Reply #43: I did not say "he followed rules" so why do you keep stuffing false words in my mouth?

[MADem]

I spoke to his difficulty getting permits and how the federal government assisted him in that regard.

You keep showing us why no one likes to discuss matters with you--you try to twist what people say, or invent meanings not transmitted in the text. It's an unattractive trait.

The police in the south would have fined MLK for looking at them the wrong way. They'd happily arrest him for putting a foot wrong. If you know anything about that time, or if, like me, you lived through it, you'd know this. They wanted to preserve their way of life, and he was interfering with that desire by marching, creating tensions, and raising awareness on a national level.

His time was not spent taunting police or complaining about tents, though, or arguing about kitchens, libraries, and General Assemblies. He marched, and he spoke. He addressed the key issues head on. His direct actions created genuine tensions, not nuisances. When a direct action was initiated, arrests were EXPECTED. People didn't whine about it, it went with the territory. It was the PURPOSE of the direct action. And police brutality? We're not talking about some asshat with pepper spray, we're talking dogs, guns, and clubs. You didn't need a camera phone to get in there to see the details, they were evident from blocks away.

When he was jailed, he didn't tweet complaints, he wrote things like this: http://tinyurl.com/7nxexr9


The other key difference is that MLK was a LEADER. He wasn't the only leader in the movement, but he was a guy who stepped up, took responsibility, spoke truth to power, developed a massive following, and because of this he was able to call the shots and those who believed in the path he was carving had no problem following him, listening to him, and enforcing his vision within the group. That kind of discipline brought results.

You cannot compare then to now, no matter how much you might want to. It's just not the same paradigm.

There is no Martin, and that, apparently, is how this group wants it.