John Lewis, Civil Rights Leader: McCain "Playing With Fire"

Civil rights icon and Georgia congressman John Lewis is accusing John McCain and Sarah Palin of stoking hate, likening the atmosphere at Republican campaign events to those featuring George Wallace, the segregationist former governor of Alabama and presidential candidate.

"What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history," Lewis said in a statement issued today. "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."

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Dee-Dee]

The 50s all Over Again - I"m a 60 year old retired African American educator so I was a scared young kid in the North watching the ugliness that erupted in the South in the 50s on TV, the bombings, the dogs, the young black children walking through crowds spewing hate. As a child it scared me to death to be so hated for no reason, and as a child in front of the TV I cried, and last week watching the McCain rallies, hearing everything Palin was saying, I cried again and the fear and despair I felt as a child came back.

[jeffp26]

Unlike McCain, John Lewis has class.

[nomoreofthesame]

I can't vote for McCain, he's such a whitey.

[SwingVoter]

Who is Hal Turner?

* In my opinion, based on my first hand experience, I believe Sean Hannity is, in fact, a Hal Turner sort of guy. It seems to me that a big difference between Sean and me is that I am willing to say publicly what I think about savage Black criminals, diseased, uneducated illegal aliens and the grotesque cultural destruction wrought by s-a-t-a-n-i-c j-e-w-s while Sean and many others keep quiet to protect their paychecks.

* On Wednesday, March 19, Malik Zulu Shaba-z-z of the New Black Panther Party appeared as a guest on "Hannity & Colmes" to discuss the Obama / Reverend Wright controversy. During that appearance, Sean Hannity asked Shaba-z-z if Barak Obama shouldn"t be judged by his past affiliations with Reverend Wright, to which Shabazz replied by asking Sean Hannity "Should you be judged by your past association with Hal Turner, a neo-N-a-z-i?"I was quite disappointed when Sean Hannity at first tried to say he didn"t know me and then went on to say that I ran some senate campaign in New Jersey. In fact, Sean Hannity does know me and we were quite friendly a number of years ago.

* I can tell you from my firsthand, personal experience that Sean Hannity does, in fact, agree with many of my political and social views.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ixZJBEYvxg

[jtown]

Right on John Lewis, Right on.

[Whinger]

John Lewis was right to make the comparision, it was the wake up call that McCain / Palin needed!

The situation was getting out of control, John Lewis did what many others hadn't the courage to do!

[Hufferton]

Lotus19, formerprosecutor, HHarvey et al. I responded to your comments on page 5/6 (for now, at least).

I always wonder if people go back to see if others reply to their comments. Too bad that is not an easier task in these extremely fast moving threads.

[pavoterinde]

Mr Lewis is right, 100%. McCain should have addressed these issues, earlier in the campaign. END OF STORY. McCain and Palin are the ones who are in possession of the microphones and they have ABILITY & RESPONSIBILITY to calm their crowd. Let's NOT forget that the "ethical challenged" Sarah Palin started this mess to begin with. Listen folks, 9/11 was a horrible event that happened to us, but using the word "terrorist" to describe one of OWN US Senators is a disgrace on the McCain's campaign part. This Independent will be voting for the dems this year.

[optech007]

Wasn't Wallace a Democrat?

[foreffectivegovernment]

Here are some more statements by Rep. John Lewis about this election that are more revelant to what is going on now and explains why these things are happening the way they are.

"NBC's Andrea Mitchell interviewed Lewis about his decision to switch his endorsement from Clinton to Obama. Lewis told Mitchell that the decision was extremely difficult, "much tougher" than when he helped lead the famous march on Selma, Alabama in 1965.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/27/civil-rights-icon-lewis-o_n_88757.html
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri had this to say;
In an interview, Cleaver offered a glimpse of private conversations.
He said Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois had recently asked him "if it comes down to the last day and you're the only super delegate. ... Do you want to go down in history as the one to prevent a black from winning the White House?
"I told him I'd think about it," Cleaver concluded.
Jackson, an Obama supporter, confirmed the conversation, and said the dilemma may pose a career risk for some black politicians. "Many of these guys have offered their support to Mrs. Clinton, but Obama has won their districts. So you wake up without the carpet under your feet. You might find some young primary challenger placing you in a difficult position" in the future, he added.
http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/02/16/black-superdelegates-threatened-pressured/

[bluekatz]

I know Obama does not want to blur the line. But McCain and Wallace's policy are the same, create hate. So I know Obama wants to stay above the fray but call a club a club, not a diamond. He needed to really come out. What Lewis said was on point no refuting this one.

[foreffectivegovernment]

For African-Americans and Eggheads to accuse the McCain campaign of hate-mongering against the Obama campaign after they joined the Republicans in an attempt to destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton so that the Democratic Party could have the "first African-American candidate for President" because it would be "cool and historic" is the most assinine thing that has occurred in this Presidential campaign.
Opinions expressed by the McCain/Palin campaign pale in comparision to the many vile and hateful things said against the Clintons until polls showed they were needed by the Obama campaign.
For the Liberal Left Wing of the Democratic Party to embolden our Militaristic youth to try to take back the Whitehouse by vilifying fellow Democrats and then expecting their supporters to come back into the fold is insulting.
Rep. John Lewis was not upset when the Clintons were receiving this kind of hate because Rep. James Wyburn and Jesse Jackson, Jr. of the Democratic Black Caucus were leading the charge against them. You're right, I am bitter against my own Party and for good reason!

[jean22]

With all of that nonsense you just spewed, the democratic party should be bitter against YOU ....and for good reason.

[foreffectivegovernment]

jean22: What you refer to as nonsense is the bitterness I am expressing because the "New Democratic Party" forced the nomination of Barack Obama in a year when any Democratic candidate except Barack Obama should have been able to win the general election in a landslide against any Republican candidate. It appears that total destruction of the world economy is the only thing that has put Obama ahead in the polls and forced the Republicans to concede the election.
For the Democratic Party to nominate a candidate that they know a large portion of the electorate will not vote for and then trying to shame them into supporting him or be called racist is not very good tactics. Just realize that not everyone considers Obama the savior that many of you think he is.

[robXdion]

African-Americans and Eggheads weren't the only ones voting for Obama. Many people just thought he was the better candidate. And Hillary Clinton wasn't getting full rallies spewing personal threats that could spill over to those looking like her. So like I tell all you white grievance characters, you cannot make a comparison here. That's ridiculous and enormously self-delusional.

[theJuanStar]

Many Democrats simply feel that Obama is the better candidate. You may not agree but the recent comments coming from the McCain/Palin rallies say to me that I'm not American! It has been extremely divisive and Rep. Lewis' comments were justified.

[lbrillante]

I feel that representative Lewis was justified in reprimanding McCain the way he did. McCain needed to be warned about where he and Palin were headed and that innocent people could end up getting hurt. I don't care that McCain was outraged about it!! He earned the criticism.
I am a 44 yr old caucasian single mom in Boulder, CO and I don't care what party you are from or what religion you do or don't belong to... a 'leader' should NEVER allow deep hatred, fear an violence to be perpetuated knowingly in his presence whether he is talking to one person or a million. A leader is serving 'the people' and cares about the people he/she serves too much to use the lowest of ways....inciting fear, hate, and violence to make personal gains.

People have every right to be angry about a lot of things no matter what party. I don't have a problem with someone saying I am angry. Clearly when people have started to talk about why they are angry at McCain rallies they are revealing that much of their fear, and hatred is based on ignorance and lies that they have been told. It is when they channel that rage into extreme words because eventually those words will start to take form as actions.

McCain and Palin are the ones who are 'not ready' to 'lead'. They both need to learn more about what it means to be a leader.

[Lavenderrr]

My sentiments exactly Mr. Lewis. I lived through the sixtie's civil rights movement and I rememeber the vicious attacks on anyone who defended the rights of blacks and other minorities.

What Palin has been doing is igniting the silent bomb that some folks are carrying in their hearts regarding racism. Truth is RACISM IS STILL ALIVE AND WELL IN THIS COUNTRY AND THIS WOMAN IS FEEDING INTO THAT by spewing doubt, name-calling Obama a "terrorist" and questioning his patriotism. I use to like McCain but he has totally lost my respect. He's no better than Palin.

Sarah Palin needs to go back to Alaska and resign or get impeached and McCain needs to retire, Leave the leadership of this country to the experienced STATESMEN BORACK OBAMA AND JOE BIDEN--two very qualified and intelligent individuals who will get the job done.

I, too, question the whereabouts of the Secret Service when someone yelled "kill him". That statement is considered a verbal threat. That person needs to be reprimanded and let it be a lesson to anyone who delivers verbal threats to ANYONE that they will indeed be held accountable.

[Icantbelieveher]

They use the defense that they cannot control what their audience members say! But they are only saying what McVain's campaign was hoping they would believe! They were hoping to connect Obama to terrorists, continue to say his name in a derogatory fashion, and say he's not like the rest of us! But they never thought these people would say it out loud! Now that they have, their "subtle" Rovian campaign is being called out for their behavior and having to explain themselves!

Their tactics have come back to bite them in the a$$! And now they keep saying there's negative ads on both sides? Compare Obama's ads of hope and compare them to their "Obama has been less than truthful about his relationship with a terrorist" ads and then please tell me where the negativity comes from!

One guy said that Obama riles his crowds too! I don't remember hearing any of them threaten McVain's life! It's like a little kid who's been caught stealing, saying "he stole something too!"

Grow up, McVain!