were redrawn.  One of the things that I remember about this campaign was the idiocy of the ads.  Both camps must have found actors from the Tyler Perry Theatrical Academy, because the ads were horrible.  A typical Jesse ad had what sounded like old people saying "She voted against President Obama 88 times?"  Now, to get the full effect of how bad it sounded, imagine that in a Florida Evans voice.

You're welcome.

Her ads were no better, with ads featuring women that called him "Junior" in a derisive tone.  And they focused on Jesse Jackson Jr.'s pet project, a third airport in Peotone, IL.  And again, they sounded like graduates from the Tyler Perry Theatrical Academy.

If she does run, she has a bit of name recognition in her favor, and she also has the honor of giving Jackson his stiffest challenge in a primary in a long time.

Marcus Lewis

This is Marcus Lewis.  Not much is known about Mr. Lewis, except for the fact that he ran against Jackson as an Independent during the general election.  I never heard an ad from Mr. Lewis, and I discovered his Facebook profile after the election.  However, the fact that he was running as an independent was enough to earn my vote this time.  I couldn't vote for Jackson, and I CERTAINLY couldn't vote for the Republican.  Yes, Mr. Lewis was a long-shot, but in a vote guided by conscience, Mr. Lewis was the clear choice.  Since he has declared his candidacy, he should be able to mount a campaign to gain name recognition and to list his  plans for this district.

I'm sure that there are others who will stake their claim, especially once the date for the special election is announced.

But we are not finished yet.  There are some more candidates who are considering this seat, and here is where hubris and Chicago Style Politics come in to play.

Todd Stroger

This is Todd Stroger.  AKA The Toddler.  He was an alderman who became President of Cook County in a game of political switcheroo that typifies Chicago-style politics.  Stroger is the son of former Cook County President, the revered and late titan of Cook County, John Stroger.  John Stroger was gravely ill during his last election, and still managed to win.  Sound familiar?  When John passed away, Todd was appointed to his father's seat.  It is apparent that Todd was appointed to maintain the power base in Cook County, with Todd being a figurehead for the power brokers behind the scenes.  Todd was in over his head, and in the next election, he was easily defeated.  I distinctly remember seeing Todd at the train station on 95th street on election day.  He wasn't glad-handing like most of the other politicians that were there.  He looked almost like a commuter, hoping that this race would end and he can get back to his normal life.

Let's be serious for a minute.  NO one is going to look at Stroger and say "Hey, you know who can best represent my needs in Congress?  THAT guy!"  He was an ineffective President of Cook County, and his legacy of ineffective leadership should be remembered come Election Day.  Stroger shouldn't even make it out of the primaries.

But not to be outdone, I bring to you the Grand Champion of Political Cajones, Mel Reynolds.  As mentioned before, Mel Reynolds is Jackson's Congressional predecessor.  Reynolds resigned because he was convicted of sexual abuse charges, child pornography charges, and 15 unrelated counts of bank fraud.

I was hoping that you wouldn't remember that.

Even though he was pardoned by President Clinton, and even though people deserve a second chance in a lot of ways, you don't get to earn a second chance in elected office if your first chance in elected office ended in disgrace.

"You're kidding, right?  Riiiiiiiiiiiiight."

Reynolds has also expressed interest in Jackson's seat.  But there is no way that someone with HIS political baggage makes it out of the primaries.

I know that even now, the power brokers behind the scenes are looking to see who they will support.  And there is no way that the same brokers that supported Jackson will support the likes of Reynolds and Stroger.  Even though their ascension to the Congressional Seat of the 2nd District seems very unlikely, it WILL be kind of fun to watch it all unfold... the campaign ads from the Stroger and Reynolds camps should be VERY interesting.