I for one am sick to death of the maelstrom of crap that is spewing forth from the campaigns and supporters of the two leading candidates in this Democratic Primary season.
The latest tempest in a teapot over who was more responsible, Lyndon Johnson or Rev. Martin Luther King, for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is completely disheartening.
Face the facts: neither man was responsible for the landmark passage of the Civil Rights Act. The 1963 March on Washington which has often been credited for putting passage of the Civil Rights Act in the center of the national agenda was not a march by one man, but a gathering of hundreds of thousands of individuals who all sacrificed to be there at a time when traveling to such an event was seen as dangerous.
The point is, black and white liberals and leftists worked together to make it happen. Congress would not have passed the legislation and it would not have been signed by President Johnson had there not been a Civil Rights Movement. Rev. Martin Luther King was the charismatic and galvanizing figure who held that movement together very effectively in spite of moves on every side to splinter it over strategy, tactics and over-all goals. But, had there been a different president, Barry Goldwater for example, the legislation might have not been made into law.
Rather than go into a long historical discourse on how the Civil Rights Movement achieved its successes by having the support or at least acquiescence of people within the U.S. government who had the sense to see that it was time for a change, I will make the point I originally set out to make. That is: both the Obama and Clinton camps are doing the Democratic Party and the progressive movement in general a grave disservice by dwelling on this pissing contest.
It was not wise for the Obama campaign to take offense at Clinton's comments regarding LBJ and MLK. Now that it has happened, it would be best for both campaigns if they put the whole discussion to rest and move on.
America does not need this. The Democratic Party does not need this. Barack Obama does not need this. Hillary Clinton does not need this.
Who benefits from a continued pissing contest? The Republicans.
John McCain DOES need this. Mike Huckabee DOES need this.
For all the bombthrowers out there: This is NOT a "candidate diary". I have no particular leanings toward either Clinton or Obama. On the issues, I am in alignment with Edwards, but I don't think he has much of a chance to win the nomination. I have no candidate at all for the first time in my voting life. I just don't want to see the party that I have supported all my life tear itself to shreds over this bullshit, most especially in an election year that should be a watershed and transformative moment in our political history.
Final word to the BO and HC supporters out there: please don't do or say things that will be embarassing later and don't do things that will damage our nominee whoever he or she may be, okay?