Publius,
In the context of the multiple ethnicity theory, both Martok and Kor would be noblemen,
Good Sir, pardon my interruption, but I do have to make a nitpick here:
Martok comes from common roots, and said that was the reason Kor rejected his application.
When I was a boy, my family still lived in the lowlands of Ketha Province. We had very little, but it didn't matter -- we were a family of warriors. [...Kor is "of the blood" -- born to rule by the divine will of Kahless!] And what was I? A boy from the Ketha lowlands. He couldn't bear the thought of someone like me joining the elite officer ranks.
So to my father's embarrassment and my everlasting shame, my
application was denied. And with the mark of Kor on my record I
couldn't even join as a common soldier.
Kor wanted to serve in Martok's fleet and asked Worf for help. Worf obliged Kor's request. When he informed Martok, the General replied:
Made him [Kor] an officer... just like that. That's the difference
between his name and mine -- his opens doors, mine closes them.
and Kor's family's status of being princes du sang would be difficult for a Kahlist credibly to deny, especially if he wished to maintain the integrity of the Empire;
But why? Assuming they ever did exist, let alone held power, the
smooth-headed Klingons definitely don't have a voice in "contemporary"
Klingon politics; i.e., those of the TNG-era.
If they're no longer an influential group and, indeed, might've long since
been massacred, mass-converted to the ridge-heads' religion, or re-located altogether, why would this be a matter of maintaining Imperial integrity?
Perhaps, in my haste, I am being short-sighted; but in my opinion, said integrity is only relevant if the smooth-heads are still powerful.
They're not. Kor is respected, but even he had to "beg" Worf for a commission.
Furthermore, when have the Klingons ever placated to the weak? Again, I could be missing something, but I'd have to say "never."
The only time we actually see them placate anyone was when the Duras family wanted to shift their father's dishonor to Mogh; and K'mpec only went along with that because he felt Duras was very powerful.
I also cannot overlook the fact that many Klingon beliefs are inherently racist. We've seen them belittle others on racial basis many times. This is especially the case when speaking of an enemy, but even Klingons who hold more moderate viewpoints will make slurs against their own friends. For example, as I might've already noted in this thread, Worf once said to
O'Brien: "You are just
another weak human who is afraid of death!"
("The Ship").
When you couple personal animosity, racist views, AND the fact that Kor's
smooth-head race is a disgraced one, I simply can't see Martok making such an acknowledgement unless he geniunely believed Kor was of the "racially acceptable" Klingon stock.
Again, IMO, I think that is the simplest explanation, but does it miss any of the facts?
If Kahless himself were of the same race, with the late-developing ridges, it would be exceedingly difficult for Chancellor Martok to deprecate the entire race, especially given Kor's distinguished record, whereas preceding
Governments could easily blame certain individual leaders within the race for the Empire's failures in the Cold War and the unpopular alliance with the Romulan Star Empire.
I suppose, but is there any basis for concluding that Kahless was a "late-ridge developer," so to speak?
I realize we see what's
supposed to be Kahless in "The Savage Curtain," but that was simply a representation based in Kirk's (or Spock's,
one) imagination.
Additionally, we see depictions of Kahless, complete with ridges, grappling
with another Klingon (I think his brother or maybe Molor, I can't remember). Kahless was a young man in that figurine.
Now, we could easily say that Klingon revisionists took artistic license in giving the model ridgesk. However, does that not
also indicate that modern Klingons
want to believe Kahless was always ridged?
Either way, Martok would be free to speak ill of the smooth-heads if the
opportunity arose and, given Klingons' attitudes toward those they've
defeated, I find that would be very likely.
It might be considered as being similar to the way the Communist Party of the Soviet Union operated. It was too dangerous to make generalisations, because generalisations could contradict subsequent Party decrees (and thereby expose the myth of the infallibility of the Party), so the Party's preferred course of action was simply to exterminate publicly those who incurred its wrath.
Without generalising that all smooth-headed Klingons are dishonourable,
previous ruling coalitions may have simply purged the leadership, on the
grounds that those individuals had dishonoured themselves.
That's fair, but if something didn't happen to the smooth-heads in general, where are they now?
We pretty much have to infer that the smooth-heads in general are, if alive, dishonored, IMO.
It is not unusual for a nobleman of one class to identify more with a hated
enemy of noble blood than with any commoner. Kor's aristocratic streak would find value in any noble blood, even that of another race.
That's just the thing, though: Kor says as much in the context of a singular
race, referring to "our people" and "our race"; e.g.,
I have no influence left in the Empire. Even as our entire race grapples with the Dominion...there is no place for an old man with too many enemies and not enough friends.
The multi-race theory naturally requires that Klingons are comprised of 2 or
more races (up to the 4 you've identified). Kor makes no such distinction.
One could easily argue that his use of "race" is imprecise, but I think
that's begging the question, working backwards from one's conclusion.
I readily admit I've slipped and done just that on occassion, but foremost,
I'm trying hard to take all the facts at hand,
then develop a theory
that convincingly accounts for them all. Ockham's dictates that the simplest explanation that fits is best, so the question becomes, to what does "our entire race" most likely refer?
Can a single-race theory work? Is it in keeping with everything else
we know of Klingons? Must it be as ridiculous as my initial surgery explanation, or my arguably sillier "super being" one (which I actually like on some levels)?
Thus far I'm one of the few people who's come to that conclusion, and no one commented on the "god took their ridges" post, so I had to ask
Indeed, it would be more accurate to compare Kor's statement to Dr. Otto von Habsburg, the current head of the Imperial and Royal House of
Habsburg-Lorraine, having a Saudi prince as a friend, and telling him that
they both come from royal bloodlines. The Saudi prince would agree, even
though the Habsburg-Lorraines have been out of power since 1918, and were traditionally among the most ardent enemies of Islam.
Publius
The latter is a potent analogy, even if it does start from the idea that
Kor's definitely a smoothie (or ex-smooth-head).
You make hellacious arguments. I'm not resigned to just quit
, but I increasingly fear you are out of my league.
That obviously sucks because it ignores part of the quote's context; i.e., Worf and Kor are buddies! 
