Congressman John Lewis Compares McCain Campaign To George Wallace

Georgia Congresman John Lewis, who fought for civil rights in America, says what the McCain campaign is doing reminds him of the hatred sewn by George Wallace, the late segregationist governor of Alabama.

John Lewis

“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,” said Lewis, who is black. “Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.”

Lewis says he his intention is not to compare McCain or Palin to Wallace, but that toxic language can lead to distructive behavior, and that we need civil discourse in this election. McCain asked the Obama campaign to repudiate Lewis’ remarks, and while the Obama campaign did not condone the comparison with George Wallace, spokesman Bill Burton did agree that Lewis did have a point.

“John Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night, as well as the baseless and profoundly irresponsible charges from his own running mate that the Democratic nominee for president of the United States ‘pals around with terrorists,'” Burton said in a statement.

McCain had this to say about Lewis:

“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 hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track,” McCain said.

Okay, then how about stopping your ads that attack the character of Barack Obama?  Senator McCain, you were correct and proper when you corrected a member of your audience about despicable comments on Friday, even having to suffer boos for saying Obama is a “decent person.”  How about now pulling your ads that question the character and integrity of your opponent?

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.