King/Bush

Yesterday President George W. Bush laid a wreath at the tomb of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on what would have been his 75th birthday while protesters chanted in the distance.

Many protesters accused Bush of staging a photo opportunity, citing King’s non-violent stance. The image of a president leading a divided country into a questionable war standing at the grave of a man who gave his life for peace seems a bit disjointed.

In a twist of history, city buses were used to block any view between the protesters and the president.

4 thoughts on “King/Bush”

  1. The bus thing is rather funny.

    I don’t think there’s any truth to “photo-op” in that. Bush believes in freedom and equality for everyone. He went into Iraq because Iraqi citizens weren’t being given things that every human deserves (like the right to life). I don’t think Dr. King would have done any differently. If you peacefully protest in Sadam’s regime, he’ll just have his troops drive up and mow down the lot.

  2. I don’t know about the photo-op part, but I question your statement that Dr. King wouldn’t have done anything different. King was very opposed to the Vietnam war, was very much a pacifist, and greatly looked up to Ghandi as an example and a source for his form of non-violent protest. I’m no King expert, but I’m not so sure he’d be in favor of the war in Iraq. He would certainly sympathize with the Iraqi people, but he would most definitely encourage non-violent, peaceful methods.

  3. regarding “mowing down…”
    I actually remember hearing that some of the protesters in the time of Martin Luther King Jr. were mowed down by the police force.

  4. For what it’s worth, Dr. King’s widow has been an ardent opponent of the war in Iraq and will be speaking on the subject again today–according to the AP story.

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