McCain's Tricky History With the MLK Holiday
| Fri Apr. 4, 2008 9:00 AM PDT
John McCain is in Memphis today commemorating the death of Dr. King, but he can't run from his spotty history on the MLK holiday and civil rights. In 1983, McCain was one of 77 Republican Congressmen to vote against establishing a federal holiday in MLK's honor. McCain was in the minority even among his GOP colleagues: even Dick Cheney, who voted against the holiday in 1978, voted for it in '83. Later, McCain would explain his vote by saying he "thought that it was not necessary to have another federal holiday, that it cost too much money, that other presidents were not recognized."
In 1999 McCain admitted that he was wrong to vote the way he did. He told NBC's Tim Russert, "on the Martin Luther King issue, we all learn, OK? We all learn. I will admit to learning, and I hope that the people that I represent appreciate that, too. I voted in 1983 against the recognition of Martin Luther King… I regret that vote."
The 1983 vote, however, is the not the end of the issue. In 1987, Arizona's Republican Governor repealed the state's recognition of King; McCain supported the decision. He changed his mind in 1990, when a King holiday was put to a vote in the state.
But even by 1990, McCain hadn't come to appreciate what King stood for. The Civil Rights Act of 1990 sought to overturn "Supreme Court rulings that made it much more difficult for individual employees to prove discrimination." The legislation was fought by big business, because it imposed new penalties on employers convicted of job discrimination. McCain voted against the act four times.
And in his 2000 presidential campaign, McCain employed a man named Richard Quinn in his South Carolina organization. Quinn was a toxic figure, writing:
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"King Day should have been rejected because its purpose is vitriolic and profane. By celebrating King as the incarnation of all they admire, they [black leaders] have chosen to glorify the histrionic rather than the heroic and by inference they spurned the brightest and the best among their own race. Ignoring the real heroes in our nation's life, the blacks have chosen a man who represents not their emancipation, not their sacrifices and bravery in service to their country; rather, they have chosen a man whose role in history was to lead his people into a perpetual dependence on the welfare state..."
According to AlterNet, "Quinn has also advocated electing David Duke, and sold T-Shirts through his magazine celebrating Abraham Lincoln's assassination." McCain defended Quinn as a "respected" and "fine man." He refused to fire him from the campaign.
In McCain's speech today he said all the right things:
Even in this most idealistic of nations, we do not always take kindly to being reminded of what more we can do, or how much better we can be, or who else can be included in the promise of America. We can be slow as well to give greatness its due, a mistake I made myself long ago when I voted against a federal holiday in memory of Dr. King. I was wrong and eventually realized that, in time to give full support for a state holiday in Arizona. We can all be a little late sometimes in doing the right thing, and Dr. King understood this about his fellow Americans. But he knew as well that in the long term, confidence in the reasonability and good heart of America is always well placed. And always, that was his method in word and action -- to remind us of who we are and what we believe. His arguments were unanswerable and they were familiar, the case always resting on the writings of the Founders, the teachings of the prophets, and the Word of the Lord.
He's evolved on the issue: millions of Americans have. But when it counted, McCain got this issue wrong. And today, his positions on economic justice, housing, and the war show that while McCain may appreciate King's importance, he still doesn't understand the meaning of King's message.
Comments
He's just another old curmudgeon sittin in office reminiscing on the years when it was acceptable to be racist. Please don't vote for this old man. He's not in touch with reality and there's no way he can understand what young people are going through these days. He's too old to change his behavior or beliefs so I'm sure he still thinks MLK was nothing more than just another black man.
I hate the fact that people are using McCain's age against him. Ageism is no different than sexism or racism. I wish people would knock that off.
His age isn't the problem, his lack of judgment and stubborn, dumb adherence to Republicanism is his problem and most especially of the mentality that "all" blacks are welfare "cases". Ridiculous!
He has not changed over the years. Once a Republican, always a Republican! He tacidly approved of Bush's policies over the years and the fact that he is a strong supporter of this illegal Iraqi war means he should not be elected to be president.
Now Brothers and Sisters--LET US HERE TODAY UNDERSTAND THAT INDEED Mother Jones and McCain and Co. are dirty [deleted] in bed with the devil...!!!
The Civil Rights Act of 1871 protected against the KKK, but in O'Shea v. Littleton it be "the Supremes doing the dirty" on 17 Blacks seeking to end the racially motivated illegal acts of certain local state officials.
Dismissed for lack of standing...--yet the dissenting opinion opined, "These allegations of wrong doing clearly state a case or controversy."
Though the Court ruled, "None of the named plaintiffs is identified as himself having suffered any injury in the manner specified," the dissent stated, "The charges concerning the named plaintiffs are as follows..."
Once again, the Court ruled, "There are no allegations plaintiffs have been or will be improperly charged with violating criminal law," but we're set straight with, "Defendants made arrests and the filing of charges against plaintiffs and members of their class where such charges are not warranted and are merely for the purpose of harassment."
Overcome evil with good--on Dec. 8, 1999, a Memphis jury implicated government agencies in a conspiracy to kill MLK...
...And so now..., after voting four times against the Civil Rights Act of 1990, McCain stupidly spouts about confidence in the REASONABLENESS AND GOOD HEART OF AMERICA...
And--WOW--talk about weird positions on economic justice--first the Big Ol' Boys jam it way up the sub-prime market's collective [deleted], caustically raising interest rates and thusly really idiotically driving their own foolish selves right into dire trouble and Big Brother's reassuring, secure arms...
And so..., isn't the raw deal here how our insecure electronic voting machines, ect., ect., ect. are all posed to TOPPLE The Great Black Hope (MR. ADVOCATE OF THE POOR--RIGHT!!!) right off his future throne..., and in doing so forever antagonize the poor folk...
Well, just consider how in the '80s Congress passed crime laws especially punitive to drug offenders, at the same time rewriting existing federal aid and forfeiture laws to finance drug law enforcement...
"After twenty years on the bench, I have concluded that federal drug laws are a disaster," stated Hon. Knapp. "It's time to get the government out of drug enforcement. As long as we indulge in the fantasy that the problem could be solved by making America drug free, it was appropriate that the government assume the burden, but that ambition has been shown to be absurd."
And now consider how in 1997 the US Supreme Court inexplicably decided that, "... a sentencing court may consider conduct of which a defendant has been acquitted."
Yes, the building and maintaining of truly humongous new prisons is Big Business, but I'm thinking that McCain, MoJo and the all the rest...--really need to read that unheralded government report that states: "... the damage at the Murrah Building is not the result of the truck bomb itself , but rather due to other factors such as locally placed charges within the building itself ..."
Because, after that, Pres. Clinton tripled funding for FBI anti-terrorism, also using the OK Bombing as impetus in an attempt to pass his own version of the unduly repressive Patriot Act.
Hey People,
The fantasy theories of mr wagner are classic democrat propoganda, that the talk about in "private". They dem's know that when they say these things in public, they are exposed for the kooks they are... hahaha
Funny thing is, i wish this guy could appear on the television every night...! Now THAT woudl be entertaining....:-) Mr wagner sounds like he goes to obamas church, where the "Man" infected the ghetto with AIDS... hahaha...
When will you people realize how phoney you sound to the average joe American voter...? The average voter who is now running to McCain in droves...
Bill
BY THUNDER!!!, Billy Boy--you're post reminds me of how one DC police detective described the laxness of the internal affairs division: You damn near have to come in, knock on the door, tell them you committed a crime, highlight it for them, then call them everyday and remind them to bust you."
The OK study, led by Brig. Gen. B.K. Partin (USAF, ret.), former director of the Air Force Armament Technology Labortory (one of the world's foremost explosives authorities) is quoted in Wikipedia (Oklahoma City bombing).
Why..., it's like Plan Colombia--when you stop to think of how, in 2004, Colombia was fifteenth on the list of U.S. oil suppliers... The principal method used to eradicate coca crops is aerial spraying of Roundup, where the subsequent rotting vegetation results in the release of tremendous amounts of methane--a gas that causes global warming...
Plan Colombia is the largest Latin American Aid package ever, but, in 2006, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime reported an eight percent increase of Andean coca cultivation, confirming a rising trend...
So..., like--forget your damned political platform, erected for the rich to hang their hat upon, and instead let's have doctors dosing out prescriptions for recreational drugs... (LIKE--Dude, what are you so forked up on???!!!)
Coffee shops with adequate ventilation could offer herb--as they do in Holland, where a quarter pound is allowed...
And bars with a bulletproof dispensary window could electronically verify your coke delivery...
How about prescriptions for oral masseuses...; presented at "houses" where the girls get a check-up upon arrival at work...
Possession of drugs outside the legal outlets would carry suitable penalties--encourging people to get their act together...
Or let's go McCain's route: tell all the teens you know, WHAT?, you really want to get your sweaty hands on some quality Middle Eastern hashish--just make a visit to the War Zone...!!!
Submitted by KinkyKathy (not verified) on Sat Apr. 5, 2008 6:15 PM PDT.
At least Brian Williams stuck it to Sen. Khan Friday night, forcing him into a live interview as raucous speech played out in the background, drowning the geriatric out (would we could drown all of them out).
