Rev. Ralph Abernathy with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
on the Selma to Montgomery march, 1965.
Library of Congress.
Republican candidates are
falling all over themselves to assume the mantle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to pretend as if Dr. King would really provide his endorsement of one of them because, you know, he was really all about freeing "job creators."
Meanwhile, in the state they're campaigning in this week:
South Carolina is in a standoff with Democratic President Barack Obama's administration over a new state law that would require residents to produce a photo ID before they could vote. Federal officials say it could disproportionately keep black voters away from the polls.
For South Carolina's Republican leaders—and Republican presidential candidates seeking support in the state's primary on January 21—the Justice Department's move is the latest in a series of intrusions into state business by Washington.
Republican candidates are waving the banner of states' rights as they tout their small-government credentials.
"Each of our states are under assault right now by this administration," Texas Governor Rick Perry said Saturday at a candidates' forum in Charleston. "We may be under assault—South Carolina, they're actually at war with you."
Yeah, I'm sure Dr. King would be totally down with that message. Because it's not at all like securing voting rights and access to the polls for African Americans was a priority for him or anything.