Speaking For The Dead

Yesterday the nation observed Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. Most people who "honored" King did so by using the day off work to run errands, shop, see a movie or whatnot. Others took the opportunity to pontificate on current political issues by not just guessing but instead confidently stating that, if he were still alive today, King would hold certain opinions, usually those that the speakers themselves have. It is downright arrogant as well as disrespectful.

For example, Congressman John Lewis of Georgia wrote at the Huffington Post that King would demand that we "bring our troops home. He would say that war is an obsolete, ineffective tool of our foreign policy." Hatemonger's Quarterly, a humorous, conservative blog offers the following retort:

Oh, how lame is this? It’s another example of that most common of MLK rhetorical tropes: If Dr. King Were Alive Today, He’d Think Exactly As I Do. Yes, yes, yes: Dr. King would oppose the Iraq War. He’d be upset about NSA wiretapping. He’d be angry at the National Rifle Association. Blah, blah, blah.

Can’t we all just say that we don’t know what Dr. King would think about the vicissitudes of modern politics? To be sure, he was admirably opposed to violent means to carry forward the noble cause of Civil Rights. But does this imply that Dr. King would oppose all state military actions under all circumstances? Tell us, Rep. Lewis: Would Dr. King oppose the use of force to stop the genocide in Darfur?

Why don’t you just admit you have no idea what Martin Luther King Jr. would say about ambiguous political questions. And stop using a great Civil Rights leader as a bludgeon for your ideology.

I'll take HQ's questions one step further. Does Rep. Lewis himself advocate the use of force to stop the genocide of Darfur? According to his own website, yes he does. One of the demands that Rep. Lewis made just last year regarding the ongoing Darfur atrocity is: "UN Peacekeepers – A Chapter 7 UN peacekeeping mission to assist the African Union Mission."

Someone should explain to Rep. Lewis that United Nations peacekeeping operations serve as enforcement of post-conflict agreements. Besides needing someone to use force to end the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Rep. Lewis might be surprised to learn that the "peacekeepers" use force in order to do their jobs.