Letters to the Editor
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Slow to pander?
Ooh, snap!
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his apology seems sincere
but are you sure the audience weren't jeering because a black man was holding up his umbrella for him in the rain?
I read that anyway...
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Sounds Like.....
Replace the "Dr. King" with "Barack Obama," and its a pretty nice summation of McCains future opponent for the White House......
McCAIN:"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."
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They should not have jeered
From everything I've read about King, he would not have approved of people jeering a sincere apology like this. It took some courage for McCain to come out and stand where he did and say what he did. It's sad that our nation has become so divided that we cannot put basic civility above politics.
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Good, there should be more jeering
The apology prompted jeers from the crowd.
Of course it did. It's nakedly opportunistic, and black Americans among all of their countrymen are (as a necessary political survival trait) particularly disinclined to be hoodwinked by pretty, shallow, nakedly insincere apologies for lasting prejudice.
Their fellow Americans could learn a thing or two from them in that respect, if no other — talk is cheap, and politicians can give every evidence of sincerity and still be damned liars. If it smells like shit and looks like shit, the papers telling you that it's a maverick politician here to make us strong again isn't worth a moment of consideration.
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Why did he vote against it?
A true "apology" would have included an explanation for his rationale. I know I'd like to know what his rationale was.
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Votes are forever.
Votes are forever, ask Hillary about her Iraq vote. And voting against a holiday? That is a pretty damned easy vote. Everyone loves a day off, except rich industrialist brewery mongers. Voting against MLK day was dog whistle for, I hate black people and will stand with my white brothers against any negro encroachment on our dominance. Everyone knows this. McCain panders again.
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now, that's racism
Bill and Hill are opportunists, but don't have a racist bone in their collective heads. Pardon the expression head, Bill. But McLame, fascist tool, serial adulterer, voted against MLK day because that's what republikans do. If darkies like it, they don't. It's doctrine. It's what they do.
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Super Bowl
To put this in historical perspective, from Wiki:
Senator Jesse Helms (R-North Carolina) led opposition to the bill and questioned whether King was important enough to receive such an honor. He also criticized King's opposition to the Vietnam War and accused him of espousing "action-oriented Marxism."[8]
Ronald Reagan was also opposed to the holiday. He recanted only after Congress passed the King Day bill with an overwhelming veto-proof majority (338 to 90 in the House of Representatives and 78 to 22 in the Senate). Prior to that date, New Hampshire and Arizona had not observed the day. Throughout the 1990s, this was heavily criticized. After a 1992 proposition to recognize the holiday in Arizona did not pass, the National Football League boycotted hosting Super Bowl XXVII at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe.
Personally, I think McCain's vote belongs in the same Hall of Infamy as Cheney's vote against the anti-Apartheid resolution in the 1980s. When you are on the same side as Jesse Helms you have a serious problem.
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McCain's initial vote
said it all at the time it was initially cast, and says it all now...
More of the same political posturing.
His "Amazing Grace" moment is ridiculous and a sad reflection of "that" element of America...Needless to say, his typical apology does not suffice. It never does.
McCain voted against the MLK holiday at a time when he should have known better; he was old enough to have achieved a significant measure of maturity and judgment. Both qualities should have worked in his favor. They did, in a twisted manner, for just a while...Ironically, those from whom McCain chose to court favor are quickly falling out of favor. Thump. So goes it. The sound of those votes cast without conscience.
Tough.
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FYI
"a mistake I made myself long ago"
He was 47 at the time.
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stay out of comedy, Senator,
You don't have the timing for it.
And I don't think you have the political deftness required for a chief executive.
While I appreciate your regrets (I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume they're sincere), this day was not about you.
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Does anyone else recall
that Dr. King was bitterly opposed to the Vietnam War that John McCain makes as the focal point of his "national service?" Almost as much as he hated racism, Dr. King despised war, particularly the elective war in Vietnam that McCain believes was a just campaign. Dr. King also recognized the contradiction of wartime budgets, bloated in the pursuit of death, and peace time programs to raise the standard of life in America. Dr. King would also have been in the van of those decrying tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans at the expense of jobs for working America - tax cuts that McSwitch once recognized as wrong-headed and unjust but now embraces as he tries to corral the Bush big money base.
In summary, McCain's vote against the King holiday then - when it mattered - was a pander to his lily-white Arizona constituency just as he apology yesterday was a pander and an insult to black America.
But we should never forget that the vote against the King holiday was the least offensive aspect of McCain's pattern of neglect of middle Americans in general and black Americans in particular.
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Oh yeah
Wasn't McCain in Meridian MS earlier this week? Wasn't that ground zero for Reagan's anti-welfare campaign? And wasn't Meridian also the home of a famous grand wizard of the KKK?
Yeah, McCain gets it alright. He'll pander the the blacks an hour or so, the head on back up with the rich bigots.
Remember, even Dubya attended Coretta Scott King's funeral. The people weren't fooled why he was there. I doubt they were fooled by McCain.