By MARC McDONALD
Much has been written already about the Rev. Joseph Lowery's controversial comments blasting the policies of the Bush White House at Coretta Scott King's funeral.
But the coverage I've seen thus far tends to miss a central point. The fact is, that by responding with a rousing standing ovation to Lowery's remarks, the crowd emphatically demonstrated its revulsion for the Bush regime.
Indeed, one has to wonder: why did Bush attend this event in the first place?
Who is Bush trying to fool? Are we really to believe that he gives a rat's ass about civil rights or black people in general? Or that he really cares about anyone who isn't white, male, rich and powerful? At the event, Bush mumbled some plastic, forgettable comments praising Mrs. King's legacy, with all the sincerity of a used-car salesman.
I found it highly appropriate that Bush then had to sit and fume helplessly as Lowery brought the crowd to a standing ovation with his remarks that blasted the evils of the Bush administration and the fraud that is the Iraq War.
"We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there. But Coretta knew and we knew that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance, poverty abounds. For war billions more, but no more for the poor."
Lowery's remarks carried added weight, coming as they did a day after Bush unveiled his obscene 2007 budget, which calls for eye-popping $439.3 billion for military spending, while slashing domestic social programs.
One wonders how Bush and the NeoCons will react to this humiliation in the coming days. I'd suspect that Fox News and the right-wing noise machine is already gearing up to do whatever they can to slime Lowery.
News and opinion with a progressive viewpoint.
Anyone who believes that the great GOP slime machine isn't going to go after Lowery for telling the truth to Bush's face probably also believes the fairy tale that MLK was assassinated by a lone gunman.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the bloated $439 billion Pentagon budget, I have long believed that our nation's military spending has little to do with actual "defense" and everything to do with pork. This was vividly illustrated a few years ago when Congress approved $4 billion for an new aircraft carrier that the Pentagon itself admitted it had no use for.
ReplyDeleteBush has made the world a vastly more dangerous place. The ongoing Iraq debacle has radicalized many in the Muslim world (hence the recent electoral victory of Hamas).
ReplyDeleteI find it funny that black people still think the liberals in the dumbocrat party are their friends. I guess they forget that Lincoln was the founder of the Republican party, or maybe it's not short memeories, but ignorance from education (read indoctrination) from the liberal dominated public school system. And as for the Bush adminiatration, not even your beloved Bubba elevated any minorities to the levels of importance that Bush has. In fact, dumbocrats have held blacks back for decades, ... the '64 Civil Rights Act would never have passed without a majority of republicans voting for it, ... You libs really are mentally ill
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