Free Republic

The news of Barack Obama's new Oval Office rug containing a favorite quote used by Obama that he attributed to Martin Luther King was taken from a sermon by 19th century Unitarian minister Theodore Parker has taken an interesting twist with research by Freeper Enchante (and Hot Air)showing that in 2008 Obama stopped using the quote in stump speeches after his presidential campaign was informed its origin by Unitarian Rev. Matt Tittle:In April, during the presidential primary season, I perked up from the usual din of campaign rhetoric when I heard then-candidate Barack Obama say (referring to Dr. Martin Luther...

In talking about the new rug in the Oval Office on Wednesday, we mentioned several historical quotes woven into the rug, including one from Martin Luther King Jr.: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." A number of listeners pointed out that King was in fact echoing the words of 19th century abolitionist and Unitarian minister Theodore Parker. NPR's Melissa Block talks to Clayborne Carson -- a professor of history at Stanford University and director of the Martin Luther King Junior Research and Education Institute -- about Parker, and about King's use of favorite...