We are, of course, amazed that our readers occasionally disagree with our brilliant and witty essays. In fact, sometimes quite a few readers think that The Outrage editors are wrong, misanthropic, idiotic, selfish, deluded, or all of the above.

Mother Outrage always told us that even the dull and the ignorant should have their say, so we've allowed space below for those dissenting opinions (and for shameless flattery).

Read the 2nd set of comments about this Outrage!

the more things change the more they remain the same.in 53 years i have listened to a lot of talk and complaining.but very little lasting change

the more things change the more they remain the same.in 53 years i have listened to a lot of talk and complaining.but very little lasting change

fgoijujklioukiupkipujlkoi8pkj780lkjpi8-lj-078oiloi98k

you guys are sick.

totally, totally wrong. sorry.

it's too bad that you think the way you do.

My last peice veared off the path, more into a day dream, but I read on below to read a critisism of the peice that cases comment from me (this time more relevent to the topic). I believe, as many Americans do that MLK was a great man. The true tragedy of the situation is, that his followers have missed the mark. Jesse Jackson preaches for racial equality, and then labels all of NYC as "hiemytown". Al Sharpton is a charleton. He is a disgrace to the human race in general. He has made his living expanding the racial devide. The Tiwana Brawley case was a clear cut racial witch hunt, where not only was the case thrown out, but Sharpton had to later pay for a defemation suit. The point is that too many black leaders make their money by causing racial strife. They are professional trouble makers. No one denies that there are not dirtbags who are white who make a modest living spewing hate and causing racial devide, surely, not the champaign lifestyle of Jackson, but at least a trailer payment or two. But too many black leaders hold other Blacks down. They seek to expand welfare- which guys like Gen Colon Powell- who rose to greatness from the steats of Harlem- will tell you only hurts. Some of these "leaders" are nothing more than champions of professional victimization. They want people to be kept back so that they have power. True equality lies in the California and Texas Proposals to eliminate discrimination of all kinds. Quotas are an insult. True there are many black leaders who would agree with me, but not enough have risen to prominence in America, because if people who happen to have more mellanin in their skin than I do happen to want a designated (self proclaimed or otherwise) leader, that hapens to have similar mellenin levels, then I belive it should be one like King who tells people not what they need to force the government to do or where a riot should occur if a certain verdict goes the wrong way, but rather that they can achieve, that they need to make their schools and neighborhoods safer by changing thier own attitude. Leaders should have a goal for success, not for strife and conflict that has no purpse.

I have a dream that one day all the freaks in Massechussets who elect dirtbags the likes of Barney "I let my gay lover run a prostitution and drug ring in my own home and am still in Congress to tell about it" Franks and Ted "Hero of Chappequidic" Kennedy will go to war with Hollywood and both "planets" will be entirely depopulated. I dream that one day low life scum such as the guy who played woody harrelson on Cheers will one day be laughed out of hollywood for being an irresponsible spoiled brat. I dream that one day Oliver Stone's twisted movies will be seen for the french inspired twisted drug fest that they really are, and be huge embarressing flops. I dream that one day morality, honesty, and decency will once again be standars for Americans that are cherrished. I dream of an America that once again has a military that doesn't have its every decision made by hippies trying to destroy it as they underfund it and tinker with its values. A military whos privates aren't on foodstamps, which has the capibilty that a nation the size of America should have. I dream of well trained soldiers who are once agian allowed to cuss amoungst themselves, and who are real men proud of their commander in chief. I dream of a society where please and thank you, sir and maam are socially accepted standards, not abhorations of the norm. I dream of a society in which drug dealers and car jackers are truly afraid of what might happen if the police catch them, and in which prisons are real punishment, with long durations, and sentances that are harder, not easier than rules followed by people in military life. I dream of a country with a real death penalty, in which there is one appeal, no more. I dream of a country with a foreign affairs policy like Reagan's: clear, concise, predictable, solid. I dream of an electorate that chooses men of integrity and responsibilty to lead them, and who toss corrupt dirtbags out on their keisters. Now that was a nice little dream. It even produced a shudering sigh from me when I finished writing it. If only some of this would come true.

"We Have A Dream" is a reminder that people in this country are still judged by the color of their skin not by "the content of their character."

The writer applies a double standard based upon racial origin in his rant. Some of his points are quite valid, but his style appeals to those same attitudes that the Jesse Jacksons of the world would condemn him for.

While I admire an iconoclastic jab at the draconian tenets of political correctness, I do nout encourage ad hominum attacks use in lieu of good solid rhetoric. Arguments like this only give creedence to the accusations concocted by the tenured radicals of the P.C. movement.

Rhetoric, the art of poersuasive expression through speech and writing, is a more effective tool than dragging a dead man's name through muck and tugging at the fibers of racial diviseness. "We Have A Dream" plays on the same fears and prejudices that O. J. Simpson's attorneys, Al Sharpton, and Louis Farrakhan prey upon.

For example, "We Have A Dream"'s author has a dream that "someday, black churches in America will not be manipulated as institutional powerbases by ambitious black men." Does the writer feel that it is okay for white churches in America "to be manipulated as institutional powerbases by ambitious" white men?

Are Pat Robertson's activities any less manipulative than those of Jesse Jackson? Does the writer deny the major impact that the Christian Coalition has had, while railing against the machinations of the Rainbow Coalition? I invite the writer to tune in to the 700 Club, available on both the Family Channel and the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

The Reverend Robertson has one hell of an "institutional powerbase." It seems that the writer merely peered behind the door with the "Coloureds Only" sign on it when he checked out the First Church of Hypocrisy.

The writer does make some good points. The true heroes of life are the quiet ones in the trenches, the good-deed doers, the people who build and nurse, parents who take care of their children, people who hold down jobs and support themselves. But isn't this what we are supposed to do anyway? So we tend to pay attention to the squeaky wheels. The men and women who stand up and make some noise.

Like it or not, the rhetoricians instigate change. Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine were both rhetoricians. They had strong, revolutionary sentiments and they used their voices to express those sentiments. Doesn't the advocacy of rights (civil or human) have value? I agree that we should remember and honor the men and women who have died defending the U.S. in wartime, but should we not also honor those who died defending her in peacetime as well?

The original movement sought merely to guarantee that all Americans could enjoy the same freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, which despite all jingoistic flag-worship, is the essence of the U.S. Liberty and Justice for all, is that too much to ask?

I will agree that, in striving for "equality," many institutions have gobbled up other liberties. But branding MLK for the actions of his followers is like blaming Jesus of Nazareth for the Crusades.

In the "I Have A Dream" speech, which the writer smugly attempts to mock, King asked only that his children be judged by "the content of their character." To me, he does not seem to advocate a preferential quota system in these words. I invite the writer to read King's "American Dream" speech, a 1961 address at American University.

In it, King requests his listeners to NOT use their past oppression as an excuse for laziness. He points out men and women who succeeded because of their abilities and work as examples to follow.

Perhaps, as a friend of mine suggested, we should not have holidays to revere men, period. All men are fallible. As Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, a hero of WWII, said, "Show me a hero, and I'll show you a sonuvbitch."

Perhaps we could celebrate ideals, as a nation. Independence Day was a good start. A national day of Thanksgiving was another. Unfortunately, many Americans need to attach a face to their holidays.

But, maybe the celebration of ideas is a better way. It is the best suggestion I've encountered.

As an Australian whatever day and for whatever reason the American government decides to proclaim a public holiday is a decision of the Ameriacn people.

BUT when I learnt a day had been given to proclaim the achievements of MLK I thought this is political correctness gone bonkers. It's obviously a sop to the Afro-american lobby and as such not being fair dinkum it will have an adverse reaction. Reading your writers views I am pleased I wasn't alone. Proverbs 409 sums it up.

"United we stand. Divided we fall" And when ALL Americams treat each other as equals then there will be no need for such celebrations as Martin Luther King day.

Your article gives me a small glimmer of hope in this downward-spiraling society... Hope that this ridiculous trend toward anarchy and self-destruction that our nation's leaders seem bent on leading us towards may somehow be avoided.

Our country's people have become dulled and indifferent about such blatant instances of ridiculousness, and they are spreading it slowly to the rest of the world.

They only hope we can have, is that enough people can find a way to realize the absurdity of what's going on around them, and share that knowledge with as many others, as you are doing. Your efforts are commendable, whoever you are. Hope to whatever god(s) you believe in that they never shut up The Outrage!

Amen brothers!!

Everyone is quite right in this matter. It all depends on definitions. King became "great" in a political sense. He was thrust into the position by liberals, rightly concerned about the dreadful legacy of slavery and unexamined prejudice on the negro in America.

Sure, King had his faults. Let's refrain from getting carried away with Puritanical attitudes about sexuality, however. The fact is that he served the civil rights struggle well, at a time when the threat of widespread violence was very real.

He did marvelously what he (an others) perceived to be his necessary work, given his considerable limitations. Let MLK rest in peace. To think that negroes today, had MLK never lived, would be in the same spot they were in the 1950's, is quite irrational. To either deify or to demonize MLK is to reject his all too human attributes.

Very well expressed. I have passed on to many friends who felt the same.

Strange how your comments are very close to what is happening in other parts of the world.

Well put. However, remember that we celebrate not Martin Luther King, Jr. so much as what he believed in: equal civil rights for all and fighting for them through passive resistance, peaceful resistance.

By focusing on the Rev. Dr. King the man, or the messenger, you not only lose sight of the message, what he believed and taught by example, you jumble him together with those whom you call people "using the Borgia Popes as their role models," visible in today's media.

I agree wholeheartedly. Well spoken.

You have a dual focus in today's "outrage". First is the commercialization of the holiday market. In this, I couldn't agree more.

Second is honoring the birthday of MLK. In this, I'm outraged. His life was devoted to insuring that all citizens of this country had the same civil rights, no more and no less.

He was not without faults. But if today we can agree that all citizens should have the SAME civil rights, then his courage and non-violent leadership is not wasted.

In fact, if we can agree all citizens should have the SAME civil rights, it is worth cheering and celebrating the life of MLK.

I have a dream too. That The Outrage research the headlines that it claims are outrageous. Sometime, the outrage should be at the writer of the article, not the headline.

To often, only half of the story is told, especially if it is a legal or heavily regulated area. The government has been a presenting false information to the public for years, so anything that is presented by the government must be suspect and researched.

Right on, it is about time some one said this. Whats next for this country a Louis Farakhan day, or maybe a Jesse Jackson day.

I feel that Martin Luther King Jr. was a great man but his acts do not warrant a natinal holiday. The acts of Abe Lincoln, FDR, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson warrant national Holidays.

Let's not forget that King had Communist leanings. Mr. Fogg obviously does not read U.S. History, or else he would not demonize OUR Founding Fathers. I suggest that he picks up a book. Also, sir, if you live in this country may I suggest you move elsewhere if you don't like it here? Perhaps...Rwanda, Russia, China..real lands of Freedom!!!!!!

The people that fought for freedom and equality are all honorable and brave to have extended their beliefs and dreams to a nation that was so set in its ways.

But things change and now its not the fight for equality, its the fight for leverage. what happened in history is just that, History.

As long as people perpetuate the past as a tool (or excuse), there will be prejudice. My child does not know the tension other generations feel about something that happened a century ago.

But through education she is not only learning the history of our mistakes, but learning the mistakes of our history.

Move past it! Remember it! But dont perpetuate it! Our children deserve better than that.

SUPPRESSED RECORD OF MARTIN LUTHER KING

Coretta Scott King entered a federal court in Washington, D.C. with her lawyers on Jan. 31, 1977. The King holiday bill was pending in Congress. She pleaded with Judge John Smith, Jr. to seal for 50 years the 845 pages of FBI data on her husband.

The order was granted. Some 90 Congressmen petitioned the court to release these documents before they voted on the King holiday bill but to no avail.

They are now sealed until the year 2027. Under current open immigration the nation is supposed to be majority non-white by the year 2025.

Amen and amen!

Thank God for our freedom of speech! Let's continue to call them as we see them. Don't let the mindless masses brainwashed by the Goebbels media force you to conform. There is evil in the land,the devil is in sheeps clothing.

The flame of liberty is flickering from the from the gale force hot air of carpetbaggers and opportunists. The Golden goose of America is being plucked by "victims" attempting to lay a guilt trip on innocent God fearing citizens.

Stand up for what's right and good, don't be ashamed to speak out. If we lose our freedom, there's nowhere else to go.

I just "discovered" your page and quickly printed out a hard copy of the outrage.
Thanks for your efforts.

I have a dream: That all journalists learn to report the news, like: Who, What, Where, When, Why and quit trying to make their news support their political objectives.

I have a dream: That all children lean to read and carry their Bible and teach the so-called teachers what needs to be taught. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction."

I have a dream: That Rush Limbaugh looses all his money and goes back to being the hard line moral issue person that he started out as. Right after God does a real number on him. Like, finding out his power is not on loan. It is given with no strings attached. He does not have to give it back.

I have a dream: That this Nation recognizes Allen Keys as a true voice for THE HEARTBEAT of this Great Nation.

I have a very simple dream: ONE NATION UNDER GOD!

Your article both excited and depressed me. It was exciting to find that there are others that feel the way I do. It was depressing, because it seems so hopeless.

Thank you, because, after all, you have rejuvenated the spirit within me to continue with my meager, but hopeful, efforts.

i NEED TO ADD A FEW COMMENTS OF OUTRAGE RE YOUR OUTRAGE:

Although I too question the long lasting merits of Dr. King's work, I do acknowledge that at least he stood for peace, unity and (in an unusual trait for an American "hero" non-violence.

You criticize black churches because they have become "manipulated as institutional power bases by ambitious black men" yet do not express equal levels of enmity against the Pat Robertsons, Jerry Falwells, Ralph reeds, and a host of cardinals and rabbis who use their tax-exemptions to manipulate people and serve as institutional power bases.

You rail against holidays that serve as "crass, meaningless tools of political correctness." National holidays -- whether they be designed to honor or celebrate a civil rights leader, a president, veterans, etc. actually exist for one reason and one reason only.

That is to feed the insatiable and unending greed of American corporate interests. Holidays are meaningful only if you catch the latest sale at the largest mall.

We should have holidays for real heroes -- people like Cesar Chavez, Muhammed Ali, Frederick Douglass, the Berrigan Brothers, Larry Kramer and the many others who defied arbitrary and corrupt power structures, who reisted war and violence and who put the rights and hopes of all people before the narrow self-interests of capitalists and bigots. Peace.

Though some things in your commentary did upset me....the idea of a day to represent one man (a man with brilliant actions and heroic deeds) is unfair when every day there are unsung heros going unnoticed. I would love to see a national heros day with a groups of heros that school children learn about they will have somebody to look up to.

On a local level a day when people can stop and give some thought to the everyday heros in our lives the person who risks his life everyday as in a firefighter....a police officer...or the heroic person who runs into a burning building to rescue a child....

We need heros our country has very few....the morals of their private lives are just that private....as long as they are not in my bedroom telling me how to behave...

I have no desire to be party to what is going on in their bedroom. We call heros the person who makes obscene amounts of money to play ball, the actor or musician who is for that moment in vogue, or maybe a pop culture icon who has been smart enough to hire a good publicist.

The MLK's the Ceaser Chavaz', the Neil Armstrongs of this world will soon fade from our memories and history books...replaced by whom?

Boy, the last many days without the DO has been an empty experience. Then when this outrage was COURAGEOUSLY posted, it left me overwhelmed!

So early in the year, how will you EVER top this one?

EXELLENT! Your article gives much food for thought.

simply the best editorial i've ever seen on the net. Thank you for having the intestinal fortitude to do it!

I, too, have a Dream!

My Dream is that it will not be necessary for those of a conservative or libertarian philosophy to degrade those who have contributed to social and political change over the past forty years--- those such as the Reverand Dr. Martin Luther King, jr.

The remarks in this Outrage are I assume meant to somehow belittle or degrade the beauty and political meaning of the words of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech. If so, shame on you!

Additionally, what a shame! How sad that the words that have come to represent the outlines of a nation finally facing the culture of racism and social stratification based on race should have to now be attacked in this way.

May I also remind the editors of The Outrage that Dr. King was first and foremost a man-- a man flawed just as we all are flawed. He never claimed anything differently.

May I also point out that if we are to use the measure of those we honor as being only those who have never sinned themselves, we will have very very few to honor.

in ten or twenty years, everything you said will be self evident. and you won't be able to find anyone who will admit they ever felt otherwise.