© 2008 Capitol News Company, LLC
Posted on 10/11/2008 4:38:41 PM PDT by neverdem
Civil rights icon John Lewis compared Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to George Wallace in a posting to Politico's forum "The Arena," accusing McCain of fostering “an atmosphere of hate” and “hostility” like the one that led to white supremacists’ 1963 bombing of a church in Birmingham, Ala.
Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Georgia who has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), pointed in his posting to “the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign,” and said the senator and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, “are sowing the seeds of hatred and division.”
McCain, in a book he wrote with aide Mark Salter called “Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life,” had lauded the leadership of Lewis in the nonviolent civil rights movement.
McCain called the accusation “shocking and beyond the pale” and called on Obama to “repudiate it."
Brad Woodhouse of the Democratic National Committee said on Fox News: "I don't think Sen. Obama would agree with that. ... I don’t think we would agree with those comments."
Lewis didn't accuse McCain of imitating Wallace, but suggested there were similarities. His sharp words may be dismissed as those of a partisan Democrat in a campaign season. But the former head of SNCC and hero of Selma is somebody who McCain has lavished praise upon over the years, including in his book on courage and bravery and by repeatedly invoking Lewis's name in public appearances.
Appearing with Obama at a forum at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in August, McCain included Lewis as one of "three wise men" he would consult as president. "He can teach us all a lot about the meaning of courage and commitment to causes greater than our self-interest," McCain said of Lewis.
Now, Lewis is castigating McCain in the harshest of terms. "George Wallace never threw a bomb," Lewis noted. "He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."
McCain quickly fired back hard, calling the comments “a character attack against Gov. Sarah Palin and me that is shocking and beyond the pale.”
“The notion that legitimate criticism of Sen. Obama's record and positions could be compared to Gov. George Wallace, his segregationist policies and the violence he provoked is unacceptable and has no place in this campaign,” McCain said in the statement. “I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track.
McCain also put the onus on Obama to distance himself from the remarks: "I call on Sen. Obama to immediately and personally repudiate these outrageous and divisive comments that are so clearly designed to shut down debate 24 days before the election. Our country must return to the important debate about the path forward for America.”
Obama's campaign distanced themselves from Lewis's Wallace language but took a shot at Palin for some of her tough charges of late.
“Senator Obama does not believe that John McCain or his policy criticism is in any way comparable to George Wallace or his segregationist policies," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. "But John Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night, as well as the baseless and profoundly irresponsible charges from his own running mate that the Democratic nominee for President of the United States ‘pals around with terrorists.’
"As Barack Obama has said himself, the last thing we need from either party is the kind of angry, divisive rhetoric that tears us apart at a time of crisis when we desperately need to come together. That is the kind of campaign Senator Obama will continue to run in the weeks ahead,”
The full Lewis posting, sent to Politico's Fred Barbash, referee of "The Arena," with the heading “Rep. John Lewis On Hostility of McCain-Palin Campaign": “As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.
“During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.
"As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better.”
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© 2008 Capitol News Company, LLC |
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This is what worries me most about this whole mess. McCain meant what he said, so getting in this bozo's face would make him a hypocrite, don't you see. Read the headline: McCAIN FLIP-FLOPS ON LEWIS, or something like that. McCain is sensitive to this kind of treatment, and tries really hard to avoid it. Appeasement never works. Period.
The most virulent racism in this country for the past two decades at least has been black racism. And as bad as it has been and is now, just wait until Obama is in the White House. Can you say “Hotel Rwanda West”?
I have watched the video and have seen irate postings on Freep and have taken part in the anger! But, now I understand.
You could see the heartbreak that Mccain had as he took away the mike.
He really did not not know what to say.
This was a gaff that I believe will sway more people toward him because you could see his extreme concern about bringing race into this election and he was genuine.
You can call him anything you want but the racist question has been put to rest as far as I am concerned.
Maybe he does not have the blood thirst for the left we do but we have to still vote for him.
I am hoping that McCain is ready to become more aggressive this will keep his rallies more "civilized" so he does not have to make another "endorsement " of Obama.
Seems to me ACORN, Ayers, and Obama's apparent lead in the polls and the way it has effected the market ought to be McCain's main points of attack.
Obama is just trying to ride out his momentum right now.
Amen....
Don't kid yourself.
95% of the A-A vote will go to the UberObamamessiah, no matter what McCain says.
You do that by ramping up a merciless attack on Obama on his party platform on Amnesty.
Bull!
And if a Florida sheriff even mentions “Hussien” Obama in public, McCain has a fit and the feds step in to investigate. Just wait until Hussien Obama wins the election and the gestapo is all over the country.
Should say Civil Rights MORON.
Gay Marriage Opponents "Thank" Obama
While Obama himself does not support gay marriage, he says California's law allowing it should be left as it is. That has left some of his supporters facing a dilemma on Election Day.
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Republicans seem to be blasted as racists no matter what the circumstances. Remember Trent Lott's treatment when he praised Strom Thurmond at a birthday dinner and referred to his Dixiecrat past? Suddenly this association/alliance really mattered and showed that Trent was still a racist, at least that was what the left-leaning MSM kept repeating.
Pelosi Lied, My 401k Died
I think I'll just get a bumper sticker that says "I'm a racist!."
The bald headed one is an anachronism. His fight was won years ago. He achieved his goals and his people began to take control and then Mugabe like, destroyed what they controlled. Being with King no longer matters
Obama will be forced to follow this course to destruction
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