Oval Office rug gets history wrong

Oval Office rug gets history wrong

www.washingtonpost.com

President Obama's new presidential rug seemed beyond reproach, with quotations from Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." According media reports, this quote keeping Obama company on his wheat-colored carpet is from King.

Except it's not a King quote.

For the record, Theodore Parker is your man, Mr. President

(visit the link for the full news article)

Fantastic. These jokers can't even attribute a quote properly. They also spend thousands to produce this rug with an error in the quotation.

To the extent that Obama wanted to have a King quote on the rug, there is no shortage of wisdom and inspiring statements from him.

This is exactly the kind of foolishness that underscores this entire presidency.

For those who think this is a small thing - it is the failure to perform small things correctly that underscore an overal sense of incompetence that folks have with this White House, which is why the President sits at a 42% approval rate.

A second rate designer at the local furniture store would not make this mistake.

Makes you wonder what kinds of mistakes are wrapped througout the Health Care and Financial Reform legislation, does'nt it?

www.washingtonpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I dunno. Seems that attributing the quote to King is more accurate, given that the quote (as stated in the article) more closely matches King's version of it than it does the original version (also stated in the article).


Below are the quotes from the article to which I attribute my opinion.

A century later, during the civil rights movement, King, an admirer of Parker, quoted the Bostonian's lofty prophecy during marches and speeches. Often he'd ask in a refrain, "How long? Not long." He would finish in a flourish: "Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice

Parker said in 1853: "I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one. . . . But from what I see I am sure it bends toward justice."

[edit on 9-4-2010 by rogerstigers]

“Those who control the present control the past.”
“Those who control the past control the future.”

This might not be a big issue and it might be something erroneously overlooked. Then again it could easily be something purposefully done by someone to “change history” or even to discredit Obama.

It seems even honest Abe used Parkers words.

Raist

reply to post by rogerstigers


The quote is not King's. Its that simple. Were you to attempt to attribute a similar play on another's words as yours you would be considered to have stolen it.

Clearly King did not do that in that he often attributed the quote properly. The boneheads in the White House made a mistake - its that simple

I am sure the dog will leave his own quote on the carpet and settle the matter.
Second line

I'm sure Obama immensely enjoys walking on those words daily.



You have permission to quote me.

Originally posted by dolphinfan
reply to post by rogerstigers

 

The quote is not King's. Its that simple. Were you to attempt to attribute a similar play on another's words as yours you would be considered to have stolen it.

Clearly King did not do that in that he often attributed the quote properly. The boneheads in the White House made a mistake - its that simple

I see. So the fact that King's quote is not a word for word match to Parker's does not matter?

Nevermind, it really is semantics, just like this thread is a transparent attempt at a partisan attack... *shrug*

reply to post by rogerstigers


It does matter, because it is not accurate. It does matter because it demonstrates that these folks are not serious, that they are not professional.

How about this:

"Seven and four score years ago, on this land, our fathers brought forth a new country. That country was dedicated to the proposition that "all men are created equal". That nation was conceived in liberty" Dolphinfan

Now I just played with the words a bit and it is not a direct quote, but I'm pretty sure that most folks would say that those are Mr. Lincoln's words.

This is the office of the most powerful person on the planet. Everything matters, especially things that make the office of that man appear foolish and this does.

I actually think the Washington Post got this one wrong.

In the 1850s, Theodore Parker said:

"I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice."
Source

King paraphrased and shortened the quote and used it many times in his speeches.

"The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."

MLK Speech

So, which is written on the rug? King's quote.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


Yup, the same way the quote above is mine, not Abe's.

reply to post by dolphinfan


Right. So what's on the presidential rug is King's quote, not Parker's.

Just 2 days ago, I heard conservative radio show host Laura Ingraham talking about the rug on her program.

The entire issue is being blown out of proportion. It's a freaking rug. Fix the quote already so everyone can breath again...

It is pretty funny that Obama got this new rug in the oval office and it is completely wrong.

But it is also freaking disturbing that people all over the country will sit around checking the quotes on the oval office rug to make sure their spelled correctly and historically accurate. WTF!?

Not to say it shouldn't be accurate. It just goes to show that everything is fair game when it comes to political attacks these days.

-ChriS

[edit on 4-9-2010 by BlasteR]

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


You got me there, my friend.

I writing a book. I think I'll start it with "It was the worst of times, it was the best of times". I'm going to call it "A tale of three cities" Old Charlie's been dead for a while now - he won't mind

reply to post by dolphinfan


You'll have to talk to Mr. King. He's the one who changed the quote. The Oval Office's rug is accurate.

reply to post by dolphinfan


What a bunch of idiots.

They attempt to be inspirational, but are so lacking in genuine leadership and inspiration that they fail miserably.

2012 cannot get here fast enough.

Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan
They attempt to be inspirational, but are so lacking in genuine leadership and inspiration that they fail miserably.

What? The quote is real. It's MLK. Why do you say the above?

Obama puts a quote from MLK on a rug and the right-wing blogosphere goes into histrionics over it.

The plan to showcase how incompetent Obama is in crediting the quote (accurately, by the way) to MLK only serves to highlight how incompetent the wingnuts are in not recognizing the actual quote as coming from an MLK speech (as paraphrased by him).

Originally posted by Blackmarketeer
Obama puts a quote from MLK on a rug and the right-wing blogosphere goes into histrionics over it.

As if it has ANYTHING to do with his leadership.

Hey, I heard Obama doesn't eat ribeye steaks either. He's a terrible leader!

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic

Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan
They attempt to be inspirational, but are so lacking in genuine leadership and inspiration that they fail miserably.

What? The quote is real. It's MLK. Why do you say the above?

Apparently i was misinformed. I stand corrected.

Doesn't help to improve my opinion of his presidency, but this critique of him is certainly misplaced based on what you have said.

Deny ignorance!

ETA: n't

[edit on 4-9-2010 by bigfatfurrytexan]