Quote from: jhkimI don't completely disagree with your point in the sense that sure, politicians pander -- but what the heck does the percentage of blacks in the state have to do with this?

The fact that even in a state with a miniscule black population, a Democratic mayor in a Democratic city decided to name a street after MLK. Its a reliably liberal, not necessarily black, thing. You can pander to any number of groups, after all.

Quote from: WerekoalaOne other thing, it never occured to me over all these years to wonder why it used to be called the King-dome.

Well, son, was a time back when stadiums didn't used to be named for corporate sponsors...

!i!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaWell, son, was a time back when stadiums didn't used to be named for corporate sponsors...

Oh, believe me, I'm way old enough to know THAT! Joe Robbie, Candlestick, Veterans Stadium, Mile High, etc. etc.

If Jerry Jones slaps some name BESIDE'S Texas Stadium on his new mauoleum ,I'll go back to Texas and throttle him myself.

Wrigley Field....

Oh, wait....nevermind....

Quote from: WerekoalaThe fact that even in a state with a miniscule black population, a Democratic mayor in a Democratic city decided to name a street after MLK. Its a reliably liberal, not necessarily black, thing. You can pander to any number of groups, after all.

OK.  I'd agree that honoring MLK is not just a "black thing".  It just seemed funny for you to bring up the percentage of blacks to say that.  

For that matter, it isn't specific to liberals either.  The Martin Luther King holiday was passed by Congress during the Reagan era by an overwhelming majority including both Democrats and Republicans.  Compared to that, naming a street after him seems pretty minor.  After all, around MLK Blvd in SLC there's a Sherman Avenue, a Princeton Avenue, a Windsor Street, and a Herbert Avenue.

Yes, yes, of course its not JUST a liberal thing, its a POLITICIAN thing. Pandering is pandering. Are there streets in every major city in America RE-named Sherman Avenue, Princeton Avenue, Windsor Street, or Herbert Avenue in an attempt to persuade particular blocks of voters that the re-namers care about their plight, when all it really is is a meaninglessly symbolic move? No. So my point stands.

Dare I ask 'where in King County' you are, Ian?  Dangerous question, as it may lead to gaming....:raise:

Ah-HAH!  I stumbled across this on the radio today.  In honor of Presidents' Day, a show on NPR, Weekend America, was doing little bios on the little-known VPs of yesteryear.  They didn't mention the slave-owning thing, but they did have this to say:

QuoteNow there's another interesting historical footnote on King. He and future president James Buchanan were roommates for 15 years. One of several facts that have prompted some historians to propose that the two men were America's first gay vice president and president, respectively. The press at the time wrote articles speculating about it. Both men's relatives suspiciously burned all correspondence between the two. The post master general used to call the pair "Buchanan and his wife." And Andrew Jackson called King "Miss Nancy." Really.

But we will never know for sure.

And at least one historian says that Andrew Jackson called a lot of people Miss Nancy.

Hoo-hoo!  So here's my vicious theory that I'm going to start spreading around:  King County wasn't renamed because Vice President King was a slave-owner, it was renamed because VP King was gay.  Pitting one special interest group versus another, I hope to get a GLBT coalition motivated to switch the naming of the county back in favor of William Rufus DeVane King, citing the African-American community's notorious homophobia as the real motivation for the original name change.  And maybe as a result, we can all just agree that no one really gives a shit anymore, go back to using the stylised crown-in-a-circle on the county seal, and forget the whole matter.

!i!

I'd vote for this:

Because it will help discredit this: Metronatural

Quote from: Malleus ArianorumI'd vote for this:

Not bad.  Not bad at all...

QuoteBecause it will help discredit this: Metronatural

W-uh..augh!  I only wish there was a real tradition of throwing fish at tourists.  And I mean every tourist, everywhere.  Furthermore, Seattle is maybe only half as "metronatural" as Vancouver, BC.  What a stupid sales pitch.

!i!

Metronatural?  :roofle:

Now that's funny.

Not as funny as the kid with the "Parents Killed by Ninjas" sign begging for money that I saw in Seattle a couple of years ago, though, but it makes #2 in my list of funny things related to Seattle.  

Back on the original topic, I think renaming every damn thing in the country to MLK is getting to be a bit much.  Surely there are some other people worth honoring.

What's next I wonder?  Retroactively (and posthumously) making him the 35.5th President?

Quote from: jgants...I think renaming every damn thing in the country to MLK is getting to be a bit much.

No.  In fact, I don't think it's gone far enough.  Perhaps we should rename everything and everyone "Martin Luther King, Jr."  We could all be like George Foreman's kids, all of whom are named "George". Or maybe we could rename only half of the things for MLK, and the other half for Ronald Reagan.

!i!

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are named Martin Luther King."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood since all the plates have little cards on them that say "Reserved: Martin Luther King"

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of people, places and things named after me.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the conformity of monogramed initials on their golfing paraphenalia.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers in one big happy King family.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be called MLK, every hill and mountain shall be named MLK, the rough places will be named after me pending their having been made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight. Take that Miss Nancy!

Quote from: Malleus ArianorumI have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are named Martin Luther King."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood since all the plates have little cards on them that say "Reserved: Martin Luther King"

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of people, places and things named after me.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the conformity of monogramed initials on their golfing paraphenalia.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers in one big happy King family.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be called MLK, every hill and mountain shall be named MLK, the rough places will be named after me pending their having been made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight. Take that Miss Nancy!

Thanks, I just spit my oatmeal on my computer.

Fucker...

While I normally dislike renaming things like this, given what William R. King supported, I think that I have to approve of this one.