50 years after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made his world-famous "I Have a Dream" speech, U.S. President Barack Obama will walk to the same stage at the Lincoln Memorial for a speech today at 2:45 p.m. Watch the live stream below.

Despite the historical significance of the half century mark since Dr. King's speech, the national anticipation for Obama's speech has been overshadowed by the growing controversy over whether the United States will intervene in Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons has reportedly crossed the "red line" that Obama referenced to in August 2012.

The irony of the day is that the U.S. is waiting for Obama to decide whether or not to carry out a military strike on Syria all while he stands at a podium to talk about peace. Not surprisingly, these developments have led to reaction on social media sites where people have pointed out these contradicting headlines.

"Cognitive dissonance = #Obama giving a speech in honor of #MLK on the same day that he is planning to bomb #Syria," said Julain Gonzalez (@Julianjg), an attorney.

Langdon Winner (Langdonw), a Professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, also took to Twitter to share his thoughts. "50 years of American leadership: from "I Have a Dream" to "I Have a Bomb"? #MLK #Obama #Syria"

A wide variety of news outlets will have comprehensive coverage of the speech and everything related to the 50th anniversary celebration. ABC's website has a live video steam, an interactive slideshow, a quiz, and interviews. The White House is also streaming the coverage live.

In an interview on the Tom Joyner Show that aired on Tuesday, Obama made it clear that his speech will not be able to match the one that Dr. King made a half century ago.

"Let me just say for the record right now, it won't be as good as the speech 50 years ago," he said. "I just want to get that out there early. Because when you are talking about Dr. King's speech at the March on Washington, you're talking about one of the maybe five greatest speeches in American history. And the words that he spoke at that particular moment, with so much at stake, and the way in which he captured the hopes and dreams of an entire generation I think is unmatched."

Watch the live stream below: