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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Senator McCain Misleading on his Martin Luther King Public Policy Record
Posted by Media Release
Guest article by Cincinnati NAACP president Christopher Smitherman
Congressman John Conyers introduced legislation to create the Martin Luther King Holiday(MLK) four days after King’s assassination. King was killed in 1968. Fifteen years later and after six million petitioned signatures the House of representatives voted whether to approve the MLK National Holiday. This vote took place in 1983. John McCain voted against the MLK Holiday in 1983. The legislation still passed with a no vote from McCain.
Senator John McCain went to Memphis on April 4,2008 to mourn the assassination of MLK. Senator John McCain(R-AZ) visited Memphis while actively campaigning for President of the United States of America. During the ceremony Senator John McCain stated he made a mistake 25 years ago when he voted against the MLK Holiday in 1983. However, Senator McCain was misleading about his record.
In 1987, 21 years ago, Arizona’s newly elected governor, Evan Mecham rescinded the states MLK Holiday. McCain publicly supported his governor’s decision stating it was “the correct move”.
In 1989 the State of Arizona faced a national economic boycott based on Governor Evan Mecham’s decision to rescind the MLK holiday and Senator McCain’s support of the Governor’s decision. The NFL pulled the Superbowl from Arizona which was the-straw-that-broke-the-camel’s-back. Subsequently, voters ratified the MLK Holiday in 1992.
Between 1987-1992 there is no evidence indicating that Senator John McCain provided leadership for his state to adopt the MLK Holiday. This was 16 years ago. Arizona was the second to last state to adopt the MLK Holiday.(Illinois was the first state to adopt the MLK Holiday.) The delay in adoption was directly based on the elected officials leadership, or lack thereof. The news media will not make this connection but it ultimately took a boycott to bring the State of Arizona into the recognition of the MLK holiday.
McCain in 2000 publicly stated support for flying the confederate flag on the South Carolina State House. This is also called the “Rebel flag”. McCain has a disturbing pattern that the media has not questioned. However the media has questioned flag wearing on lapels.
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29 Apr 2008 at 06:29 pm | #
If I was McCain I probably would have been reluctant to back the King holiday too. As Mr. Smitherman pointed out, the movement to get the King holiday started right after his assassination. It was a direct result of his martyrdom. But McCain risked his life for what he believed just as much as King if not more. Not to mention that he went one better and withstood many years of some serious torture for what he believed in also. It would be sort of like asking Mohammed Ali to endorse that Joe Louis was the best heavyweight of all time.
30 Apr 2008 at 03:44 pm | #
trey, McCain was fighting in a bipartisan imperial war based on a lie (sound familiar?) against a poor and defenseless country that never attacked us. King was fighting for justice for poor and defenseless people in our country and around the world. King bravely spoke out against the greatest purveyor of violence in the world (the Military Industrial Complex) that McCain adores so much.
Your analogy is very weak. You could argue that Hitler gave his life for what he believed in, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a monster. McCain is simply a pandering puppet for the NeoCons and his new friends, “the agents of intolerance”. King was a true patriot that gave his life to show us the struggle for justice can be won using non-violence.
Mohammed Ali wasn’t just the greatest in the ring, he was the greatest because he was willing to give it all up to fight for what was right and that was saying no to the bipartisan war that was based on a lie.
30 Apr 2008 at 04:27 pm | #
McCain risked his life? Flying over people and dropping bombs on them? He got caught. So what? He didn’t undergo torture because of what he believed in. He was tortured because he got caught at it. Sort of like we’re doing to the Iraqis only he was an invading army attacking, they’re citizens defending their country. His mission and Dr. King’s mission couldn’t have been more different. One for good--King. One for evil--McCain. Dumb analogy.
30 Apr 2008 at 08:51 pm | #
Justin & Suz, I’m sorry to point it out to you but even though our most popular mythologies may lionize the underdog as being the ultimate in virtue (see the underdog Jesus being crucified by the all-powerful Romans and the underdog colonies fighting off the British Empire), the U.S. me and you have grown up in probably has more in common with the Roman and British Empire than those scrappy, lovable underdogs. We need to have the ability to praise both those who sacrificed for the more just and good empire in the battle between freedom and communism and also those who sacrificed to make sure there were no second class citizens in this great country.
01 May 2008 at 05:14 am | #
Trey - that was a joke right? No second class citizens in this great country (I must have missed that one.)? The battle between freedom and communism? Where do I begin? No. I’ll just stay with my first assumption. Surely he jests! HAHAHAHAHAHHA. Trey, you kill me! Take that act on the road why don’t you?
01 May 2008 at 11:15 pm | #
God Bless America Cincysuz!
02 May 2008 at 05:33 am | #
God Bless the World, trey.
05 May 2008 at 04:11 pm | #
how stupid are you. how many people died “flying over people and dropping bombs on them” TONS. You can agree or disagree with what he was doing you cannot say the activity did not include risking his life.
05 May 2008 at 04:39 pm | #
trey, I don’t believe there are just and good empires. There are democracies and there are empires, the more you head in one direction the further you get from the other. There was nothing just or moral about the bipartisan Vietnam War. The US killed millions of people in Southeast Asia in a colonial war that was based on a lie.
There were second class citizens here in the United States of Amnesia and we do have a class based system. We have more people in jail than any other nation on the planet, including communist China and Cuba.
Sure, McCain risked his life while he was killing people. Please explain to us why the US military was over there killing innocent people in a country that never threatened us. Then explain how this behavior compares to what Dr. King stood for. Thanks!
07 May 2008 at 05:33 pm | #
I guess that every murderer runs some risk of retaliation from the victim. McCain is no hero. It’s a totally cowardly activity to fly above people--villages--and drop bombs on them.
07 May 2008 at 09:30 pm | #
cincysuz, would you call John Kerry a murderer too? Was he more courageous on a boat? Isn’t that missing the whole point that wars are immoral?
08 May 2008 at 05:59 pm | #
Do you think that the vietnam veteran members of the Green Party are murderers? Are there Independents that are murderers or only Democrats? What about all the veterans that worked for peace, like John Kerry? Those that came back and were brave enough to tell of the horrors of war? Kerry may have murdered. I don’t know. But lives were saved and consciousness raised because of him and other returning veterans, unlike John McCain, that told the truth about war. Again, you make up an opportunity to attack Democrats and defend Republicans. Come out of the political closet Justin. Conservative Cincinnati will embrace you.