Posted on 01/16/2008 6:02:45 AM PST by forkinsocket
CLINTON: It is Dr. King’s birthday. The three of us are here in large measure because his dreams have been realized. John, who is, as we know, the son of a millworker and really has become an extraordinary success, as Senator Obama who has such an inspirational and profound story to tell America and the world; I, as a woman, who is also a beneficiary of the civil rights movement and the women’s movement and the human rights movement, and the Democratic Party has always been in the forefront of that.
So I very much appreciate what Senator Obama and I did yesterday, which is that we both have exuberance and sometimes uncontrollable supporters; (Blaming supporters for comments she made) that we need to get this campaign where it should be.
We’re all family in the Democratic Party. We are so different from the Republicans on all of these issues in every way that affects the future of the people that care so much about.
So I think that it’s appropriate on Dr. King’s birthday, his actual birthday, to recognize that all of us are here as a result of what he did, all of the sacrifice, including giving his life, along with so many of the other icons that we honor.
Hillary sets up the whole thing to attack Obama, and knows that in the end, the press will defend her.
“but Goldwater actually voted against the Civil Rights Act and spoke against it as a violation of the Constitution. “
I think that one reason Goldwater was also against the Civil Rights Act is he believed it violated the 10th amendment. This is faulty thinking because the Bill of Rights and the 14th amendment were clearly put in place for the Federal government to protect the civil rights of all American citizens.
In cases such as this (the Jim Crow laws of the south), it is right for the federal government to step in and do something about states that were using the force of their government to abridge the state’s citizens of their constitutional rights.
Goldwater was correct that the government should not compell individual citizens to not be racists. If someone wants to be in a group called the KKK, that is perfectly legal. However, when these racists violate American citizens civil rights and use the force of State government to do it (Jim Crow laws or local sherrifs abrogating their duties), the Federal government has an obligation to step in every time.
Yes. Goldwater would have had no problem with the Civil Rights Act if it had been limited to banning discrimination by government, including Jim Crow laws. His opposition was based entirely on the provisions of the law forcing private citizens to practice non-discrimination or face a penalty from the government. He also opposed the enforcement mechanisms of the Civil Right Act, under which those charged with discrimination are forced to prove themselves innocent, which reversed the long-standing Anglo-Saxon legal presumption of innocence.
Of course, that was the sixties Barry Goldwater. By the nineties, he was co-sponsoring legislation to force private citizens to practice non-discrimination against homosexuals and to hold them guilty until proven innocent in those cases. The sad devolution of Goldwater in his later years.
“The sad devolution of Goldwater in his later years.”
I have a theory about Goldwater. Up until about 1976 and the Republican convention he was seen as the leader of the conservative movement. Even after losing his bid for the presidency he was highly influential within the movement. Then in 1976, things started to change. One of his proteges (Reagan) almost won the nomination in a brokered convention and he had also made his tremendous speech on conservative principles in the ‘64’ convention. Slowly throughout the late 70’s the mantle of the titular head of the conservative movement changed from Goldwater to Reagan. Culminating in Nov 1980 with his win of the Presidency.
He then became a bitter man because someone else was given the credit for the movement when he laid all of the groundwork. Who was the one Republican who was a thorn in the side of Reagan on a number of issues? It was Goldwater. It’s a lot like what happened with Bush and McCain, though neither was leading a movement. It’s funny too because McCain currently occupies the senate seat that Goldwater vacated upon his retirement.
One other thing that gets me sick is Hillary claiming to be a Goldwater girl. Was there an Ivan Goldwater who was a leader in the Soviet Union, because that would be the only Goldwater she could have ever supported as a girl.
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