Mike Pouraryan
45 Years After MLK I Have a Dream Speech: Why McCain Voted Against National Holiday
McCain Opposed Holiday for Civil Rights Leader Rev Dr. Marting Luther King Jr.
August 28, 2008 marks the 45th Anniversary of slain civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's. delivery of his famous I Have a Dream Speech. The March on Washington as it is known, applied pressure to the Kennedy administration to advance civil rights in congress. This past April John McCain gave a speech in front of the infamous Lorraine Motel and attempted to redeem himself by honoring the man who he once refused to honor via his vote.
In 1987, McCain supported Arizona Governor Evan Mecham's action to rescind an executive order establishing a state holiday in Martin Luther King's honor. Even in 1989, when McCain finally came around and supported a state holiday, he said he was "still opposed to another federal holiday.” As recently as 2000, McCain reportedly said he "resented it when people outside of Arizona got involved" in the issue. [FOXNews.com, 4/3/08; ABC News, 4/3/08; Huffington Post, 4/1/08; Wall Street Journal, 4/3/08; AP, 2/29/00]
McCain apparently thinks a stop in Memphis can gloss over that part of his bio, but--as one reporter noted--McCain's "views on race in the 1980s do not stand up to the sunlight of America a quarter-century later.” [ABC News, 4/3/08]
I am confused as to someone who has established himself as a Maverick is behaving like "Dubya's" evil twin. He has consistently abandoned and tapped danced around the issues to poke fun at Barack Obama. John McCain is a walking talking contradiction who has no respect for Dr. Kings legacy and his insistence on taking credit for being a champion for establishing the holiday in his state is down right insulting to the intelligence of the American public.
VIEW THE FULL I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH BELOW
