"MLK made a new quote today. Holy shit, he IS risen!" or "Why you should do research before you parrot shit on your Facebook or Twitter feed"

I love quotes. Nothing sums up an event perfectly quite like a well-timed quote. Today seemed like no exception when Osama bin Laden's supposed death (pics or it didn't happen!) sparked the greater collective of the internet hive mind into action by throwing the following quote up on their Twitter or Facebook feeds,

‎"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." ~ Martin Luther King Jr

Well, it's a nice sentiment, albeit a bit naively idealogical while being bitingly topical. At face value, it seems to be the perfect quote, the VERY thing to be said about this particular moment in time, by one of the greatest men in our recent history. The problem? MLK never said it. At least not all of it.

The part that's so amazingly topical...you know, the "I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy" part? Yep...not MLK. That bit was made up somewhere in the Twitterverse, before going viral across the in-tard-net. Now if you try to google any chunk of that particular phrase, you're bombarded with nothing but page after page of Twitter feeds and Facebook updates. People have filled their Tumblrs, flogged their Flickrs, and blogged their blogging hearts out, and all without having done one iota of research.

Now that's not to say that at least part of it wasn't legit. The rest of the quote was indeed part of a sermon delivered by the Reverend Doctor on finding forgiveness, delivered at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama on Christmas in the year 1957. I won't (mis)quote Martin Luther King's speech - that's already been done enough today. If I may be allowed, however, to paraphrase what was said so much today as my own personal commentary:

‎"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious brain cells, as a shocked populace struggles to express itself, and finds twitter. Returning ignorance for ignorance multiplies ignorance, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Ignorance cannot drive out ignorance: only research can do that, so read a goddamn book already, you dumb bastards." RC