The Nation.

King's Legacy of Change

By Grace Lee Boggs

January 15, 2008

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  • A man who wants to expand the size of the United States military by 100,000 troops has no right to cherry-pick quotes from MLK's famous speech. When King said "the fierce urgency of now," he didn't mean the fierce urgency of electing Obama as President; he meant the fierce urgency of ending the war in Vietnam now. Obama, I hope it's clear, does not plan on ending the war in Iraq now, despite the wishes of the citizens of Iraq, the citizens of America and the citizens of the world. He has publicly stated he would unilaterally invade Pakistan; he's called Iran "a genuine threat"; he supported Israel's bombing of Lebanon's cities; and he uses the word "nuclear" enough to make my stomach churn.

    "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

    I like Obama, OK, but he will in no way end our disastrous path down the dark corridors of imperialism, and there is no way I could in conscience vote for that. I'd rather not support our spiritual death.

    Ryan Croken

    Chicago, IL

    01/17/2008 @ 7:22pm


  • "Instead of projecting desired outcomes on his redemptive persona, instead of viewing ourselves solely as followers of a charismatic leader, we can and must become the leaders the nation has been looking for." This is the best article I have read during the entire campaign of 2008. Obama has said the same in most of his campaign speeches: It must be a movement. Without the energy of people, change for the better won't happen.

    It is troubling that so many conservatives and progressives alike are unaware of their own hypnotic spell: the belief that each candidate should compete à la American Idol with a checklist of attributes designed to please each and every Christmas wish list of every person. Whether this is due to channel changers, computers and fast food or whether it is the fear factor, Americans have been lazy.

    Snap!

    Richard Ray Harris

    Desert Hot Springs, CA

    01/16/2008 @ 12:24pm


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