Posted on 09/04/2010 5:46:14 PM PDT by RnMomof7
A mistake has been made in the Oval Office makeover that goes beyond the beige.
President Obama's new presidential rug seemed beyond reproach, with quotations from Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. woven along its curved edge.
"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." According media reports, this quote keeping Obama company on his wheat-colored carpet is from King.
Except it's not a King quote. The words belong to a long-gone Bostonian champion of social progress. His roots in the republic ran so deep that his grandfather commanded the Minutemen at the Battle of Lexington.
For the record, Theodore Parker is your man...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I hate that guy. (Wilson that is)
Martin Luther King - "I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together."
Here is my opinion: if you going to quote scripture, in all its wisdom and power (especially if you are a minister), then cite it.
To take God's incredible words, and act like they are your own, is a terrible thing to do.
One man's social progress is another man's communism.
.
See also: Journo-list.
(or the current more carefully hidden iteration, “Cabalist”)
He’s got those crazy eyes, like Hillary.
I wouldn't say it's way beyond the beige. The only good thing about the color of that rug is the fact that nobody will care when they rip it out to fix the stupid quote (except the taxpayers footing the bill, but it's a sunk cost already.)
Obama needs to keep the rug. Its makes a perfect statement.
“He can take the rug home with him”. Yeah! Aren’t the huts in Kenya round? Little trimming with a good pair of goat shears and it’ll fit perfect.
In King’s defense, he was coming from an environment wherein one would not just expect but have utter confidence that people really knew their bible. Southern Protestants make a point of not just reading the Bible but actually knowing it, and so the reference would be quite plain.
Devout black Christians are no different. So, to accuse King of plagiarism for weaving Biblical references into his public speaking is very unfair. There is plenty upon which he can be fairly and honestly criticized, such as his ties to communists, but this is not fair criticism.
Why not some RAPPER that Obama loves also????
There's a foot in that photo! a taxpayer?
So obama collects these quotations in a format so he can trample on them. Good move.
Well, it's strange that the world's smartest man didn't catch that misattribution but he COULD try to become a blog pimp - or he could flak for the Grand Old Party ... even though he would clearly be under qualified for either.
(Shibumi - as for the sutra meme, I still haven't taken a position on it.)
Actually the Post is wrong. What’s new about reporters being inaccurate.
Parker ( a distant relative of mine) did say something like that, but Martin Luther King, Jr. paraphrased it to the quote used on the rug. He credited Parker a couple times but then incorporated the quote in his speeches.
The original said: “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.” This is from his 1853 sermon Justice and the Conscience
That’s the original source but it’s different from Doctor Kings words when he paraphrased it: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Yep. Zero certainly qualifies as a blogpimp. Probably have a few figure skating FReepers defending him too.
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