As the MSM and the Obama Campaign like to remind us at every opportunity, this Thursday will mark the 45th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech. I have always had enormous respect and admiration for Dr. King and his words and efforts. He is, without question, one of the greatest leaders in history, in my opinion, and this speech defines profound turning point in both American and human history.

As a white male, I cannot profess to fully relate to or understand the complexity and depth of change that was so vibrantly ushered in by Dr. King. Still, it is clear to me that our nation and the world is a far better place, thanks to him. In the 45 years that have passed since this historic speech, it seems to me that we have progressed further and faster than King may have immagined possible during his time. I don't suggest that we've acheived the full scope of the dream he spoke about, but to my eyes, the resemblence to the world he only imagined 45 years ago is clear. What once could only exist in a dream has evolved into a tangible possiblity.

"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 content of their character." has always been my favorite line from all of King's may speeches. To me, it encapsulates the stunning vision of King's dream; not only within the context of race but beyond it. After all, is not self actualization and the unfiltered acknowledgement of our unique individual value the greatest challenge and the boldest aspiration of all people?  Consider the genius of Stephen Hawkings contained within his crippled form. Look to the messages of the learned, like Socrates, Lincoln, Ghandi, King and countless others; which survive their deaths and remain equallty inspiring and relevant decades, centuries and millenia after. The truth that the frailty of flesh cannot hope to compare the the enormity of human character is distinctly evident.

It saddens me, however, that a message so unequivocally truthful and relevant as this could become twisted and abused. Today, we live in a world where the content of people's character can be shown to have carried people from every race, religion, gender and condition to heights that could not have been imagined even decades ago. But rather than acknowlege progress and be awed by the realization of character and potential, we seem to more often use the former, unenlightened disparity as an excuse.  It is demanded that we judge the content of character through the filter of perceived limtations of the flesh.

We are no longer called upon to encourage greatness or to seek self actualization. In Dallas, the school district now seeks to reduce drop out rates by offering multiple chances to pass tests rather than facilitate personal accoutability for results. Our society seeks to treat personal addiction rather than building the character to reject the temptation to become addicted. Where would Stephen Hawking be if he had simply given in to self pity for his physical condition? Would we have travlled to the moon if we denied the soundness of our scientific progress in the face of the failure a deaths of Apollo 1? Where would our nation be if Dr. King had allowed himself to succumb to self doubt, threats or violence? Today, we have turned away from fostering or expecting greatness to accomdating failure and incompetance on the basis of perceived unfairness or personal limitations. In this, we have moved away from the pusuit of King's Dream and abandoned development of character and moved toward a society of encouraged mediocrity and concessions.

I am disgusted by the media, the Obama campaign and other's less than subtle suggestions that Barrack Obama's candidacy represents the realization of Dr. King's Dream and the symbolic significance of his acceptance speech on Thursday. He has vehemently avoided and condemned all attempts to evaluate his character while attacking the character of the George Bush, his Democratic and Republican opponents, the and Republican Party. Countless media acticles, pundits and supporters demand that Obama be elected on face value, without critical appraisal, based on the undefined ideas of 'Hope' and 'Change'. He and his supporters profess that he should be elected due to judgement which has not been developed through and is not supported by experience. Countless media articles and bloggers state that if he is not elected in an environment where the majority does not approve of the character of an outgoing President, it will ONLY be due to race.

What evidence we have of Obama's character is not good. He has won elections not based on character, qualifications or support; but instead on having opponents removed from the ballot. His judgment and character displayed in his choice of associations is exceedingly questionable if not outright poor. When he is asked to give a position or opinion, his answers are either essays speculating on ideas or otherwise a vote of  'present'. When questions of character or judgement comes up, his defense in not of his character; but instead accusations that others are trying to scare people because he "doesn't look like all those other Presidents on dollar bills" or "he's got a feisty wife" or "he's black".

By all accounts, Obama's campaign is not the realization of Martin Luther King's Dream; it is a departure from it. The "historic nature" of his campaign (and the defense of his overwhelming and bias media coverage) is solely because of his race not his character There is nothing "historic" about his resume, his experience, his ideas, his speeches or his judgment. The only thing "historic" other than race is how little critical examination has been conducted on a candidate for President.

On this anniversary of a profound and enlightening speech by from a distinguished American of enormous character; it is my sincere hope that we will honor Dr. King's true Dream and judge Barrack Obama not on his race but on his character.