Yesterday, my home country swore in its 44th president for his second term. Because a president's term of office always ends at noon on January 20th (because this government is nothing if not inconsistent about the importance of setting specific dates for important shit - our presidential elections don't have a set date, but are always on the Tuesday that falls between November 2nd and November 8th), Obama was actually sworn in yesterday, but since we do all of our official government shit on Mondays, he gets sworn in twice. He'll actually be the only president to ever be sworn in four times for two terms, because last time he was inaugurated, the dude who swore him in botched it and they had to do it over the next day.
But you know what's really cool about the second swearing in and the inauguration festivities happening today? One of the floating holidays here in America is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It's beyond fair to say that without the work of Dr. King, Barack Obama would not be president, so I thought it was so cool when Allison Morris got in touch with me and asked me to take a look at an infographic she helped create. I thought it would be awesome and appropriate to share it with you guys today (from http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/life-of-mlk):
So, thanks, Allison, for sharing this with us!
I also want to take this opportunity to point out that many public schools don't close on this day, and people like John McCain and Ronald Reagan were at one time opposed to this holiday. There are people in the United States vehemently opposed to honoring the sacrifices of a civil rights leaders, but the majority of people still somehow support Columbus day, when we honor the legacy of slavery and genocide that Christopher Columbus left us when he "discovered" America.
Juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust
sayin'.
Tee hee. Regarding Columbus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8waBR2Hpsgk
ReplyDeleteIf you hadn't brought up the travesty that is called Columbus Day, I would have. It's a conceited holiday that continues to tell Native Americans that they don't matter and that this land was discovered by people, meaning that the native people must have been savage beasts who weren't human. Fromt he first footsteps by Europeans on this land, it's been about oppressing people based on skin color and other stupid stuff like being Irish.
ReplyDeleteAll of our presidents got rolled into Presidents' Day (anyone else remember Washington Day and Lincoln Day being separate?), but Columbus still gets his own day. Gotta LOVE the message that oppression is more important than freedom and equality. You watch. MLKJr, day won't be around in twenty years. It's only a holiday here as far as banks are concerned.
I think it's cool that two floating holidays (if you want to call an inauguration a holiday) happen to fall on the same day. It would be horrifically wrong if Romney was being sworn on on a day dedicated to the man who died for equal rights. It's wonderful that Obama, our first non-white president, is being sworn in on this day.
Also I'm probably the only person who doesn't think Mother Teresa is saintly perfect, Sorry, but talking up the "evils" of condoms in an area where already most people were going to starve to death due to lack of food probably resulted in more than one woman dying from a pregnancy that they may have wanted to avoid. Advocating more babies when there's not enough to go around isn't very responsible.
"Also I'm probably the only person who doesn't think Mother Teresa is saintly perfect"
DeleteYou and Hitchens.
And reasonable people.
Yeah, Mother Theresa isn't my favorite person, either. "Let's deny AIDS patients pain meds because they deserve to feel their sin," is not, to me, the most saintly thought to have. However, I don't think the graphic was glorifying her, just stating that most people feel she is the most admired person of the 20th century. And she probably is. That doesn't mean everything she did was good, it just means most people are fucking stupid.
ReplyDeleteIf there's something a lot of your blog readers agree on, it's the abject lack of intelligence displayed in even first-world populations. I'm still trying to figure out how the hell abuse is supposed to be romantic, and how its sooooo sweet that Mr. Mommy Issues can't wait to...wait until you get to the epilogue of 50 Shades, and before that, what Ms. Stupid says about the beby enjoying rough sex. There's no desire in the market for a book with a strong woman saving herself from abuse, but rape, beating, and a guy *with mommy issues* looking forward to drinking his wife's breastmilk is romaaaaaantic. I think the quality of what's popular in literature is a good reflection of the general intelligence of the populations with the most buyers.
DeleteNow that Obama's speech is over, I'm just waiting for people on Facebook and elsewhere to start talking about how awful it was because he wants equal rights for women and gays and other marginalized groups. Humanity has taken so many steps backward. Stop the world. I want to get off.
"However, I don't think the graphic was glorifying her, just stating that most people feel she is the most admired person of the 20th century. And she probably is. That doesn't mean everything she did was good, it just means most people are fucking stupid."
DeleteMost people are /ignorant/ - a problem which is not helped by associating her with someone like MLK without a disclaimer.
Which is something Mother Teresa has in common with Obama. More people should look at Judge Katherine Forrest's injunction against indefinite detention without trial and who challenged the decision.
Don't worry I agree with the thoughts on Mother Teresa. Anyone who wants to spread poverty as far and wide as possible because they think it brings people closer to god can fuck off :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that other readers share the same sentiments: Mother Teresa: BOO. Columbus: BOOOOOO. MLK Jr: Yay.
ReplyDeleteI guess I would be the only one who thinks MLK isn't such a saint either. Cheating on your wife and plagarism of doctoral papers isn't exactly role model behavior. Leave off on Mother Teresa for a minute.
DeleteCheating on his wife hurt his wife. Refusing painkillers to people dying of AIDS and taking a stance against birth control and abortion in an overpopulated country ravaged by hunger hurt her country and people of her faith. Apples. Oranges.
DeleteNo one is perfect.
DeleteThe difference is that while MLK might have cheated on his wife, he still had a great impact on civil rights that most people here are going to agree was good. Cheating on his wife is a separate issue.
While Mother Theresa gets praise for stuff she either didn't do or did poorly. If she had had a positive impact on healthcare in poor countries but had been, say, a vicious drunk, she would still have had those achievements that would have been praiseworthy, despite her personal failings.
Huh. I wish I could say I almost suspect there had been something up with Mother Teresa, but I honestly never gave her much thought (I was in a deeply religious family during her peak of popularity and was just too drained and numb to care).
ReplyDeleteIt did get me thinking that Mother Teresa has better editors and spin artists than the 50 Shades book.
As for Columbus- the man died broke in disgrace and as a failure in the streets. If he hadn't thought to bring back cocoa beans to the King and Queen, the Spanish never would have gave the Americas a second thought. So yes- his holiday is quite the bullshit holiday.
Fun fact! The town in Michigan where I attended high school does not take MLK day off, but we do, in fact, get the first day of the deer hunting season off.
ReplyDeleteFunny how that one works...
Sounds like the small redneck town in Michigan I grew up in. :P
DeleteMy schools have never gotten MLK day off or Columbus Day. Boo.
ReplyDeleteAlso, elections fall on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November. It's not random.
My school use to take Columbus Day off but phased that out and I never got a Columbus Day off againe untill I joined the military. Cuz any reason to have a four day- we take it when we can.
DeleteWe don't have Columbus Day here (in south dakota) - we've renamed it Native American Day. :>
ReplyDeleteSome other thoughts on Obama using MLK's bible:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLpneP5sZMc
Another funny thing, in Virginia it used to be "Lee-Jackson-King" day. Because it makes so much sense to celebrate two confederate generals with a civil rights leader. They finally did away with it in 2000.
ReplyDeleteThis little post moved me. Thank you for sharing it with us. Go Martin Luther King! Go Obama! And good job, US voters. :)
ReplyDeletean Italian follower