Mitch McConnell is not going out of his way in public to recognize the significance of this day, when the nation honors Martin Luther King, Jr. He did, however, put up a Facebook post which reads in part:
As we celebrate Dr. King's birthday today, we must remember we are not only the beneficiaries of Dr. King’s efforts. We are also responsible for continuing his work, "transforming jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood." Let us mark this occasion by recommitting ourselves to Dr. King's vision for a future that fulfills the very highest ideals of our nation.
Right. Like when he was rushing through the confirmation of well-known racist Jefferson Beauregard Sessions to be attorney general. And Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) tried to enter the words of Dr. King's widow, Coretta Scott King, about a previous confirmation of Sessions. These words:
I write to express my sincere opposition to the confirmation of Jefferson B. Sessions as a federal district court judge for the Southern District of Alabama. My professional and personal roots in Alabama are deep and lasting. Anyone who has used the power of his office as United States Attorney to intimidate and chill the free exercise of the ballot by citizens should not be elevated to our courts. Mr. Sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters. For this reprehensible conduct, he should not be rewarded with a federal judgeship.
And when he refused to allow Sen. Warren to read these words. When he told her to shut up and sit down. And when he censured her for attempting to continue to speak Coretta Scott King's truths about Sessions. When he uttered that phrase that will continue to resonate through American politics, galvanizing women. "Nevertheless, she persisted."
McConnell can't ever claim to be "recommitting" himself to Dr. King's vision. He's never worked toward it in the first place.