McCain's Mental Lapse: What Did McCain Think About MLK, Jr. and When Did He Think It?
In today's NAACP speech, McCain describes his reaction to the news of the assassination of Dr. King. McCain says that he was, "feeling just as everyone else did back home, only perhaps even more uncertain and alarmed for my country in the darkness that was then enclosed around me and my fellow captives."
McCain further added, "The enemy had correctly calculated that the news of Dr. King's death would deeply wound morale, and leave us worried and afraid for our country."
In an April 4, 2008 interview, McCain was asked why he initially voted against an MLK holiday. His response was that he changed his mind when he "began to learn" about what a transcendent figure Dr. King was.
McCain further added, "The enemy had correctly calculated that the news of Dr. King's death would deeply wound morale, and leave us worried and afraid for our country."
In an April 4, 2008 interview, McCain was asked why he initially voted against an MLK holiday. His response was that he changed his mind when he "began to learn" about what a transcendent figure Dr. King was.
Which McCain should we believe - the POW who knew that King's assassination would deeply wound morale, or the policitican who belatedly began to learn more about the civil rights leader?
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Neither - he's a lying pander monkey
July 16, 2008 1:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
...and that concludes another episode of "McCaincient Moments".
July 16, 2008 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Clever! Please alert us to others!
July 17, 2008 9:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
And the sick thing is, the Republicans know that we Blacks see through this stuff. But the keep repeating it because they have so little frame of reference when it comes to dealing with us - especially when they're attempting to woo us politically. We haven't mattered to them for so long that it's awkward every time they're forced to perform like this. Sad, really.
July 16, 2008 3:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree. I also think that this McCain MLK lapse transcends performance. He is telling two contradictory stories.
McCain justified initially voting aganst a King holiday by hiding behind his time in Vietnam. Granted, the excuse is pretty lame. (Wasn't he curious to learn about MLK the first time he voted?) Now he talks about how demoralizing it was to hear about King's assassination while being imprisoned in Vietnam. (Why, as a POW, would McCain feel so demoralized if he knew nothing about MLK's transcendent character?)
I think this is a Bosniagate-esque situation. I hope MSM picks up on this one.
July 16, 2008 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well enough noise on the blogosphere often helps, so you're doing your part!
July 16, 2008 4:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ahhh just another illustration of the McCain Crooked Talk Express. Sad to say, the guy is a fraud. Besides he is so stupid that he thinks none of us will remember his nasty remarks re the holiday. He simply cannot have it both ways and if he thinks we are that stupid, that is just another of his disgusting attitude about the electorate's ignorance.
July 16, 2008 10:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
The way I see the situation, this is not just another illustration of McCain being McCain, in the same way that HRC's Bosnia moment was just not a slip of the tongue.
I can't quite articulate why this is more significant then his Viagra moment. Maybe it is because the emotions he described in the NAACP speech were vivid, as if he could recall this thinking when his Vietnamese captors told him that Dr. King was assassinated AND that this directly refutes what he described on his plane ride on 4/4/2008. If both recollections were fuzzy, I would cut McCain some slack.
Maybe it is because he is conflating his time as a POW with the tragedy of MLK. So much of McCain's stature and political success is tied around his military career and anything that calls his POW recollections into question is troubling.
July 16, 2008 11:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
White people see through it, too. That is, those white people who can see to begin with.
July 17, 2008 1:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
How on earth does he think he can bring up Dr. King like that? Pathetic and painful.
He's never made up for his stand against the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday back in 1983. Nor did he raise a voice in Arizona to encourage his state to pass an MLK holiday bill (AZ was one of the last states to implement an MLK holiday).
In 1983, McCain voted against the Hall (D-IN) motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill to designate the third Monday of every January as a federal holiday in honor of the late civil rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. [Vote 289, HR 3706, Motion agreed to 89-77, D 249-13, 8/2/83; CQ 1983]
Let's not forget McCain's South Carolina Spokesman, Richard Quinn, who criticized the MLK Holiday as "Vitriolic and Profane."
McCain has defended Quinn as being "highly respected" and a "fine man." In a 1983 column Quinn wrote, "King Day should have been rejected because its purpose is vitriolic and profane. By celebrating King as the incarnation of all they admire, they [black leaders] have chosen to glorify the histrionic rather than the heroic and by inference they spurned the brightest and the best among their own race.Ignoring the real heroes in our nation's life, the blacks have chosen a man who represents not their emancipation, not their sacrifices and bravery in service to their country; rather, they have chosen a man whose role in history was to lead his people into a perpetual dependence on the welfare state, a terrible bondage of body and soul. [Partisan View, Southern Partisan, Fall, 1983]
Quinn has also advocated electing David Duke, and sold T-Shirts through his magazine celebrating Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. [Partisan View, Southern Partisan, Winter, 1989, PFAW Release, 2/17/00]
Where was McCain's "Maverick" leadership on that issue?
Let's also not forget that McCain skipped the NAACP convention last year, counseled Bob Dole to skip it in 1996, and has received an grade of 'F' by the NAACP for the 106th, 107th, 108th and 109th Congresses. Given all his absences lately, more recently he received an 'incomplete' rating.
July 16, 2008 5:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow. Thank you for posting all this background information.
July 16, 2008 6:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know what I hate the most about McCain's being called a maverick? It's a slur against my favorite childhood show—Maverick—with James Garner and Jack Kelly. These guys bucked the system as professional gamblers, but they never took advantage of anyone who hadn't taken advantage of vulnerable people. They simply did it outside the law, and made themselves some money to boot.
It causes me actual pain whenever I hear that epithet, because he's done nothing to deserve it. If there's anyone who's lived within the system and benefited from it, it's McCain.
July 17, 2008 1:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Same here! I loved that show... (but not the lame 1994 movie adaptation starring Mel Gibson).
July 17, 2008 10:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
This would make a good diary in itself.
July 17, 2008 9:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
It is a well known fact, John McCain lies and when not lying, he tells the story to put himself in the very best light. OOOOPS, that is lying now that I think of it. He is not to be trusted. Try playing one of his early anti-Bush speeches and one of his contemporary speeches. McCain went from contempt to disgust to loving in this last 8 years. All that after the dirty 'black baby' trick of the Bush campaign, It is as if McCain cares less about their horrendous treatment of his daughter and now is just ignoring the slander of the Bush crowd's treatment of her just to get this nomination. BUT, I think Americans will not take that bait. John McCain has left his moral bearings behind this trip around.
July 17, 2008 1:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
McCain's remarks may have been his attempt to at least put a counterpoint on the record to neutralize his "just say no" vote on the MLK holiday.
On the other hand, and this is my bet, it was just one more irresistible opportunity to throw in a reference to his POW captivity -- you know, the one he "doesn't like to talk about" but mentions one way or another, regardless of topic.
Or maybe, he thought it was a win/win two-fer.
July 17, 2008 9:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes to all of your thoughts, which is why it is important to call attention to his 4/4 airplane interview.
July 17, 2008 10:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
For a guy who "doesn't like to talk about it", McCain sure mentions his POW experience alot.
July 17, 2008 11:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
It could be that McCain is doing what I call "The False Humility Thing."
A particularly favorite example is one heard on job interviews: "I think my greatest weakness is that I am a perfectionist and sometimes I try too hard."
July 17, 2008 12:05 PM | Reply | Permalink