More division and class warfare from Obama in 2002 MLK speech: The rich “got what they want”

Despite all the broken promises and inconsistencies, one thing seems clear about Obama. His socialist core beliefs have never really changed. Here he is in 2002, posted by Patterico and Morgen, giving a MLK speech at a church pitting people in classes against each other just as he does today.

Here’s one where he talks about the rich being for non-violence because they’ve got everything they want:

The philosophy of nonviolence only makes sense if the powerful can be made to recognize themselves in the powerless. It only makes sense if the powerless can be made to recognize themselves in the powerful. You know, the principle of empathy gives broader meaning, by the way, to Dr. King’s philosophy of nonviolence. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but rich people are all for nonviolence. Why wouldn’t they be? They’ve got what they want. They want to make sure people don’t take their stuff. But the principle of empathy recognizes that there are more subtle forms of violence to which we are answerable. The spirit of empathy condemns not only the use of firehoses and attack dogs to keep people down but also accountants and tax loopholes to keep people down. I’m not saying that what Enron executives did to their employees is the moral equivalent of what Bull Connor did to black folks, but I’ll tell you what, the employees at Enron feel violated. When a company town sees its plant closing because some distant executives made some decision despite the wage concessions, despite the tax breaks, and they see their entire economy collapsing, they feel violence…

When you think of Enron do you think of oppressors? My guess is no, that you you probably think of greedy criminals. But Obama sees a “more subtle form of violence” from people who seek to oppress others.

Also, here’s another clip from the speech::

It’s hard to imagine that the powerful in our society would tolerate the burgeoning prison industrial complex if they imagined that the black men and Latino men that are being imprisoned were something like their sons.

Ah the good old prison industrial complex, used to stoke racial and economic division.

Yep, Obama hasn’t changed in this respect one iota.


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