Monday, January 18, 2010

GOP Claims It’s Upholding The Legacy Of MLK

[A big welcome to Crooks and Liars readers. Thanks, Mike! - F]

Barf alert. Think Progress, links at site:

Republican National Committee (RNC) put out a statement from chairman Michael Steele today honoring Dr. King’s “epic and historic fight for civil rights.” Yesterday, Sarah Palin also put up a Facebook message celebrating his “efforts against racial discrimination.” Both the RNC and Palin also tried to tie the conservative movement to King’s work:

ENC: "[...] As we celebrate his legacy, I’m reminded that his message is rooted in ideals and principles that the Republican Party has advocated since its inception. Today, our Party and the nation honors Dr. King’s dream by continuing his fight — the fight for all Americans to have an equal chance at the American Dream.”

Not only is it unbelievable that the lying Repug bastards would say this, it's unbelievable that they think anybody other than their Dead End Quarter are gonna fall for it, but lies and spin are their M.O. It's what they do, it's who they are.

King is best remembered for his work fighting racial discrimination. But King’s vision for equality extended beyond integrated schools and businesses. He was also a fierce champion for the labor movement and living wage laws. Additionally, King believed that universal health care was essential to ensuring true equality in America. In a speech to the Medical Committee for Human Rights in 1966, King famously said:

Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.

As the Kaiser Family Foundation has noted, the health reform bills being considered by Congress — which conservatives are opposing — would significantly benefit persons of color, who make up more than 50 percent of the uninsured (even though they comprise just one third of the U.S. population).

In September, Steele claimed that “Dr. King would be disappointed in the political leadership of this country for failing to address the least of us.” But as Richard Payne wrote in an April 2, 2006 op-ed in the Charlotte News and Observer, “Is there any doubt that King would have been on the forefront of arguments for payment of a living wage to the working poor, and that he would have advocated for universal health care?” [...]

None at all.

The Repugs' record is absolutely clear on matters of race, health care, and a living wage. The party of No! to other than The Bigs.

So is Dr. King's. He has been gone for over forty years and his message is as right today or more so than it was then.

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