Posted on 08/23/2003 6:23:59 PM PDT by nwrep
MLK Rally marked by Bush, Ashcroft bashing & absence of US flags; Speaker Praises Mugabe
The rally on the US Capitol today to mark the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech was broadcast live on C-SPAN. The event was attended by Democratic presidential contenders Howard Dean, Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton. The following are my personal observations, facts hidden from you by puff-pieces appearing on the wire services.
The most stunning aspect of this rally was the almost complete, seemingly choreographed absence of the Old Glory throughout the vast crowd, estimated by organizers to number 50,000. The fact that not a single black person thought it proper to show appreciation to a country that freed his forefathers from the clutches of slavery by proudly flying her flag, seemed almost offensive to me. Seen among the crowd were various pro-Palestinian banners and others denigrating America, one calling it "The greatest purveyor of violence in the world".
The ceremony started with various songs and religious intonations, including one involving a beer bottle and a potted plant by a so-called "African" leader representing an "African religion", but the singing of the Star Spangled Banner was, alas, not deemed worthy of the effort by the organizers. I found this to be extraordinarily ungrateful, as if they were going out of their way to avoid any association with American symbols.
What followed this remarkable opening was a long flow of speaker after speaker, spewing anti-Bush, anti-Ashcroft and sometimes, anti-American screed. First up was Martin Luther King III, and he set the tone for the afternoon's speeches by attacking the war on Iraq and Afghanistan, and blaming the Bush administration and the US military for all ills under the sun. He listed "homophobia" as one of the greatest contemporary evils facing mankind.
Following him were an assortment of speakers sympathizing with the "Palestinian cause", including terrorist appeaser James Zogby, President of the Arab American Institute, and brother of the allegedly independent pollster John Zogby. Racism, discrimination and denial of civil rights were some of the things blamed by these individuals on the Bush administration. Ashcroft came in for several rounds of liberal criticism, particularly from Zogby and a young Arab woman dressed in a head-scarf, who levelled the usual charges against the administration, unhappy at our success in the war on terror.
The "Rev." Al Sharpton spoke and reeled off whatever DNC talking points might have been missed by the previous speakers, and he was followed by the "Rev." Jesse Jackson.
Following his rather long and boring speech, Jackson started soliciting donations, which were collected by the volunteers in what looked like paint buckets with slits. Jackson finished off with the obligatory phony prayer, which was well received by both the blacks and the guilty white liberals in the audience.
Rounding off this round of speakers dissociating themselves from the founding ideals of our Republic as well as Dr. King's color-blind vision were Kim Gandy, the NOW chief, and a representative of the National Gay and Lesbian Alliance. Only Corretta Scott King and Rep. John Lewis seemed to depart from the script which had turned this event into a defacto blame America outing.
As the afternoon started to wear, the crowd got restless and started to leave. The dark, depressing vision of America highlighted by the speakers did not help.
Towards the end, someone calling himself Obi Egbuna of the Pan-African Liberation Organization took the stand. What followed was virulent anti-western and anti-American rantings that even I was not prepared for. This gentleman, if you could call him that, placed the blame of all the problems facing the continent of Africa on the shoulders of President Bush.
Apparently in an effort to establish his credentials as even more radical than the previous speakers, he heaped lavish praise on Robert Mugabe for "reclaiming African lands from the colonialists", never mind the fact that this despicable tyrant has turned a once prosperous country into an ecological disaster by the systematic starvation of this people, while forcefully stealing farms from white farmers who had owned them for generations. In the twisted mind of this speaker, Mugabe was an example worth emulating across the continent.
The rally almost fizzled towards the end, as the dignitaries on stage started leaving in the middle of the speeches, walking past hundreds of empty chairs in the stands, a scene perfectly captured by C-SPAN.
This event raised a lot of questions in my mind: Why the almost enforced absence of US flags? Why no singing of the Star Spangled Banner? Why no mention of the greatness of America? Why no invitee from the right of the political spectrum? Why was this event not billed as a DNC rally, even though it appeared to be little more than that? Why the emphasis on "hip-hop", gay rights and Palestinian Liberation at a rally commemorating MLK's speech? What do these things have to do with civil rights, which, at this point in time, should be a non-issue?
Why does an Arab woman in a headscarf think she has the right to tell Americans that we have "a long way to go in our struggle for freedoms"? Why did the NAACP invite so many Arabs to speak at this rally? Why were there so many Palestinians at this rally? Why was someone from the more moderate civil rights groups (such as the Congress for Racial Equality) not invited to speak? And lastly, why the non-coverage by the media, with the notable exception of C-SPAN?
Was a change in his look noted?
Are these people in a trance? I.Q. challenged? Or just fanatical?
Mugabe Democrat Bump
Not a single racists Democrat even SHOWED UP for Ms. Mosley Brauns' coming out rally in Chicago. NOW couldn't even get *one* racists democrat to even show up ?
democrats need to look within for the solution.
It's time the DNC FOLLOWED THE LEAD of the Republican party and give African Americans positions of *real power* in the executive branch.
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I didn't see Jesse Jackson put any money in the bucket when he was goading the dignitaries there to dig deep 'for the cause'.
BTW, brother Malcom X was not mentioned by Rev. Jackson when he invoked the names of the dearly departed at the commencement of his shakedown.
Hmpf. And Arabs bleating about discrimination too. I just had an insight as to why the crowd began to drift away.
They can read the handwriting on the wall. Either gays or Arabs are going to be elevated to Oppressed Victim Class Numero Uno in the coming election, and blacks are gonna get screwed again...
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