Dr. King, describing the effects of the Vietnam war on federal programs to help the poor. A bit more:
Then came the build-up in Vietnam. And I watched the program broken as if it was some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war. And I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money, like some demonic, destructive suction tube. And you may not know it, my friends, but it is estimated that we spend $500,000 to kill each enemy soldier, while we spend only fifty-three dollars for each person classified as poor, and much of that fifty-three dollars goes for salaries to people that are not poor. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor, and attack it as such.
I call that leadership. I am reminded of those who voted for the Iraq war, particularly Democrats, who now spend their time working for votes claiming they have the best interests of the poor and middle class at heart, and how many lies they must be forced to tell every single day.
