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Looks like even the Obama administration finally became aware of the wrongly quoted lines from Dr. Martin Luther King, engraved on the side of his memorial in Washington DC.
Just in time.
I was in DC on vacation last year, and visited the Martin Luther King memorial. The inscription on it at the time, was indeed a misquote, reading, “”I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.”
The actual words from King's "Drum Major Speech" were “If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”
King was a humble man, who would never go around saying he was a "Drum Major" for anything. His humility was apparently lost on the sculptor.
After years of complaints, the original sculptor was finally brought in in early August 2013, to remove the quote in time for the 50th anniversary celebration.
Misquotes in Washington DC are nothing new. In fact, the misquote of King's speech is a relatively minor one.
The Constitution itself is misquoted... and on the walls of Congress, no less.
I visited DC on a vacation last year, and found the so-called "General Welfare clause", a statement that Congress can spend tax money only on things that benefit all Americans equally (i.e. no special interests), mis-written on the wall inside the House of Representatives building on the Mall.
The altered quote says, "Congress shall have to power to provide for the General Welfare...", which is pretty much the opposite of what the Framers actually wrote and ratified.
"The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;"
Your personal preference for what the clause should mean is irrelevant. Asserting that your own personal preference trumps that which is actually going on, as a reflection of the consensus view of what it means, as administered through the due process of our governmental institutions, is ridiculous.
I guess it would have been better had the inscription read "He was a Drum Major for Justice, Peace and Righteousness", because then they are doing exactly what he said (i.e., if you're gonna say it, say it this way) rather than paraphrasing the quote.
"The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;"
Your personal preference for what the clause should mean is irrelevant. Asserting that your own personal preference trumps that which is actually going on, as a reflection of the consensus view of what it means, as administered through the due process of our governmental institutions, is ridiculous.
Your personal preference for what the clause should mean is also irrelevant.
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
They really could have designed a far better memorial for the man. One that did him justice. That thing they have now is just an eyesore.
There's a lovely sculpture honoring Dr. King at Boston University, the only college with a Theology School PhD program at the time that would allow a black man to attend.
"The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;"
Ah, that publik skewl eddicayshun shines through again. Little buu has discovered that if he leaves out enough words from a sentence, he can even make it support liberal talking points, no matter how silly they are.
Hey, I can do that too!
Quote:
Your personal preference for what the clause should mean is irrelevant. Asserting that your own personal preference trumps that which is actually going on, as a reflection of the consensus view of what it means, as administered through the due process of our governmental institutions, is ridiculous.
See? I just "proved" that little buu agrees, that what I said is in fact what the government says too. As expressed in his own words!
Poor littte fellow must have flunked "sentence diagramming" badly.
The so-called "General Welfare Clause" says that Congress can use tax money to provide for the general welfare of the United States.
"General Welfare" meant, of course, the well-being of all Americans equally. It was quite distinct from "local welfare" (both phrases were in common use at the time), which meant the well-being of smaller groups, or what we would call "special interests" today. Those were carefully left out of the so-called "General Welfare clause", for good reason.
In fact, the so-called "General Welfare" clause was a ban on Congress spending tax money to benefit special interests. Only spending that benefitted everybody equally, was constitutional. The liberals (their own favorite special interest group) hated that fact, and so are doing their best to pretend it means something else.
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