Salon:"A March on Washington event spokesperson provided CQ/Roll Call the most damning testimony: “All members of congress were invited to attend and the Republican leadership was invited to speak. Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s office was very helpful in trying to find someone to speak at the event. Making this commemoration bi-partisan was especially important to members of the King family, too.” "So it’s not just that Republicans didn’t show up — it’s that none could be compelled to attend by their own leaders, and in particular the member of their leadership with the most consistent appreciation for the civil rights movement (who was meeting with oil lobbyists at the time)." "That leaves you wondering whether elected Republicans felt they had nothing to say at the commemoration, or simply determined that seizing a historic minority outreach opportunity for the party wasn’t worth the backlash they’d face for sanctioning a celebration of minority rights and other progressive success stories. And the sad truth is that evidence points to the latter. If they were taking their cues from conservative activists and media celebrities they witnessed a schizophrenic reaction, but one where all voices implored, “please avoid.” "When the GOP’s non-attendance started becoming a problem on Wednesday, conservatives lamented that Rep. Tim Scott, R-S.C. — the only African-American in the Senate — had not been invited by the organizers. In reality, though, he also turned them down." blogs.rollcall/wgdb/tim-scott-declined-invite-to-attend-march-as-spectator/ blogs.rollcall/goppers/boehner-cantor-turned-down-chance-to-speak-at-march-anniversary/
Posted on: Sat, 31 Aug 2013 23:20:18 +0000