Topic: Ron Paul
What Ron Paul Supporters Need to Know about Martin Luther King Jr. Day In preparation for the January 21st March for Freedom / Money Bomb, Ron Paul supporters should learn about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and why he is one of Ron Paul's heroes.by Jake Morphonios
(libertarian)
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
On November 5th, aka Guy Fawkes Day, thousands of Ron Paul supporters delivered their first "money bomb". This was repeated on December 16th in commemoration of the Boston Tea Party. Almost immediately after this record-smashing event, the next money bomb date was announced for January 21st, which coincides with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Dr. Paul has long held Martin Luther King Jr. as a personal hero, due largely to Dr. King's effective use of civil disobedience to bring about monumental change. The idea to use the MLK holiday for the next money bomb event made perfect sense to Paul supporters ? at least until the media sensationalized false reports that Ron Paul is a frothy-mouthed racist.
While Ron Paul has responded effectively to these false allegations of bigotry, the effects of the allegations of racism may skew the impact of the next money bomb. Indeed, some in the media will likely accuse Ron Paul of pandering to the black community to "make up" for the dastardly Ron Paul Newsletters ? ignoring the fact that the MLK March for Freedom was set long before the allegations were made.
Given the likelihood of media bias and misunderstanding by some who have heard the smear tactics against Ron Paul, it is essential that all Paul supporters participating in the MLK/Ron Paul civil rights marches on January 21st conduct themselves with utmost integrity. Furthermore, it would behoove supporters who are unfamiliar with the legacy of Dr. King to educate themselves about his life and impact on civil rights before attending rallies or marches. We want our supporters to be able to state, if queried by the media or other people on January 21st, why they are commemorating Ron Paul along side Martin Luther King Jr. While this column cannot begin to address the voluminous history of Dr. King, a few points are worth immediate mention.
For a period of time in American history blacks were considered to be "separate but equal" under the law. A set of rules, known as the Jim Crow Laws, outlined many of these segregating policies. In 1955 a young woman named Rosa Parks defied one of these laws in Alabama by refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus. This spark ignited the civil rights movement. At only 26 years old, Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister in Montgomery, became an advocate for Rosa Parks and other blacks. He led a boycott of the Montgomery Bus System and became an outspoken civil rights activist.
Dr. King employed the use of civil disobedience as advocated by India's Mahatma Gandi (another of Ron Paul's heroes). Using these non-violent protest methods, Dr. King organized marches and protests against unfair and unconstitutional discrimination laws against blacks. Many times these protests were met with fierce opposition from segregationist authorities and scenes of the civil rights movement played out across American televisions for the next decade.
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was instrumental in leading the March on Washington DC. Over a quarter of a million Americans turned out, sprawled between the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall. It was here that Dr. King delivered one of the greatest orations in American history, now known as the "I Have a Dream" speech. I encourage you all to read this speech, the text and audio of which can be found here: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
As is often the case with great men who dare to oppose the tyranny of the majority, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. In 1968, while Dr. King was standing on the balcony of his Memphis hotel room, a gunman shot him in the head. The bullet smashed through his jaw and into his spinal cord.
On the 21st of January, let us join with each other to honor the accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and send a message to our fellow citizens that the fight for civil liberties rages on. Our new standard bearer is Dr. Ron Paul, champion of the Constitution and articulate advocate for the preservation of civil liberties for all Americans.
The views expressed in this
article are those of Jake Morphonios only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Jake Morphonios is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Another great speech to read is Dr. Kings speech entitled "Beyond Vietnam". In many cases if you can just envision changing the names of countries and exchanging communism for terrorism you can see how little the times have really changed. In addition, many of the countries that Dr. King mentioned in 1967 still have an American presence that is subverting a more righteous democratic path.
Posted By: William T. Patton, Jr.
Date: 2008-01-18 09:33:39
Representative Ron Paul is the only person in congress espousing a true respect for the United States Constitution. Paul knows that congress has the sole power to declare war under our constitution. He is not afraid to offer voters his philosophical opposition to the Iraqi occupation by questioning the disastrous CIA operations and failed foreign policies that caused our great nation to be despised around the world. Ron Paul has worked tirelessly to educate Americans about the dangers of borrowing $2 billion per day from foreign investors in order to spend $1 billion per day fighting people who live in caves.
In the Republican debates, Ron Paul has shown that only he has the intellect worthy of America’s best professors, statesmen, and philosophers, such as Chalmers H. Johnson, Senator Robert A. Taft, and even Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ron Paul opposes warrantless wiretapping, a nation I.D. card, and the Patriot Act because he knows that it is never worth sacrificing liberty for faux security form an incompetent and corrupt government.
For example, Dr. King was the victim of FBI interference because of his opposition to the Viet Nam War. King was a true believer in the philosophy of Jesus Christ who said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Before her death, Mrs. Coretta Scott King was asked what she would say to those who claim that her husband never had to deal with an Osama bin Laden. Mrs. King quickly replied that if the philosophies of Jesus or her late husband were practice by our government, “there would not be an Osama bin Laden.”
Dr. Ron Paul is one of the only members of congress, and surely the only conservative in congress, capable of understanding what Mrs. King meant by her answer. Dr. Paul does not buy into the “War on Terror” brought to us by the Military Industrial Congressional Complex and he offers the only hope in the Republican Primary of saving our country from its self destructive ways.
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In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was instrumental in leading the March on Washington DC. Over a quarter of a million Americans turned out, sprawled between the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall. It was here that Dr. King delivered one of the greatest orations in American history, now known as the "I Have a Dream" speech. I encourage you all to read this speech, the text and audio of which can be found here: