McCain Falsely Claims He “Fought For Recognition Of Martin Luther King Day”
In Panama City, Florida, responding to a quesiton about how he believes Obama is playing the race card as the senator charges, McCain bragged about his support of civil rights legislation and said, “I fought for recognition of Martin Luther King Day in my state.” Sadly, it’s not true.
Not only did McCain forget that he fought against Martin Luther King Day, he also forgot that he apologized in 2000 for making the mistake of not supporting it. Progressive Accountability chronicles McCain’s record.
McCain Admitted His Opposition To The Federal MLK Holiday Was “A Mistake” And His Position Has “Evolved.” During a 2000 interview, McCain compared his evolution on this issue to former Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater. “I believe that Barry Goldwater, to start with, regretted his vote on the 1964 Civil Rights Act,” McCain said. “I think that Barry grew, like all of us grow and evolve. In 1983, when I was brand-new in the Congress, I voted against the recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King. That was a mistake, OK? And later I had the chance to … help fight for … the recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King as a holiday in my state.” [ www.salon.com 4/18/00; Accessed 4/2/08]
McCain’s lack of awareness and sensitivity to racial issues wasn’t limited to just voting against the holiday itself:
FACT: In 1994, McCain Sided With Senator Jesse Helms and Voted To Eliminate Funding For Martin Luther King Commission. McCain voted in favor of a Helms amendment “to prohibit federal financing for the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission.” The amendment failed 28-70-2. [S Amdt 1738, Vote #127, 5/24/94; CQ Vote Description]
FACT: McCain Voted Against The Civil Rights Act Of 1990 FOUR Times. In 1990, McCain voted against a bill designed to address employer discrimination at least 4 times. According to the Washington Post, the “Civil Rights Act of 1990 is designed to overturn several recent Supreme Court rulings that made it much more difficult for individual employees to prove discrimination. The legislation, being fought by business, also would impose new penalties on employers convicted of job discrimination.” [S 2104, Vote #304, 10/24/90; Vote #276, Vote #275, 10/16/90; Vote #161, 7/18/90; Washington Post, 7/9/90]
Are McCain’s more recent statements actual lies, or is John McCain having some honest memory issues in the heat of having to defend his record?
More signs of my suspected Dementia diagnosis.
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:45 am
wheres the outrage republicans? i wanna see “Is this the downfall of the straight talk express?” or “Is Mccain out of touch?” “Mccain a liar?”pfft….of course not.
August 3rd, 2008 at 10:24 am
McCain lied about his voting record again? This guy is an ass. He can’t make up his voting record. Maybe it is a memory problem. Maybe it’s just an honesty problem…
August 3rd, 2008 at 10:28 am
Alan: You should make this a major focus of your Fox show on Monday.
Then on Tuesday trump up the evil and corrupt Trent Lott.
On Wednesday maybe you can explore if Larry Craig is a top or bottom.
August 3rd, 2008 at 11:40 am
This is from Jake Tapper.
In January 1987, the first act of Arizona’s new governor, Republican Evan Mecham, was to rescind the executive order by his predecessor to create an MLK holiday. Arizona’s stance became a national controversy.
McCain backed the decision at the time. But eventually he changed his mind.
In 1990, Arizonans were given an opportunity to vote to observe an MLK holiday. McCain successfully appealed to former President Ronald Reagan to support the holiday. In a letter to voters, Reagan wrote that he hoped Arizonans would “join me in supporting a holiday to commemorate these ideals to which Dr. King dedicated his life.”
Mecham, for his part, opposed the holiday, saying, “I guess King did a lot for the colored people, but I don’t think he deserves a national holiday.”
The 1990 referendum failed.
In November 1992, Arizonans voted to re-elect McCain over a challenge from Mecham. They also voted in favor of an MLK holiday.
==============
So what conclusion can we draw…. in the end McCain appealed to Ronald Reagan to have Reagan appeal to the voters to approve the holiday.
If thats not fighting to have the holiday recongized what is?
Ooooooooooooh I get it… McCain was supposed to spend 5 hours detailing his every opinion day by day on soemthing that has been addressed time and again.
This is the level of irrelevency that accounts for so much of what the Left preoccupies itself with.
Keep it up , I say.. complain about this as loudly as possible so that as many people as possible can see what it is that is so important.
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Oh no, mcsame didn’t support a holiday? After all, it was the democrats that caused the biggest black mark in America’s history, slavery and racial hatred, and now the democrats now have the audacity to complain about a holiday?
Isn’t it time democrats took responsibility for their actions and apologize for it?
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:19 pm
…the democrats caused slavery…? Explain that please.
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Granting that T2P is an intellegent human being… I can use my great powers of common sense to tell me that T2P does not believe the Democrats caused slavery… so I will come up with the amazing theory that T2P meant that Democrat support of slavery and the post-Civil War opression of Black People created the racial problems that are attributed to the country.
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I find the present day to be much more interesting.
Such as the gifted orator Obama breaking another promise of his…. this promise was agreeing to appear at Townhall events with McCain.
From the AP:
I love the McCain team’s response:
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Oh, and only members of the Democratic party had these kinds of thoughts? Wasn’t all this 140 plus years ago?
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Check you pant’s John McCain. There on FIRE!!!
August 3rd, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Democrat support of slavery and the post-Civil War opression of Black People created the racial problems that are attributed to the country.
Good point, “caused” wasn’t the best choice of words. Your great powers of common sense cleared things up for those without common sense or a knowledge of history.
August 3rd, 2008 at 7:33 pm
oh, gag me with a spoon
August 3rd, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Change that T2P to just TP!
August 3rd, 2008 at 8:10 pm
T2Ps original statement is indicative of his bias; trying to make anyone who disagrees with his contemporary views/opinions wrong about everything, even ancient history. Why the angst T2P? Can’t we agree to disagree? In the words of the great Rodney King: “Can’t we all just get along?” I think contemporary Republicans/conservatives to be more racist then their opposites: think Jesse Helms. That’s my OPINION. I try not to confuse opinion with fact, and you should too.
Love and peace, brother.
August 3rd, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Jesse Helms is dead, retard.
Think Robert Byrd.
August 3rd, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Byrd renounced his prior position. I’m hardly a ‘retard’, but you seem to be a name caller and some one who has more time on their hands to post long diatribes and miss-facts then any reasonable person should have. Jesse is dead but still seems to loved by many, that’s the point.
August 3rd, 2008 at 11:11 pm
I really get a kick out of the right wingers who always bring up Robert Byrd belonging to the Klan, in a desperate attempt to remove the taint of racism from right wing conservatives.
Are they REALLY saying that if they grew up in an environment where EVERYONE….. friends, family, teachers, police, neighbors and Sunday school teachers ALL supported the Klan, that THEY would had the foresight and vision to have risen above it?
Byrd himself has said:
“I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times… and I don’t mind apologizing over and over again. I can’t erase what happened.”
It’s hard to imagine the right wingers being on the right side of ANY of the momentous events in our history.
If you think of someone like Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, and transport them back in time:
~ Boston Tea Party,
Would they be on the side of the colonists, or on the side of the EAST India Tea Co. calling the colonists “vandals and thugs of the far left”?
~ American Revolution,
Any doubt they would on the side calling the Patriots traitors?
~ Underground Railroad,
The right wing in those days were the ones screaming about the states and private property rights.
~ Women’s Suffrage,
The Republic will fall if we give in to these feminazis!
We KNOW where they stood in the labor movements and the civil rights movements of the 60s.
There’s a good reason that Mark Twain said:
“ The radical of one century is the conservative of the next. The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out the conservative adopts them.
Mark Twain, Notebook,
August 4th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Don’t expect to see Fox News doign any segments on this lie. Fox is isn’t interested in high-lighting negative news about McCain. It’s in the tank for him.
August 5th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
[...] that McCain finally and suddenly realizes the significance of Martin Luther King as, in spite of his statements to the contrary, he did not support recognizing him when he had the opportunity to vote on Martin Luther King [...]
August 28th, 2008 at 7:00 pm