Unions Hijack MLK Legacy in Assassination Day Exploitation

I suggested this morning that Barack Obama, in launching his 2012 reelection effort on April 4th, the anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., "might have used this day to remind Americans of his commitment" to family values and to the restoration of the black family in American life. Absent that, the president's launch frankly seems a bit disrespectful. But that's nothing compared to the big labor unions, who're shamelessly exploiting King's death to make strained comparison's between the assassination and today's controversies over unions and state budget crises, etc. See the Soros-funded Think Progress, "43 Years Ago Today, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Died Fighting For The Rights Of Public Workers" (via Memeorandum). And at the AFL-CIO, "We Are One Honors MLK, ‘A Champion for All’."

They're calling April 4th a "national day of solidarity." It's certainly true that Dr. King's vision placed him on the left on occasion, but his overall program of individual liberty was an affirmation of this nation's founding --- and inherently conservative. It's thus horribly shameful for progressives to hijack the King legacy as if they own it. "Solidarity"? Civil rights protesters marched against Democrats throughout the South who for decades had disenfranchised blacks and had denied them of equal protection of the laws. Dr. King carried out the vision of Abraham Lincoln, and President Lyndon Johnson warned that he was consigning the Democrats to minority status by signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It's just sickening to see progressives not just cheapen the legacy, but to conflate this nation's historic legacy of victory over discrimination with the union entitlement culture that's bankrupting the states.

Obama Launches Reelection Campaign on Fourth Day of Fourth Month, Same Day as MLK Assassination

At Politico, "President Obama launches reelection campaign with video" (via Memeorandum).

Seems to me the Obama camp might have taken advantage of the historical symbolism, if you're going launch on the fourth day of the fourth month, which happens to be the day Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated. Obama could have returned to the rhetoric of his 2004 keynote address to the Democratic National Convention:

Go into any inner city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can’t teach our kids to learn; they know that parents have to teach, that children can’t achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white. They know those things.

Obama might have used this day to remind Americans of his commitment to these values. He might have spoken on the crisis of education in the black community, and the need to strengthen the family and commit ourselves to a politics of life. For more on this, see Ken Blackwell and Robert Morrison, "Crisis in the Black Community."

Islamists Seek Takeover of Egyptian Revolution

I'll have lots of commentary on the Middle East over the next few days. Especially noteworthy is Victor Davis Hanson, who gave a phenomenal keynote speech on Saturday morning at the Freedom Center's Western Retreat. More on that later. Meanwhile, looks like the Los Angeles Times is playing catch-up to the New York Times on the role of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egyptian politics. See, "Islamists in Egypt seek change through politics":

Egypt has long been the touchstone of the Arab world. The protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square that ended with Mubarak retiring to his villa on the Red Sea riveted the Middle East. That drama suggests that Egypt's post-revolutionary era — its emerging blend of politics and Islam — will have tremendous influence on what evolves in coming generations across the region.

The political Islam popular in Egypt strikes more the tone of the moderate Muslim party running Turkey than the fundamentalist theocracies presiding over Saudi Arabia and Iran. Political parties based solely on religion are still illegal here, but the military council ruling the country has astounded many by permitting Islam a wider role. Analysts suggest this tolerance is calculated so that in coming months the army can hand over the nation to an elected parliament after assurances from the Brotherhood that it will not run a candidate for president.

Egypt is not the only nation where Islamic messages are whispering alongside the clamor of revolt. In Yemen, religious radicals are seeking to exploit anti-government protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a U.S. ally against Al Qaeda. In Syria, conservative Sunni Muslims more antagonistic toward Israel than President Bashar Assad could fill the vacuum if his government is toppled.

The Muslim Brotherhood's calls for a relatively mainstream Islamic government appeals to its majority of educated and professional members. In Egypt's first taste of true democracy, the Brotherhood and more fundamentalist Salafist organizations, however, told followers that it was their religious duty to vote to approve a referendum on constitutional amendments that benefited Islamists by speeding up elections.

One of Egypt's leading ultraconservative sheiks, Mohamed Hussein Yacoub, influenced by Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi strain of Islam, was quoted as saying after the referendum had passed: "That's it. The country is ours."

Such sentiment shows that in a span of weeks, age-old religion, not the enthusiasm and slogans of the Facebook generation, is likely to be a crucial factor in choosing a new Egyptian government. This swift change has surprised even the Brotherhood, which avoided references to Islam during an uprising that was not inspired by religion.

More at the link above.

And at the New York Times previously, "Islamist Group Is Rising Force in a New Egypt." And at Director Blue, "The Rise of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, Right on Cue."

'I'm In!' — Michele Bachmann Weighs Bid for GOP Presidential Nomination

Well, can't complain about the timing, as this gives me another chance to run this lovely picture!

And check the link at New York Times, because Representative Bachmann's wearing the same outfit at the photo, "A Tea Party Star Stirs Iowans, and She Isn’t Palin":

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Sarah Palin, the reigning heroine of many social conservatives, has given few signals that she will make a presidential bid. Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucuses in 2008 on the strength of his appeal to evangelicals and other constituencies, has mostly offered reasons for not joining the race.

So into that space has come Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.

Best known as a fiery presence on cable television and the founder of the House Tea Party caucus, she is now exploring whether to seek the Republican presidential nomination. And early reaction to her in Iowa, where she was born and raised, suggests not only that she might do it, but also that she could have a substantial impact on the race.

On a break between meeting voters and conducting radio and television interviews — a staple of nearly every day — Ms. Bachmann took a seat in the bar of a hotel here and left no doubt that she was serious about running.

“It isn’t that I was born thinking I had to be president,” she said, leaning in and talking softer than she does on television or at Tea Party rallies. “I’m getting a lot of encouragement to run from people across the country. I don’t believe this is a rash decision.

More at the link. The picture's from AP, and the caption doesn't indicate the location. It looks almost like the lobby at the Terranea Resort, where the Horowitz retreat was held.

There's no doubt Bachmann's serious about running. She delivered a barnbuner keynote speech in Palos Verdes on Saturday, focusing almost exclusively on President Obama's failures and endless hypocrisy. She hammered ObamaCare, saying that the country doesn't want it, and that the law is stripping people of their liberty. We heard some of these same lines in Palos Verdes:

“What we need is a change of address form for the person living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” she said over loud laughter. As she talked about what she contended was government expansion under the new health care law, she declared, “I want a waiver from the last two years of President Obama!”

Sarah Palin's mentioned at the piece, and Bachmann has nothing but kind words for her. And just think of it: Both Bachmann and Palin running head to head in the Iowa caucuses? The New Hampshire primary and beyond? I think progressives would die from an overdose of demonizing conservative women!

David Horowitz: 'It's Time for the Jews to Stand Up for Themselves'

I've been home from the Freedom Center's West Coast Retreat for a few hours. I'm decompressing. I've attended loads of professional conferences in the past, but never to one as intellectually stimulating as this one. I've got more photos to upload and publish, and I'll be doing some long-form analysis of events here and at NewsReal Blog. (Previous entries are here and here.) At the check-in table on Friday, I picked up some of the literature from the Freedom Center. Available in a glossy print format was David Horowitz's essay, "It's Time for the Jews to Stand Up for Themselves." It's a report from David's lecture at Brooklyn College, which was touch-and-go for a while, due to a campaign of intimidation that was being planned by pro-jihad campus organizers. It turns out that CUNY trustee Jeffrey Wiesenfeld put some heat on Brooklyn's administration, and security was beefed up in time, which facilitated a successful event. It's worth reading the whole essay at FrontPage Magazine. Meanwhile, it's also worth sharing the related smear job on Horowitz at Mondoweiss, the rabidly anti-Israel hate-site which I referenced recently on the five-year anniversary of Mearsheimer and Walt's "The Israel Lobby." The fiends at Mondoweiss spliced a video hit-job on Horowitz, taking his comments out of context in an attempt to smear him as "racist." The Freedom Center put together a rebuttal, and both those are below. And here's this from Mondoweiss' Zoe Zenowich, "King hearings come to Flatbush: David Horowitz stokes anti-Muslim sentiment at Brooklyn College":

Brooklyn College had its own Peter King hearing last night when right-wing commentator David Horowitz spoke to a feisty crowd of students and faculty.

At first I debated whether or not to even give voice to what David Horowitz said. After all, it is pretty well known that Horowitz is the Glenn Beck of Zionists—a rambler of hate who continually contradicts himself and history.

But given the current political climate and the audience filled with faculty and students who eagerly echoed Horowitz’s calls of anti-Muslim sentiment, I feel it is important to document.

Outside the library where the lecture was held, security guards insisted that ten or so peaceful protesters huddled in the rain stand behind steel gates they had brought out for the occasion. Inside, security guards searched bags before running a handheld metal detector over everyone entering the lecture hall—security measures I have never before experienced in my four years of attending guest speaker events at the college. In his opening comments, Horowitz remarked, “How does it feel to go through a check point? I’ll tell you one thing, I feel safer and that’s what check points are about—making people feel safe when they’re under attack by terrorists and Middle East Jew haters. “ Later, Horowitz added, “check points are there to protect the innocent from the guilty.”

Perhaps it was no coincidence that Horowitz was brought on campus with the help of two faculty members only a month following the controversy over the school administration’s decision to reinstate Political Science adjunct Professor Kristofer Petersen-Overton, who was fired following outside political motivation due in part to his scholarly work on Palestinian national identity. Horowitz was sure to make reference to the apparent “hostile environment” that “liberal professors” create and to which students are subjected. Apparently, “Jewish organizations across the country have been intimidated from presenting their case.”

But it became all the more clear last night that this so-called “hostile environment” is something being created by the very people pointing to its existence.

You can continue reading this lying manifesto here. Zoe Zenowich quotes Horowitz comments on the Palestinians, but offers no factual rebuttals, only more allegations of "hate speech."

Michele Bachmann at David Horowitz West Coast Retreat in Palos Verdes, April 2, 2011

Well, if at first you don't succeed!! Here's Congresswoman Michele Bachmann after her keynote address last night to the awards dinner at David Horowitz's West Coast Retreat:

It's been a whirlwind weekend, and I have lots to report --- and loads of great photos to post. But I'm about to grab a quick shower and head back up to Palos Verdes for Day 3 of the conference. Check back later this afternoon for an update!

David Horowitz's West Coast Retreat — Terranea Resort Palos Verdes, April 1, 2011

The weather warmed up just in time for the conference, no doubt to the great pleasure of those who traveled from out of area. It was in the mid-80s yesterday. Here's the view as I arrived at the Terranea Resort, which is situatuated on the Palos Verdes peninsula overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Catalina Island is in the distance:

Walking down to the lawn, I follow the walkway to the point. I'm looking back here at the coastal bluffs south from the resort:

Here's the Wall of Lies set up at the reception area:

David Horowitz opens the event:

There was a screening of the Freedom Center's "Wall of Lies" film:

Fox News contributor Charles Payne delivered the keynote address. He gave an excellent talk, speaking of his own life and development, and the crisis of personal responsibility in America today.

David Swindle is updating with frequent posts throughout the event, so check back ...

I'll have an update later ...