Democrats smeared Martin Luther King?

By Frances Rice - Executive Director of NBRA

As we honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the month of his birth, let us also pause to remember the indignities he endured, who caused his suffering – the Democrats – and how. Character assassination. That's the tactic used by Democrats in the 1960's to discredit Dr. King, a Republican who was fighting the Democrats and trying to stop them from denying civil rights to blacks.

The relentless disparagement of Dr. King by Democrats led to his being physically assaulted and ultimately to his tragic death. In March of 1968, while referring to Dr. King's leaving Memphis, Tennessee after riots broke out where a teenager was killed, Democrat Senator Robert Byrd, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, called Dr. King a "trouble-maker" who starts trouble, but runs like a coward after trouble is ignited. A few weeks later, Dr. King returned to Memphis and was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
Prior to his death, Democrats bombed Dr. King's home several times. The scurrilous efforts by the Democrats to harm Dr. King included spreading rumors that he was a Communist and accusing him of being a womanizer and a plagiarist.

An egregious act against Dr. King occurred on October 10, 1963. With the approval of Democrat President John F. Kennedy, Democrat Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy – President Kennedy's brother – authorized the wiretapping of Dr. King's telephone by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Wiretaps were placed by the FBI on the telephones in Dr. King's home and office. The FBI also bugged Dr. King's hotel rooms when he traveled around the country.
The trigger for this unsavory wiretapping was apparently Dr. Kings' criticism of the Kennedy Administration, according to the author David Garrow in his book, Bearing the Cross. The justification given by the Kennedy Administration publicly was that two of Dr. King's associates, including David Levinson, had ended their association with the Communist Party in order to work undercover and influence Dr. King. However, after years of continuous and extensive wiretapping, the FBI found no direct links of Dr. King to the Communist Party.

The unrelenting efforts by Democrats to tarnish Dr. King's reputation continued for years after his death. To his credit, Republican President Ronald Reagan ignored the Democrats' smear campaign and made Dr. King's birthday a holiday. Under President George W. Bush, a memorial to Dr. King is being built in Washington, DC.

Today, while professing to revere Dr. King, Democrats are still trying to sully his image by making remarks that diminish his civil rights achievements and continuing to claim that Dr. King embraced Communism – a system that is secularist and socialist.

In reality, Dr. King was a Christian who held deeply religious beliefs and was guided by his faith and his Republican Party principles in his struggle to gain equality for blacks. He did not embrace the type of socialist, secularist agenda that is promoted by the Democratic Party today, which includes fostering dependency on welfare that breaks up families, supporting same-sex marriage and banning God from the public square.

An understanding of who the real Dr. King was can be gained from a glimpse of Dr. King as a young man who participated in an oratorical contest when he was 14 years old. The title of his speech was "The Negro and the Constitution" which had the following sentences: "We cannot have an enlightened democracy with one great group living in ignorance…We cannot be truly Christian people so long as we flout the central teachings of Jesus: brotherly love and the Golden Rule…."

If Dr. King were still alive, he would be slandered by Democrats in the same way that they smeared him in the 1960's and demean all black Republicans today.

"...No Longer a Christian Nation..."

I have to say that the rise of Barak Hussein Obama may well be one of the most intriguing political stories of my lifetime. Not that the unique nature of this political season is fallen by the wayside. Nor that the concerns wrought by the current republican administration aren't important. A seemingly self-righteous administrative process my result in a possibly less responsible (and perhaps less experienced) democratic alternative. I have been a staunch supporter of GWB. I have articualted my concerns in prior submissions. On the face of it, whether I like it or not, there is a very strong possibility that the next administration will be one of the democratic pesuasion. Imagine my chagrine and concern then to hear these words from Barack Obama. "The dangers of sectarianism are greater than ever, whatever we once were, we are no longer a christian nation, at least not 'just'; we are also a jewish nation, a muslim nation and a buddhist nation and a hindu nation and a nation of unbelievers..." (see link below at 8:03)



With oratory capabilities, unparalled in my life time, I sat amazed as did so many others watching him as the key note at the 2004 democratic convention. Like Ronald Reagan before him, Obama does captivate. Unlike, Ronald Reagan he does so with an academic tone. A thoroughness, less folksy and more sophisticated presentation that resonates like Reagan, but in a different way. Seeing his victory speech in Iowa and the democratic debates one appreciates a gifted man. Watching crowds inexplicably mesmerized by his words, in spite of seemingly shallow experience, turns a curiosity on which is difficult to explain without causing disbelief among those who know me. The statement titled above by Obama, though stunned me. To see a politician at the highest level in US politics boldly proclaim that we are no longer a "christian nation" struck me in a painful way. Everything within me wanted to decry such a statement...

But how can one argue?

It is now a very real possibility that we will have a democratic nominee who identifies with my faith in Jesus, yet promotes conceptually that we "...are not a christian nation...". Add to that a possible republican nominee who identifies with a faith that our culture, at least until this year has general defined as a cult.

If our choices become one of these two individuals or both, then I suspect that is evidence towards the statement being accurate. Shame on us... Our goal as christians, then should be to change that? DeToqueville very eloquently mentioned the opinion that American society would last only as long as America remained a moral people. The question now must be, how long can we remain "moral", if our morality is guided by an ethos other than that of scripture? We know the Truth: with no foundation in God's word "...every man does that which is right in his own eyes..." Proverbs 21:2. Unfortunately, outside of scripture we can't all be right. I dare say that in some regard the tendency of the church to abdicate its responsibility to "...act justly, and love mercy and to walk humbly before your God..." may in fact create a defacto obligation for governmental intervention. Where there is less responsibility, there is more government. Where there is more governement, there is less freedom. Will we begin to take back that responsibility, or continue to loose freedom? Only time will tell. Lord help us. Prov.21:1

For context see Part 1,2,3 and 4 of Obama's Call to Renewal presentation.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Senator+Barack+Obama+Call+to+Renewal+Keynote+Address+faith+politics+religion+speech&search=Search

***UPDATE*** for some reason the entire Call to Renewal Speech is no longer available on YouTube. Too bad because the context offers interesting topic of debate about the wanna-be President.