01/16/2012
[Previous Letter: A Virginia Reader Likes Our New Video Channel]
Re: The Cult Of St. Martin Luther King — A Loyalty Test For Careerist Conservatives?
From: Dave Shanken
I think MLK was an effective leader in advancing the political power of Southern blacks. I respect his accomplishments, and if Americans wanted to create a holiday in his honor, that is not unreasonable. It’s not something that I would do, but not something I care about either. Indeed, there is a holiday for Columbus who was not even an American citizen.
What does concern and disgust me is the elimination of the holidays for the two most significant Americans, Washington and Lincoln. When the MLK holiday was being debated, the discussions concerned honoring MLK. I did not notice any mention eliminating any holidays. I, and I believe most Americans, thought that a federal holiday would be added, and none would be eliminated. This was not the case, and I wonder why this key issue was not publicized.
I consider Pres. Reagan’s signing the bill that eliminated the Washington and Lincoln holidays, in effect, a surrender to Liberalism. The "Great Communicator" could have communicated to Congress that he would not sign a bill that eliminated the holidays for Washington and Lincoln. Instead he babbled about agonizing before he signed. If the Republicans did not want to add a holiday for fear of antagonizing their business supporters, Columbus Day could have been eliminated. Another possibility would have been the combining of Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day.
In any event, it is the unhonoring of great Americans that is the important issue, not the choice of MLK as a convenient means of achieving this liberal objective.
This is a content archive of VDARE.com, which Letitia James forced off of the Internet using lawfare.