Some slug had the audacity to claim since jews created NAACP this started the civil rights movement, forget about all the efforts by blacks folks before 1906 if there was no office or jewish person behind it apparently those efforts do not matter. I guess we can expect a post that claims jews invented jazz next...

We should ignore the advice provided by AKA Smith she would tolerate Hillary even comparing MLK as a communist which is what many whites did before MLK became an acceptible personality in america.

In NH where Hillary and Bill both played the race card a state BTW which was very late in making MLK a holiday this revisionist history worked well it will not fly in southern states where Black voters admired MLK as I am told..

It would be insane for any voters especially Blacks and other people of color to ignore this dismissive statement from a person who claims she is experienced and has over 35 years of seasoned leadership!!

A woman who claims she has 35 years of experience running for president where every utterance and word is parsed dares to now claim she misspoke. The NYT uses a term" walkback" form her statement which is clever escape hatch for a dumb and deliberate ignorant statement by the seasoned carpetbagger senator from NY.

As voters we must not ignore the acts of commission and omission made by candidates, it is apparent for Hillary playing loose with facts on the soul of MLK is not a big deal he was just a runner , just a good boy , hell the real heroes are always white males you know like my husband and LBJ...

Stepping on MLK no big deal..

People need to stop arguing about non-issues and start examining the voting records of the candidates. Both Hillary and Obama are corporate shills who voted for Real ID and The Patriot Act.

The ultimate manifestation of MLK's dream was a black president?

Oh really?

Point out where he says that in any of his famous speeches.

If a black person is president, it is not proof of any of MLK's dream. If a black person is president, it does not mean racism has been eliminated. And just because a white woman may be president, does not mean that woman's presidency is inherently a major setback for black rights.

MLK's dream was not about seeing a black person in the white house, per se, but rather, about a world in which all boys and girls, of every color, could grow up and know that they, too, could run for president and not be discounted simply because of their race or class or sex or creed.

And I agree with those who say Hillary's claim was not offensive and was, in fact, historically accurate. She was comparing LBJ to JFK, people. Read the quote again and get the hell over yourselves. You're seeing enemies and insults where there are none.

P.S. Do you think all the hope in the world would have done any bit of good for the black students attempting to attend Little Rock High School in 1957, if Dwight Eisenhower hadn't deployed the 101st Airborne to prevent the Arkansas National Guard from blocking them? No one is saying that great ideas don't originate from outside the political establishment, but the fact is, great laws are passed and enforced by courageous people within the political establishment. And God knows where we would be right now if the Civil Rights movement was still just an idea, instead of an idea that one president chose to put into law.

but I happen to have a great deal of admiration and respect for LBJ. His legacy is tarnished enough by Vietnam, justifiably so. But I won't just sit by while people incorrectly tarnish the positives. LBJ was quietly pushing for civil rights for a decade before the "Dream" speech. He wanted to get it done, but he needed the national stage to be set properly before he went for his all out push. The "Dream" speech set the stage for it. Just like Lincoln who privately wanted to free the slaves, LBJ privately wanted civil rights, but professionally, politically, he had to wait until it was the right time for the country. Undeniably, MLK did more than anyone else to get it to become the right time for the country. But without LBJ's courage, the time would have come and gone without real change.

In addition to the many great biographies of LBJ, I would recommend reading The Walls of Jericho, which tells the story of Dick Russell, LBJ, and Hubert Humphrey through the '50s and early '60s as they maneuvered for and against civil rights. That book more than any other convinced me of how integral LBJ was to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

You misunderstand my posts apparently. I am not saying that MLK was not the right civil rights leader and the right orator for his time. He was perfect. I am saying that LBJ was also the right person in the right place after Kennedy's death to implement the dream. Kennedy wouldn't have done it in may opinion. Part of this is because of Kennedy's political position with the part of the nation that needed to be soothed to put the legislation through. People seem to forget that Kennedy was polarizing in ways that Johnson was not.

(That is a fear I have about Clinton.)

However, I am offended as an older person by some aspects of Obama's campaign that I consider ageist. It don't like any of those isms: racism, sexism, ageism.

I am supporting John Edwards because if he even halfway fulfills the promises of his campaign, he will lift poor women and poor blacks and poor people of latino, Native American, Asian descent to better lives because he is a true Progessive who understand THE DREAM of a better life for all depends upon on each person's economic viability. He will protect Social Security and his health plan -- unlike Obama's will cover everyone. Those who most suffer from racism and sexism are the poor.