MSNBC, CBS political blogs note McCain's schedule for MLK anniversary, but fail to report prior opposition to MLK holiday
SUMMARY: Blogs on MSNBC.com and CBSNews.com noted that Sen. John McCain planned to honor Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, the 40th anniversary of King's death. However, neither reported that in 1983, McCain voted against establishing a holiday honoring King.
In an April 3 post on the MSNBC.com political blog First Read, NBC News political director Chuck Todd, deputy political director Mark Murray, and political researcher Domenico Montanaro wrote: "Has [Sen. John] McCain's bio tour worked? He ends it tomorrow in Memphis, which could be his most high-profile event, where he attends the events surrounding the anniversary of MLK's assassination." Similarly, in an April 3 post on the CBSNews.com political blog From The Road, Dante Higgins noted that on April 4, "McCain takes a break from his bio tour to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis on the 40th anniversary of his death." However, neither First Read nor From The Road reported -- as Huffington Post political reporter Sam Stein noted in an April 1 article -- that in 1983, McCain voted against establishing a holiday honoring King.
By contrast, ABC News senior national correspondent Jake Tapper wrote in an April 3 post on his blog Political Punch: "McCain as a young congressman in 1983 voted against a federal holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Most Republicans in the House voted for the holiday (89 voted for the holiday, 77 opposed), though all three Arizona House Republicans were opposed." Tapper further wrote: "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."
As Tapper noted, on the December, 5, 1999, broadcast of NBC's Meet the Press, McCain had the following exchange with host Tim Russert:
MR. RUSSERT: There's a lot of discussion about John McCain, just who he is. And people in Arizona, and others, will say, "He's an extremely conservative man." Let me go to the New Republic and quote and give you a chance to talk about this issue a little bit and put it on the screen: "Though hailed in the press invariably as a 'maverick' or 'liberal' Republican because of his stances on campaign finance reform and tobacco, McCain is in fact more conservative than the man whom he succeeded in the Senate...Barry Goldwater." They go on. "He endorsed every item in the Contract with America...he has opposed federal funding for abortions and supported a constitutional amendment to ban them...McCain voted in the House against making Martin Luther King Day a federal holiday and has recently opposed raising the minimum wage...he voted against modest gun controls, including the 1994 assault-weapons ban and the 1993 Brady Bill."
John McCain's very conservative?
SEN. McCAIN: John McCain's a proud conservative. John McCain--by the way, on the Martin Luther King issue, we all learn, OK? We all learn. I will admit to learning, and I hope that the people that I represent appreciate that, too. I voted in 1983 against the recognition of Martin Luther King. It became a huge issue in my state. I'm proud to have been--because we didn't recognize Dr. King--I'm proud to have played one of the leadership roles in seeking and obtaining the membership...
MR. RUSSERT: So you regret that vote?
SEN. McCAIN: I regret that vote.
From the April 3 post on MSNBC.com's First Read:
John's excellent adventure: Has McCain's bio tour worked? He ends it tomorrow in Memphis, which could be his most high-profile event, where he attends the events surrounding the anniversary of MLK's assassination. But what did McCain gain this week? The tour received some attention in newscasts and newspaper articles -- but nothing compared with what the latest dramas in the Clinton-Obama race attracted. The tour certainly hasn't hurt McCain. But did it help him? Just asking: What if they unveiled his bio each day at stops in three key states like Michigan, Florida, and Iowa? McCain is weaker in Iowa than a Republican should be and has ground to make up there. Also, stumping in Florida and Michigan would only serve as a chance to stick a finger in the eyes of the Democrats regarding their delegate dispute in those two states.
From the April 3 post on CBSNews.com's From The Road:
Meantime, last night, McCain's campaign swiftly responded to Hillary Clinton's new TV ad, which repeated the 3am theme she has used before to criticize McCain on the economy.
McCain's ad, which is not currently scheduled to run on TV yet, rips off the 3am theme and says, "It's 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. But there's a phone ringing in the White House and this time the crisis is economic. Home foreclosures mounting, markets teetering. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama just said they'd solve the problem by raising your taxes. More money out of your pocket. John McCain has a better plan..."
Tomorrow, McCain takes a break from his bio tour to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis on the 40th anniversary of his death.
This is the most pathetic post I've read in a while.
MLK was a courageous man. Should there be an MLK day however? Absolutely Not!
Has anyone noticed that there isn't a Day for one person since this Country's founding, but there is an MLK day?!!
There isn't even a Washington or Lincoln day anymore, but there is a MLK day.
You can support MLK and what he stood for, but also be against creating a day to idolize him like a Fascist Statist martyr.
McCain today:
"We can be slow as well to give greatness its due, a mistake I made myself long ago when I voted against a federal holiday in memory of Dr. King. I was wrong and eventually realized that, in time to give full support for a state holiday in Arizona. 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."
Copious,
I do agree that certain other important figures in our history should be honored as well. And it's a shame that they are not. Perhaps if folks put some effort into lobbying Congress to establish other holidays it might happen.
I think this might be where classical liberals / libertarians / conservatives and moderate liberals might agree.
There were 1000s of great men in our history, but to have a Day where we should all stop work in religious observance is kinda Fascist.
I think we need more national holidays, not less. However, more national holidays mean less profits for our corporate masters. Priorities, people! ; )
CoprophilicDissent Said: "but to have a Day where we should all stop work in religious observance is kinda Fascist."
Yeah - we do have a day like that. It's called Sunday.
Copious, no one says you have to worship MLK. Take the damn day off and enjoy time with your family. Your point shouldn't be to disparage King, but to say we need more holidays for honorable Americans. I agree with you to an extent, but to say we shouldn't honor King after what he went through to get me my civil rights. Damn that. Blacks weren't allowed to do something as simple as drink from the same water fountain less than 60 years ago!!! Something as trivial as that got blacks arrested. I've never heard anyone complain about any other holiday we have, so why complain about King?
Hey Copious -
The cleaners called. Did you want then to use starch on your Klan outfit?
So we can't have a day of recognition for a man of faith, a great speaker who preached tolerance and advocated for the downtrodden, and was murdered?
There goes Christmas.
I think the word is "honor", not "worship".
Copious is confused. He's still worshipping Ronald Reagan....
CD,
Would it make you feel better if we called it civil rights day? Also, name one person in the history of this country who has done more to hold the United States accountable to its credo of all being created equal?
Brab, you went outside the guidelines Copious set. No fair.
That being said, I'm going to join the ranks of those who may be making a Dr. appointment soon based on being in semi-agreement with the nutty blogspot guy.
I don't think it's necessary to mention McCain's position on the holiday 25 years ago, as he may have had his own reasons for not being on board. I've never had any problem with the holiday,but then I don't have the obvious hatred for MLK that CD has, and never felt motivated to make up guidelines in order to fight the holiday, or twist it into a fascist and/or religious day.
I feel better. My common ground with CD is based on very different reasons.
>>You can support MLK and what he stood for, but also be against creating a day to idolize him like a Fascist Statist martyr.
This is your brain on Libertarianism.
MSNBC, CBS political blogs note McCain's schedule for MLK anniversary, but fail to report prior opposition to MLK holiday...
wow! What other 25-year old stories are the media "ignoring'?
You're right: no big deal that McCain voted down an MLK Jr. holiday in 1983. Who had their head on straight in the crazy year of 1983, in the midst of the civil right movement and all the national turmoil surrounding recently integrated schools? Surely he can be forgiven - in 1983, after all, the jury was still out on those Negroes, wasn't it?
In fact, it's such a non-issue that it should just roll off his back every time it's brought up - that John McCain, in 1983, opposed national recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Who had their head on straight in the crazy year of 1983, in the midst of the civil right movement and all the national turmoil surrounding recently integrated schools?
Maybe you're confusing the 1980s with the 1960s. Either that or you must have attended a public school.
Go Obama!
Reading comprehension is difficult, apparently.
I think his point was that in 1983, a vote in favor of MLK Day should have been a no-brainer. Yet McCain opposed it.
It's very telling, IMO.
As a McCain supporter, I can't seem to find a single issue that my candidate didn't flip-flop his position on. I'm reaching out to other McCain supporters to try and find a single issue on which McCain has taken a solid, unwavering stance. I know that when I find this issue, my support for McCain will grow even stronger. I thought that the torture issue was going to be it, but he flip-flopped on that one, too.
Can any of you fellow McCain supporters out there help me out? Thanks, and go McCain!!!
By the way, in case I didn't mention it earlier, I am a McCain supporter. McCain 2008!!
As much as it grates on my nerves to do so, I'm actually going to agree with CD to some degree. I'm of the opinion that no national holiday should ever be established to honor any one individual. I don't care if he/she was a president, explorer, civil rights leader or a 2000 year dead philosopher.
National holidays should be based on the most significant of our nation's anniversaries or in recognition of commonly held principles. Independence Day is an excellent choice. I'd love a Constitution Day. I'd be fine with President's Day, Explorer's Day, Veteran's Day and would be perfectly willing to discuss other concepts. Religiously based observances should be entirely personal in nature and should not receive national holiday status.
Now all I need to do is bring a couple hundred million other people around to my way of thinking.
I feel like we are in some sort of bizaro world.
You're a permanent resident there, Copious.
I don't have a problem with having a "civil rights day" instead, as long as there's no gap there. It should be an instant renaming, not canceling MLK day and promising to institute civil rights day in a few years or so.
One thing I like about MLK day is that it drives racists crazy. The message is "you can shoot black people, but you and all your bastard racist friends will have to observe a whole day committed to them once a year". That's something to bear in mind as we consider the very real possibility of a black president. Can you imagine how much a racist would hate to have to observe another holiday for a black man, especially one with a Muslim name?
National holidays should be based on the most significant of our nation's anniversaries or in recognition of commonly held principles.
Doesn't Dr. King's birthday recognize one of the most important principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence? That "all men are created equal"? And when that principle was not being adhered to, it took a man like Dr. King with his quiet strength and his strong conviction to make this country see the error in its way and right that wrong?
Washington's and Lincoln's birthdays have evolved into excuses for car dealers to have sales. Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day are excuses for having cookouts. In many parts of our country, Columbus Day has evolved into a day for arguments between those of Italian and Native American descent. Thanksgiving is turkey and football, and Christmas of an orgy of gift giving and receiving. Dr. King's birthday is the only holiday that causes you to stop and THINK - which must be why so many conservatives have been opposed to it over the years.
Well...I, for one, do NOT agree with CD. But then, I was also against rolling Washington's Day and Lincoln's Day into that stupid "President's Day"
It's quite true that currently we do not have a day honoring an individual except Dr. King. But we USED TO. The problem, as I see it, is not in honoring Dr. King but in NOT honoring Washington and Lincoln.
LET'S SEE IF COPIOUSDISSENT and I can agree, that he's correct.
That's right, I AGREE with him, and think some of his heroes should have holidays in their honor, so we can all "WORSHIP" them.
Jan 1: New Year's Day
Jan 2: Rush Limbaugh Day. All media remember highlights of his last year's performances. Golf, bash a liberal, get a divorce, abuse some prescription drugs, HONOR the man.
Jan 3: Sen. Joe McCarthy Day. Red foam "We're Number One!" stadium novelty hands, except in red, and the finger is used to ACCUSE. "Are you now or have you ever BEEN ... whatever." The wearin' of the RED. HONOR paranoia and suspicion.
Jan 4: John Birch Day.
Jan 5: Etc.
365 days of honor for past heroes of our "conservative" republic. PAID holidays, no work. I'm for it. Is Copious? (Nah. As a racist, he just resents having to honor --or, as he believes, TO "WORSHIP" -- a civil rights hero.)
THE ISSUE: Is the media going back to pre-pubescence to try to find "contradictions" of Democratic candidates? They certainly ARE. IS the Media falling all over themselves to promote and excuse McCain for all HIS contradictions, big and small? They are. Is this yet ANOTHER example of double standards and bias? It certainly IS.
The RULE: If it reflects badly on the Dems, REPORT IT. If it reflects badly on McCain, fergetaboudit!
I have to agree that MLK shouldn't be a 'federal holiday', maybe just a 'federal observance'.
Christmas is currently the only religious based 'federal holiday'. You'd have about as much success in changing that as you would trying to stop Boston from hosting the annual St. Patrick's Day parade. Ain't gonna happen. Enjoy the day off of work if your employer gives it to you and do whatever you wish with it! ;)
From Wikipedia...
Strictly speaking, the United States does not have national holidays (i.e. days where all employees in America receive a day free from work and all business is halted). The U.S. Federal government can only recognize national holidays that pertain to its own employees; it is at the discretion of each state or local jurisdiction to determine official holiday schedules. There are eleven such "Federal holidays" -- ten annual and one quadrennial holiday.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_of_the_United_States
Regards,
lkenyon
Yep.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
For the record, I have no problem whatsoever with MLK Day. And I had/have no problem with Lincoln/Washington/President's day either.
'Course...I'm a government employee...
:)
A Civil Rights Day might be more suitable than honoring a single individual.
But no individual personifiies the Civil Rights Movement like Dr. King. Which is why I always use that term of respect when referring to him.
What is the underlying meme that MMFA is implying by digging up this ridiculous, supposed "contradiction" of McCains? Are you suggesting that being opposed to a national holiday, for whatever reason, means that you have no moral authority to honor that person upon the anniversary of his death, particularly because he is black and well, this just pushes the sly narrative that conservatives have racially insensitive motives behind their actions?
I have no problem with a holiday honoring Dr. King, but I don't believe that those who are opposed to such a holiday are somehow being contradictory because they chose to honor him today.
This thread is sad.
This thread is sad.
What's sad is that it reveals that there are still people out there who oppose honoring a man who did so much and gave his life to make this a better country.
But I know for a fact that there is a segment of the population that is against the holiday and is so because of their racism.
I was a union official, negotiating contracts in 1983. I represented reasonable, educated men, who I assumed to be open minded, normal human beings.
When many of these men found out that one of our objectives was to get MLK Day as one of our paid holidays, more than a few of these guys got quite angry. A few said that if given the day, they would not accept their salary for the day and would refund their pay for that day to the company. Most of the bigots said they'd take the money though.
I lost a lot of faith that I had in my fellow man that day. In the twenty five years that have gone by since then, I've met many people, who seemed quite normal, who expressed outrage over the fact that we honor the memory of a black man.
Racism is real and it's very much alive in America.
Worrier,
Nobody I know denies that racism exists in America today, that is really not the issue with this particular thread, but I still don't understand why MMFA feels that the media outlets they question for not mentioning McCain's initial opposition has anything to do with him honoring Dr. King today? What are they trying to say, exactly, and why is it contradictory?
It isn't, in my opinion, and has no relevance.
I agree, this is a pretty bad example of conservative misinformation.
At least McCain & Clinton are in Memphis.
Obama, who is campaigning in Indiana couldn't fit it in to his schedule.
At least McCain & Clinton are in Memphis.
LOL
Can you say photo op?
Please tell us who wants to cancel MLK day forever!!.......and what exactly is in their hearts and minds for wanting to do so?
Thanks,
[Personally, I think that lessening the significance of MLK Day in any way would be a huge mistake]
Got it. I just don't assume, as some here have exhibited, that being in opposition to a national holiday honoring Dr. King is somehow racially motivated.
And I also sincerely hope that MMFA is not implying that either with regard to McCain, because there is no evidence to suggest it.
But he sure danced around it.
I seriously question why MMFA finds a 25 year old decision newsworthy today, except to take another slam at John McCain. I'm sure most of us would not want to be judged on a decison we made 25 years ago but have changed since.
Thanks to the posters, at least it brought out some discussion of civil rights and the importance of MLK.