The Road of Bones

The Webster Retort
By Stephen Webster
Publication date: Jan. 20, 2006
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“I am convinced that it is one of the most unjust wars that has ever been fought in the history of the world. Our involvement in the war in Vietnam has torn up the Geneva Accord. It has strengthened the military-industrial complex; it has strengthened the forces of reaction in our nation. It has put us against the self-determination of a vast majority of the Vietnamese people, and put us in the position of protecting a corrupt regime that is stacked against the poor. […] We have alienated ourselves from other nations so we end up morally and politically isolated in the world. There is not a single major ally of the United States of America that would dare send a troop to Vietnam, and so the only friends that we have now are a few client-nations like Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, and a few others.”

Martin Luther King Jr., Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution

This column would have been more appropriate last week. January 16, 2006 - the day when our nation honors a great orator, advocate of equality, activist for peace. Martin Luther King Jr. A day which many Americans, young and old, imbue with a sense of remembrance and gratitude. We honor a tower of a man, his struggle, and the victory of an oppressed people over the forces of Old and Evil.

But what of this nation’s further plight? Why do so few recall Dr. King’s activism for peace? His calls to end the unjust, illegal war in Vietnam? He stood and fought against a war started on the basis of a lie, perpetuated by criminals and thieves and liars. A war which swallowed over 50,000 members of an American generation. A war which scarred our country’s consciousness forever.

I cannot lay claim to having been present on this earth during those tumultuous years. Yet as a child, my father would regal me with stories of the peace movement; tales of upheaval, sit-ins and protest. From a young age I could recite lines from Dr. King’s most famous of speeches. His message, my father’s message, was one of justice and equality. It was, and is, very dear to me. Their words, the foundation of my core beliefs upon which I stand each week in the pages of this publication.

You may call me a hypocrite; a hippie; a peace-nic; a “pinko,” to quote one recently received missive. But I say to you, do not celebrate the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King without considering the breadth of his message. His words are as powerful and meaningful and important today as they were when he first ascribed them to paper and shook the institutions of power to their very core.

On Jan. 16, 2006, our president stood before the nation and violated the memory of King, calling him simply “an American who called Americans to account when we didn’t live up to our ideals.” I would remind those few who still fanatically embrace the broken, destructive policies of President Bush to read between those lines. Deep within our nation’s collective, selective memory lies a hero of not just a proud people united for racial equality, but a hero to all who seek peace and justice in America and the world.

Remember Martin Luther King Jr. for who he really was and what he did; not this idealized, non-threatening, fake, irrelevant mockery propped up by a corporate media sham and its Neo-Con masters.

Do not segregate the remembrance of a great man from his beliefs. How many more must die before we throw off the reigns of oppression once again, stand up and speak with one unified voice against the war-mongers, the fascists, and those who propagate hate? Dr. King had a dream, where all men were equal. Where all nations worked for the betterment of each other. Where the measure of a society is the well-being of least of its members.

“Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home, and dealt death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as one who loves America, to the leaders of our own nation: The great initiative in this war is ours; the initiative to stop it
must be ours.”

-- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Beyond Vietnam

I too have a dream.

End the war in Iraq and prevent the invasion of Iran. Restore America’s honor in the world community. Hold this government responsible for its wide-reaching abuses. And for the sake of the very basis of our nation – the American Constitution - vote against this evil in November. Your nation and world depend upon it.

Wake up, my countrymen. Remember.

Stephen Webster is an Investigative Reporter and Syndicated Columnist with The News Connection, a Staff Columnist with George W. Bush’s hometown weekly The Lone Star Iconoclast, and a former Contributor to The Dallas Morning News’ Science & Technology section. For more of Webster’s musings, visit GonzoMuckraker.BlogSpot.com.

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker on Tuesday, January 17, 2006 at Tuesday, January 17, 2006 | Permalink