John McCain today brought his effort to reinvent himself for the general election to a new low by misleading the voters on his full record on a holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King. McCain tried to suggest that his opposition to a holiday honoring Dr. King was limited to his 1983 vote against a federal holiday. In reality, McCain maintained his opposition to it until at least 1989, voted against funding for the commission working to promote the King Holiday in 1994, and used divisive language about state's rights to defend himself. McCain even supported Republican efforts to repeal a holiday in his state in 1987. "It's frankly disingenuous for John McCain to try and reinvent himself for the general election by distorting his record of opposing a holiday honoring Dr. King," said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney. "John McCain should be honest about his full record of opposing the federal holiday, opposing a state holiday four years later, using divisive language to defend himself, and voting to cut off funding for the commission working to promote the King holiday as recently as 1994." John McCain on MLK Day 1983: McCain Voted Against Law Creating National Martin Luther King Holiday. In 1983, McCain voted against passing a bill to designate the third Monday of every January as a federal holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. That was the year the holiday was passed into law, supported by 338 members of the House and 78 members of the Senate. [1983 House Vote #289, 8/2/1983; 1983 Senate Vote #303] 1987: McCain Supports AZ Governor's Effort to Rescind Martin Luther King Day As State Holiday. In 1987, Arizona Governor Evan Mecham rescinded "what he termed an illegal executive order by his predecessor, Democrat Bruce Babbitt, to establish a state holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr." Speaking to the Arizona Teenage Republican Convention, when asked about Mecham's decision to rescind the holiday, "McCain said that he felt Mecham was correct in rescinding the holiday." [Washington Post, 1/14/1987; Phoenix Gazette, 4/13/1987] 1989: McCain Urged Lawmakers To Create State Holiday, But Expressed Opposition To Federal Holiday. In 1989, McCain expressed his support for a state law recognizing an Arizona Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. But, McCain said, "I'm still opposed to another federal holiday. . .but I support the (Arizona) Martin Luther King holiday because of the enormous proportions this issue has taken on as far as the image of our state and our treatment towards not only blacks but all minorities." [Phoenix Gazette, 5/2/1989] 1992: McCain Endorsed Proposition Creating State Holiday. "McCain endorsed Proposition 300, which would establish a paid state holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr." [Phoenix Gazette, 10/28/1992] 1994: McCain Voted To Strip Federal Funding From the MLK Federal Holiday Commission. In 1994, McCain voted to prohibit federal funds for the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission. The Commission was established in 1984 "to encourage the observance of King's birthday." According to Al King, head of the California chapter of the commission, the organization "helped keep 'senators' and representatives' feet to the fire to recognize the holiday.'" [1994 Senate Vote #127, 5/24/1994; Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/24/1995, 5/26/1995] John McCain on the Confederate Flag Late 1999: McCain Said He Wasn't Offended By the Flag. In 2000, McCain said of the flying of the Confederate Flag in South Carolina, "To me personally, I understand how it could be offensive to some people, but I had ancestors who fought in the Confederate army and I thought they fought honorably." [AP, 11/5/1999] Early 2000: McCain Called The Confederate Flag "Offensive" And A Symbol Of Slavery. McCain appeared on "Face The Nation" and recognized the offensive symbolism of the Confederate flag. McCain said, "The Confederate flag is offensive in many, many ways, as we all know. It's a symbol of racism and slavery." [CBS News, Face The Nation, 1/9/00] A Day Later, Aides Say He Misspoke. The next day, "McCain reversed himself and called the flag 'a symbol of heritage'…Aides said he had misspoken in the television interview." [New York Times, 1/12/2000] 2006: McCain Conceded He Lied In 2000 To Win Political Points With The Confederate Flag, Called It "An Act Of Cowardice." Following the 2000 South Carolina primary, McCain admitted that he had lied about his position on the confederate flag in order to win political points while battling George Bush in the South Carolina. McCain admitted, "I feared that if I answered honestly, I could not win the South Carolina primary, so I chose to compromise my principles. I broke my promise to always tell the truth." Speaking on the incident in 2006, McCain went further, saying, "The flag in South Carolina. I said that that was a state issue [in 2000]. It's not a state issue. It's a symbol that should not fly over the state capitol anywhere in America. … I said that it really wasn't any of my business, was basically what I said. That was an act of cowardice." [New York Times, 4/20/2000; CNN, 5/24/2006] http://www.democrats.org/a/2008/04/john_mccains_re.php
dude, you need a timeout. You posted this already in the Obama Million Man March thread. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=146735&page=2
Everyone will not read every post in a thread about another topic. This topic is strictly for people who just see mcCain all of sudden being an mlk lover come election time.
rocketforlife: Please be more like Jorge in the future and only post things one time and in one thread. Unless you have some racist "humor" to share. Then post it a million times in every thread. TIA.
Batman, the only way we can preserve the greatness of CC.Net is to police the board by educating rookies on thread starting decorum. I trust that one of the reasons that you visit this site on a very regular basis is because of the internal discipline that has ingrained itself in our culture here. Please appreciate that I made my comment to the thread starter in order to help perpetuate the greatness that is this website. An action such as this directly benefits you.
A Vietnam vet voted against a holiday for a war protester, and supported a flag his ancestors fought under.
Are you speaking of the same vet and GOP nominee that claims he hates war? you can't have it both ways!
So wait...honoring a great man is only a Black issue? Shouldn't it bother non-Black voters as much as Black voters? I think you and the other two are battling it out to become cc.net's version of Colbert. That being said, I suspect there is more to this situation than is shown here.
What can't you have "both ways?" A war veteran can't hate war in general, or a war vet can't hate war and not want to make a paid holiday for someone who protested a war he was a POW in? And do you actually have a quote of him saying he hates war, or are you just insinuating it, like you do about his "real" views of MLK in your original thread title?
I'm confused, Jorge. I tried to relate the rules of the site as perfectly expressed by your posts. And I repeat: Only post things once unless you have good race jokes; then repeat them as often as possible. What am I missing?
i'm sure the reason he voted against the mlk holiday was because of vietnam. I also have a bridge in brooklyn for sale if you would like. and I don't mccain is racists, but most people don't think vietnam when they think mlk. I guess you do.
There are plenty of great men that don't have paid federal holidays. Black people understandably care more about MLK, because the primary purpose and effect of his movement was to improve the lives of black people. Just like Latinos care more about Ceasar Chavez. I, for one, would really have to hate something or someone to oppose a holiday, but I really like having days off.
Only like 6% of African-Americans voted for the GOP in the last election. It's not like it's not statistically true. If I was a GOP stategist, I wouldn't push a lot of resources in getting the African-American vote either. Nothing against black people though.
I think what Mark takes exception to is the "no big deal" as if the only reason to be racially aware is because of votes. I do agree, if i was the GOP I wouldn't even concrern myself with trying to get black votes.
