Oh, stop it with your “cynical misinterpretation”
It’s hard to tell if the Republicans of the Multnomah County Republican Party in Oregon are tone deaf or hideous racists. This past week, to celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Abraham Lincoln, both killed by an assassin’s bullet, they auctioned off an AR-15 rifle.
Their press release was nearly unbelievable:
Portland, OR — January 13, 2014: Multnomah Country Republicans recognize the incredible time of year we are in. In successive months to start the year, we celebrate the legacy of two great Republicans who demonstrated leadership and courage that all of us still lean on today: Martin Luther King, Jr and Abraham Lincoln. In celebrating these two men, and the denial of the rights they fought so hard against, the Multnomah County Republican Party announces that we have started our third raffle for an AR-15 rifle (or handgun of the winner’s choice). The drawing will be held at our Lincoln Day Dinner on February 15th, 2014. Tickets are once again $10 apiece, or 12 for $100, and there is a hard cap of 500 tickets in the raffle.
After they got widespread national condemnation for this heinous act of “celebrating” the lives of two men murdered with guns by auctioning a gun, they issued this statement:
In our enthusiasm for celebrating Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. Constitution, our Multnomah Republican Party issued a press release that was unfortunately easily misunderstood. The GOP stands for individual liberty, lower taxes, smaller government and individual responsibility. We apologize if people were hurt by the message being marred by insufficient wording and/or cynical misinterpretations by those who disagree with us politically. We will certainly endeavor to communicate more clearly in the future, and learn and grow from this experience.Both Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King delivered speeches in defense of American liberty and freedom that will live forever in the hearts and minds of the American people. They gave their lives for his cause.
Martin Luther King’s famous “dream” speech is an eloquent, timeless appeal for the Constitutional rights of African Americans, who, at the time, were being denied those rights. His speech is even more relevant today than when he delivered it 50 years ago.
Today, powerful elements within our political establishment are working to suppress the Constitutional rights of all Americans. Our rights to freedom in choosing our own medical care, our freedom to build businesses to enhance the lives of ourselves and our neighbors, our freedom to be free of debt, our freedom to be free of oppressive taxes and misguided regulations, and yes our freedom to defend our lives under the Second Amendment – all are under attack.The great political issue today is whether or not the American people of all creeds and races will live free or live as slaves – slaves to their own overreaching government. 50 years ago, Martin Luther King’s great speech was an appeal for freedom for African Americans. Today, those same words he spoke 50 years ago are an appeal for freedom for all Americans.
Ah. That’s better. They weren’t celebrating the assassination of two great civil rights leaders at all. It’s just a coincidence that they are auctioning a rifle during the celebration of these two men. No, actually what they are doing is fighting the fact that we are all slaves now, just like the ones that Abraham Lincoln freed. See, life under President Obama is just like this:
Or this:
Oh, and just to top it off, as Josh Marshall points out at Talking Points Memo, the keynote speaker for the event in February is none other than Rafael Cruz, the father of Senator Ted Cruz and a man who has said he wants to send President Obama “back to Kenya”.
I think I’m going to go with “hideous racists”. NOBODY is that tone-deaf.
[MLK memorial photo credit: Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog, slave images are public domain]
