Dr. Martin Luther King

Webmaster — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:15:03 +0000

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived in a time when the wretched echoes of America’s half-slave, half-free past still wore heavy upon the nation. Generations after our brothers and sisters had been unshackled from physical chains, our society had not finished its work to liberate it’s heart from old prejudices. Insults to dignity were commonplace. Langston Hughes’ righteous accusation “America never was America to me” was still tragically valid.

I cannot imagine what it would be like to be denied a seat at a lunch counter or told to use a different water fountain. I cannot imagine being so relentlessly beleaguered and not having my spirit warped. Dr. King was neither bitter nor angry. He did not incite, he inspired. He could have inflamed justifiable fury of the oppressed. Instead he spoke to the charity of those whose prejudice or neglect created the atmosphere. The great power of his words were that they could quicken virtue in the most indifferent soul. His words were imbued with divine power because they carefully and intentionally reflected the way of God and His holy work to make hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.

King’s tragic end was an act of supreme wickedness. At the time it seemed an obvious and final victory for evil. At the time many thought that Memphis had seen the death stroke to the dream where we all “will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” This was not God’s plan.

It is said living well is the best revenge. Those who cursed King and the aggrieved he championed never imagined our day when men and women once denied the simple dignity of a seat on a bus would see their children and grandchildren routinely attain the highest offices. In a generation the offspring of these heroes would have for themselves the mundane but once unthinkable affordance of being an accepted and welcome neighbor, scholar and co-worker. These achievements great and ordinary of our once-oppressed neighbors is a testament to the lie that our difference was anything more than skin deep. Certainly this is sweet.

Sweeter still is that so many of those who cursed their neighbors or were indifferent to their suffering would repent and turn away from their grievous sin. The best known address given by Dr. King is the “I have a Dream” speech delivered at the Lincoln Memorial. Lincoln said that the best way to destroy an enemy is to make them your friend. King’s words are the very prototype of how to make Lincoln’s challenge to replace animus and disdain with love and community. Surely to inspire a man to repent of evil and embrace good is the most divine victory of all. Dr. King rallied countless numbers of such victories, and continues to do so long after his passage to that golden shore. For my part this is the greatest aspect of King’s legacy and the thing that best glorified the Almighty whom Dr. King so faithfully served.

Ed Martin

These Murderers Are Not Worth It

Webmaster — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:00:32 +0000

Throughout the 2008 election season, I cringed inside every time I heard a candidate wax philosophical about how terrorists ought to be treated. My hope was that the candidates spouting opposition to Guantanamo bay or grandstanding about how military tribunals were insufficient to support America’s ideals were cynically spoon-feeding nonsense to the radical leftist base. My fear was that we were returning to the pre-9/11 mindset when acts of terror were acts of criminals, not acts of war.

This week, Attorney General Holder proved my fear – all of that liberal pandering has become policy. Confessed terrorists are going to be put on trial – in civilian court, in New York no less.

I am furious. Justice may not have a price, but that’s no reason to spend millions unnecessarily. Can you imagine the enormity of the security costs that will be spent to keep Khalid Sheik Muhammad and the judges, jurors and other court staff safe? Congress has already authorized tribunals that can be conducted on military installations without closing off streets , paying for round-the-clock police or other expensive measures. This is a perfectly suitable solution at far less cost and infinitely less risk to Americans.

I admit that 9/11 is very personal to me. A friend of mine, John Farrell, was murdered that day. John was a man of immense energy and joy. He was a fine athlete, and no better man to hang around with and have a beer.

His death haunts me.

I may not always be rational in my thoughts concerning the cowards who attacked us that day, but I always will be honest. Khalid Sheik Muhammad and his co-conspirators deserve to answer to God for their crimes - in person. Their guilt is well-established in any rational mind. The thought of giving such monsters extra protection, extra rights, any consideration at all, just makes my head swim.

These murderous cowards are not common criminals. They are not warriors entitled to Geneva Convention protection. They are war criminals. There is no excuse for refusing to treat them as the moral equal of a Nazi who ordered the deaths of civilians during World War II.

The magnitude of their crime should not be matched by the magnanimity of our justice. American citizens are afforded lavish protections in which the prosecution has substantial restrictions. Every day, damning evidence is thrown out over process errors allowing guilty men to go free. Barely tolerable under normal circumstances, it is a foolish indulgence in matters of war.

A military tribunal may offer Spartan rules of evidence, discovery and cross examination, but it has served our nation for generations. I am confident in the judgment of sober-minded soldiers who will carry out their duty to both justice and the country. If it is enough for our own servicemen to be tried under this system, it is more than enough for confessed terrorists.

Khalid Sheik Muhammad and his co-conspirators are confessed villains. Their only hope is to convince 12 jurors that somehow their crime should be negated by some dubious failure of the Americans who captured them. You can bet that it is America that will be put on trial by the herd of over-educated vermin who have been preening and primping, flocking to Guantanamo bay to paddle every complaint, no matter how small, into an indictment of our military and our nation. Considering that inevitably a trial will both judge the defendant’s guilt or innocence, but also weigh those found facts against mistakes the state may have made in the gathering of evidence, there is a non-zero chance one or all of them may walk.

This administration has proven itself to be quick to indulge their high ideals when someone else is at peril and taxpayers are footing the bill. This is an inexcusable failure on the part of this administration as it pursues symbolism over justice. And EVERY leader who does not howl in outrage is complicit.

Footnote:

For More information on Military Tribunals visit Wikipedia’s entry on the 2006 legislation.

Ed Martin For Congress » Justice

Dr. Martin Luther King

These Murderers Are Not Worth It