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Mitt defends MLK march remark
Boston Herald. ^ | December 21, 2007 | Jessica Van Sack

Posted on 12/22/2007 7:04:49 AM PST by Leisler

Mitt Romney continued to cite a 1967 book reference as proof his father marched for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr. even as the author insisted he has no evidence to back up the claim.

“In 1963, George Romney did participate in Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘Freedom Marches’ in Grosse Pointe,” said Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom yesterday, citing the book titled “The Republican Establishment: The Present and Future of the GOP.”

But Stephen Hess, a senior fellow of the Brookings Institution who wrote the book with Washington Post columnist David S. Broder, said the reference to Romney’s father, the late Michigan Gov. George Romney, marching with King was “meant totally symbolically.”

“The point we were making was that the issue of Mormonism had to do with its civil rights record. Did he walk with Martin Luther King? Today I have no idea,” Hess said.

The book, lacking footnotes and references, says in a chapter about George Romney, “He has marched with Martin Luther King through the exclusive Grosse Pointe suburb of Detroit and he is on record in support of full-coverage Federal open-housing legislation.”

But two members of the Grosse Pointe Historical Society said yesterday King never set foot in Grosse Pointe in 1963 and they woud have known if George Romney marched with him.

A member of the committee that invited King to appear at Grosse Pointe High School on March 14, 1968 - the only time historians say King appeared in the Detroit suburb - says George Romney wasn’t at the event and there was no “march” at that time.

“Dr. King was flown into Detroit and rushed into Grosse Pointe under heavy security, gave his address and then left very shortly thereafter,” said Russell Peebles, 88, who was a member of the Grosse Pointe school board’s Human Relations Committee, which invited King to speak. “George (Romney) was not in the audience. He certainly wasn’t on the stage.”

Romney claimed in his widely watched speech on religion earlier this month in College Station, Texas, and in a Sunday appearance on ‘Meet the Press’ that he “saw” his father march with the leader of the civil rights movement. In Iowa today, as his campaign tried to wriggle out of questions, Romney parsed definitions of the word “saw” and claimed his use of the term was “figurative.”

Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics called Romney’s parsing “Clintonian,” adding, “He just thought no one would ever check.”


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2008; mlk; romney
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To: colorcountry

Watch out, you’ll be accused of telling a hate joke.


121 posted on 12/22/2007 8:14:29 AM PST by Graybeard58 ( Remember and pray for SSgt. Matt Maupin - MIA/POW- Iraq since 04/09/04)
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To: NittanyLion

You asked to see a photo of MLK and Romney. That’s what 107 is. You did not refer to the June 23 or June 29 marches. By pointing out the photo I made no claims about the marches. I already explained the evidence pro and contra in 101 and explained why the eyewitness evidence for June 29 that places both MLK and Romney at that march would, by standard historical method, be taken more seriously than Grosse Pointe Historical Society dames.

I evaluated the evidence. You just shout and preen.


122 posted on 12/22/2007 8:14:51 AM PST by Dionysiusdecordealcis
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To: Petronski

Does this mean “WAS” has become the new “IS” ?


123 posted on 12/22/2007 8:16:00 AM PST by SE Mom (Proud mom of an Iraq war combat vet)
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To: Dionysiusdecordealcis
See 107 above

Are you seriously claiming that is authentic? OMG!

124 posted on 12/22/2007 8:17:08 AM PST by Squeako (Clothespin Republicans: Holding our noses for lousy candidates since 1988.)
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To: Dionysiusdecordealcis; pepperhead
You did not refer to the June 23 or June 29 marches.

My fault - I thought that was implied.

Hey pepperhead, can you link to the original source of that photo? I'm interested in reading more about it.

125 posted on 12/22/2007 8:17:49 AM PST by NittanyLion
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To: Graybeard58

No jokes about Romney are allowed! They aren’t American by golly!


126 posted on 12/22/2007 8:18:45 AM PST by colorcountry (To anger a conservative, lie to him. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: pepperhead

Specifically in 111 you asked to see a photo of Mrs. Romney and MLK. 110 to which you responded did not claim to have seen photos of MLK and George Romney marching. It claimed that eyewitnesses state they saw them marching together. 110 went on to say that photos of Mrs. Romney and MLK exist. You asked to see those photos, not photos of MLK and George Romney marching. I referred you to 107. Then you come back and prate about that photo not showing MLK and Romney marching. Well, you didn’t ask to see a photo of that.

Why don’t you pay attention?


127 posted on 12/22/2007 8:19:36 AM PST by Dionysiusdecordealcis
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To: Dionysiusdecordealcis

The picture in #107 is photoshopped. LOL


128 posted on 12/22/2007 8:19:46 AM PST by colorcountry (To anger a conservative, lie to him. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: Dionysiusdecordealcis
What is it with you Mitt-hating-half-truthers?

I am not a Myth hater....I simply don't like liars, double-speakers, or whatever you want to call people who play fast and loose with words like Mitt. I did/I didn't -I saw/it was saw in the figurative sense. You get my drift..... Again, I don't hate Mitt, I just don't like him for his continual parsing of words.

129 posted on 12/22/2007 8:20:02 AM PST by 2nd amendment mama ( www.2asisters.org | Self defense is a basic human right!)
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To: Graybeard58
Yeah or being called a bigot, and need to be more tolerent, Hmm ? were have we heard that before ?
130 posted on 12/22/2007 8:21:26 AM PST by Prophet in the wilderness (PSALM .53 : 1 The FOOL hath said in his heart, there is no GOD.)
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To: NittanyLion

Right, in a nut shell that is it. We don’t deny George was involved with the civil rights movement. We just don’t think the newspapers are lying when they originally reported the two didn’t march together. But they both did march but on different days. Thus Mitt never saw his father march with King and he surely didn’t march with his father and King like he said in a 78 interview.


131 posted on 12/22/2007 8:21:42 AM PST by pepperhead (Kennedy's float, Mary Jo's don't!)
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To: Squeako

Do you have evidence that it is not? If so, cite it. If not, why is your assumption that it is not authentic any more trustworthy than my assumption that it is? If you have evidence that it is not authentic, offer it. Otherwise, can the innuendo. It only reveals your prejudice. When someone offers evidence the photo is a fake, I’ll change my assumption. But I won’t change it based on your assumption to the contrary.


132 posted on 12/22/2007 8:22:05 AM PST by Dionysiusdecordealcis
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To: Dionysiusdecordealcis; pepperhead
How come you're addressing pepperhead? I'm the one who posted #111.

Why don’t you pay attention?

Well, in fairness, I've been paying enough attention to notice some odd things about that photo in #107.

133 posted on 12/22/2007 8:22:35 AM PST by NittanyLion
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To: 2nd amendment mama
or whatever you want to call people who play fast and loose with words like Mitt.

One is called Hillary.

134 posted on 12/22/2007 8:23:52 AM PST by Graybeard58 ( Remember and pray for SSgt. Matt Maupin - MIA/POW- Iraq since 04/09/04)
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To: colorcountry

ROTFLMAO.....


135 posted on 12/22/2007 8:23:53 AM PST by 2nd amendment mama ( www.2asisters.org | Self defense is a basic human right!)
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To: NittanyLion
Sure.


Lenore Romney with Dr. Martin Luther King.
136 posted on 12/22/2007 8:24:18 AM PST by Y Ceratotherium
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To: Dionysiusdecordealcis; All
Here is the original photo.


137 posted on 12/22/2007 8:24:33 AM PST by colorcountry (To anger a conservative, lie to him. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: NittanyLion
That photo in #107 is proof!*




*Proof that Adobe Photoshop is a fun and versatile tool for photo manipulation.

138 posted on 12/22/2007 8:25:05 AM PST by Petronski (Reject the liberal superfecta: huckabee, romney, giuliani, mccain)
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To: Dionysiusdecordealcis
When someone offers evidence the photo is a fake, I’ll change my assumption. But I won’t change it based on your assumption to the contrary.

Dude, just look closely at the picture.

139 posted on 12/22/2007 8:25:21 AM PST by NittanyLion
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To: JCEccles

All that may be true, but the story as related by Mitt has an eerie ring of:

Christmas in Cambodia
Church burnings
Named for Edmund Hillary
and so on....

why can’t people just stick to the facts and not do what I will charitably call embellishing?


140 posted on 12/22/2007 8:25:41 AM PST by altura (Go, Fred!)
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