Dead Man Talking?
By Debbie Daniel (01/16/06)
Oh, the words we hear dead men say! When I heard there would be a protest on MLK Day in San Antonio, Texas, where the largest parade in the nation is held for this heralded man, I questioned why.
I couldn’t imagine a protest of any kind, until I heard the reason. Because military jets would be flying overhead - in honor of MLK Day - as the processional of followers made their way through the downtown streets of this mostly Hispanic city, there would be shouts of anger and protests at military planes which these protestors felt did not accurately portray Martin Luther King, Jr.’s feelings about the war.
About the WAR? Oh my goodness! I dropped my jaw!
Military planes would be viewed as representation of the war we’re fighting in Iraq, and MLK would most certainly be against the war – at least that’s what “they” say.
“They” say? Is that truly what Martin Luther King would say? I don’t know, do you? It’s the words of living idiots that concern me. How in the world does anyone know what a dead man would say?
How do we assign words to Martin Luther King, Jr. . . . “I don’t want military planes flying over my parade”?
Would it not be more accurate to say that it’s the protestors’ ideology about the military planes – not Martin Luther King, Jr.?
Or, is it easier to assign it to a dead man just to force your detestation of the war? And for those who would say, “MLK was a peaceful man, is that why those who protected him carried guns and MLK sought a gun permit for himself – just to keep the peace?
Now, I don’t have a problem with protestors – I, myself, on occasion, have been known to protest – but don’t put words in a dead man’s mouth.
Just own up to it . . . it’s the spew coming from your own mouth that tells us who you are – not who Martin Luther King, Jr. was or who he could have been.
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