"...do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic..."

"For the good of the Air Force, for the good of the armed services and for the good of our country, I urge you to reject convention and careerism..."
- Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Maxwell AFB, April 21, 2008

"You will need to challenge conventional wisdom and call things like you see them to subordinates and superiors alike."
- Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, United States Air Force Academy, March 4, 2011

Monday, January 18, 2016

Dr. King and Malcolm X - The Best America Had to Offer


Today is Dr. King's birthday.  What an amazing American who personified public service, without ever being paid by taxpayer money.  Malcolm X doesn't get the same praise, but he is the Yin to Dr. King's Yang and the two were a team despite disagreements on methodology.

Both cared deeply about our flawed nation.  Both sacrificed everything for it.  Not just their lives, but also their lives.  Martin and Malcolm were two of the very finest Americans to ever live.

Both were murdered by Americans.  And both were treated as the enemy by the American government's intelligence/surveillance industry despite the wishes of political figures like John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy.  And as often happens when great men who challenge power and corruption are no more, lesser men in government service pervert and distort and attempt to destroy their message.

Dr. King and Malcolm X, and their families, deserve an incredible debt of gratitude from the American people for their service to our nation.

And we have the responsibility to not piss all their sacrifices and gains away.  Particularly those of us paid to be public servants.

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