Well, not really, he now says that he was not comparing John McCain and Sarah Palin to George Wallace, however that is exactly what he did. He has made no apology for the remark nor has he retracted it.
Lewis had said earlier that he was “deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign” and that the Republican running mates are “playing with fire.”
“What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse,” Lewis said in a statement.
“During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama,” wrote the Democrat.
Lewis needs to make a formal apology and retraction of his comparison. There is no clarifcation in his clarification, only an excuse and the typical not taking responsibily for ones own actions that the liberals are so good at.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Georgia Rep. John Lewis said Saturday that controversial remarks he made comparing the feeling at recent Republican rallies to those of segregationist George Wallace were misinterpreted.
Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, and Sen. John McCain traded tough statements Saturday.
The civil rights icon issued a statement Saturday evening which said a “careful review” of his remarks made earlier in the day “would reveal that I did not compare Sen. John McCain or Gov. Sarah Palin to George Wallace.”
McCain said Lewis’ earlier statement was “a brazen and baseless attack” and called on Sen. Barack Obama to repudiate it.
Lewis had said earlier that he was “deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign” and that the Republican running mates are “playing with fire.”
“What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse,” Lewis said in a statement.
“During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama,” wrote the Democrat.
McCain has written about Lewis in the past, praising his actions in Selma, Alabama, during the civil rights movement. The Republican nominee even said during a summer faith forum that Lewis was one of three men he would turn to for counsel as president.
McCain said Saturday that Lewis’ statement was “shocking and beyond the pale.”
“The notion that legitimate criticism of Sen. Obama’s record and positions could be compared to Gov. George Wallace, his segregationist policies and the violence he provoked is unacceptable and has no place in this campaign.
“I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I’ve always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hard-working Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track.”
Clarifying his remarks later Saturday, Lewis said his statement “was a reminder to all Americans that toxic language can lead to destructive behavior.”
Watch more on the rising rage at McCain-Palin rallies »
“I am glad that Sen. McCain has taken some steps to correct divisive speech at his rallies. I believe we need to return to civil discourse in this election about the pressing economic issues that are affecting our nation.”
Obama’s campaign said Obama “does not believe that John McCain or any policy criticism is any way comparable to George Wallace or his segregationist policies” but said Lewis was “right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric.”
Lewis’ comments followed several days of headline-grabbing anger aimed at Obama from some attendees at campaign rallies for McCain and Palin.
In the past few days, angry supporters have called on McCain toughen up on Obama.
Late last week, McCain urged his supporters to be respectful of Obama.
“We want to fight and I will fight. But we will be respectful,” he said. “I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments. I will respect him and I want everyone to be respectful, and let’s make sure we are.”
Filed under: Politics | Tagged: Election 2008, George Wallace, John Lewis, John McCain, Sarah Palin |
Waste Of My Oxygen 
If anyone should apologize, it’s McCain and Failin! The two of them have been running around the country, whipping their base into a frenzy of hate and rage that has NEVER BEEN seen in a presidential race!
This is blatant and ugly on their part, and they need to stop it, and stop it NOW! If someone gets hurt, they will claim innocence, and yet they will hope to benefit by it! The nerve! No, Lewis does not need to apologize for coming out and speaking up against this kind of dangerous race baiting. It isn’t funny, and it isn’t taken lightly. There are many, many people (as we’ve seen) who hate the idea of a black person running for president. It is obvious that some of these people are violent.
McCain and Pailin-Stop the Race-Baiting Now!
So going after Obama is racist? Typical liberal. Yes there are those in the republican base that have said things that are racist, they are individuals who chose to do that, nothing McCain or Palin have said have anything encouraged it. That being said, there are those on Obama’s side that do the same thing. These are individual people end of story.
And in-case you forgot, being so high up there on your moral pedestal, McCain already told the republican base that they need to respect Obama.
Lewis’ comments were his, made publicly as a politician and they were inappropriate even accord to Obama.
I am a black republican and i am embarrassed and will not support the party based on what i’ve heard from the mouths of McCain and Palin. It’s great that they’ve decided to come out of the closet with their KKK behaviour and give all that are potential targets (Hispanics, Blacks, Indian/Middle Easterns, Gays and Women) an opportunity to see what they will resort to when the going gets tough.
My party has failed us by tanking the economy, we’re losing our jobs and homes, we’ve have lost our allies and a great deal of respect from the rest of the world and now the party is turning Americans against Americans – this is a ticket for doom. I’m voting for an opportunity. I hate to acknowledge it as a republican – but Obama is our best chance.
So saying that Obama “pals around with terrorists” is not offensive? How about your “card deck” for being offensive enough? I think *you* owe Obama an “apology”. That is precisely the kind of thing that Lewis was talking about … creating an atmosphere of fear and mistrust if not outright hatred around the candidate for whatever reason … be it his political beliefs or even his race. It is one thing to disagree with his positions: the attacks go far beyond disagreeing with his positions, because they basically ignore what he is saying, in favor of accusing him of having a hidden Anti-american socialist agenda.
Not until yesterday was McCain forced to repudiate some of the seeds of “hatred and division” being sowed by his own supporters, including his own running-mate (and “repudiate” is really way too strong of a word for his subtle back-tracking). And I’m sure that didn’t make a lot of haters happy.
I don’t really blame McCain personally for the increasingly strident tone of his campaign; if it is seeming more schizophrenic every day, you need look no further than the fact that, to have any chance of winning, he must simultaneously pander to the far right and religious conservatives while trying to win the support of the “undecided” moderates (whoever they are!). FUD is the last resort of the desperate. Personally I think McCain is pounding the final nails into his political coffin by trying to keep people like you happy. It’s a sad thing… McCain was probably one of the few high-profile Republican politicians that really did have a chance to change the Republican party, by stripping it from the hands of the radical conservative religious right and putting it back into the hands of the responsible fiscal conservatism (if they even exist any more … most of them call themselves “moderate democrats” now).
Stopandthink,
First of all I love liberals who post on the internet and start with I am a republican… Bullshit. You are a democrat and only say you a republican to make lend credence to your dribble. Secondly, what has McCain or Palin said that is in anyway representative of the KKK. Lastly, your description of what has happened to our economy is what the Liberals have done to this country in the past two years.
As for Wasteofmytime,
Yes you are. Yes, palling around with terrorist may be offensive, however it is not spreading racist hate. It is a statement based on the information regarding That One and Ayers. There is a big difference between spreading the seeds of racism and hate and calling someone out for their actions. Obama has spread his seed if Division by running as a Democrat. I find that Offensive. The whole of anything where two people are competing, by nature creates division. Otherwise there would not be two people running. This is a term twisted by liberals whenever the truth is said about Obama.
The rest of your post is a Waste Of My Time