"Im Not Buying It"

Gentlemen and ladies we have a guest speaker today. Coming to the stage is my main man Hump. (Applause) Hump you have the floor:

Yesterday April 21 marked the kickoff of Senator John McCain’s “It’s Time for Action Tour.” The purpose of this tour is for the Arizona Senator to reach out to those as he describes, “That have been ignored for long years by the sins of indifference and injustice, or have been left behind as the world grew smaller and more economically interdependent." This five day tour kicked off yesterday in Selma, AL with a speech on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, which was the site of “Bloody Sunday” and other parts of the state. His tour continued today in Youngstown, OH to visit Fabart Inc. which is a heavy metal fabricating facility which shut down after filing Chapter 11 status, and to conduct a town hall meeting on the campus of Youngstown State University. His tour will continue with stops to Kentucky, New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana, and Little Rock, Arkansas. Now I think I’m one of the most positive and optimistic people you will ever meet, but with this particular issue I can’t be, with these reasons.

During his tenure of public service, the presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee has shown characteristics of one who has been ignoring those who he described on his tour. One example is as a Congressman in 1983, McCain voted against creating a federal Martin Luther King Holiday, motion that was voted for by the majority colleagues including at the time Reps. Dick Cheney of Wyoming, and Newt Gingrich of Georgia. This same man, who voted against honoring the memory and legacy of one of the greatest men to walk the face of the earth, had the audacity to go to Memphis, Tennessee and participate in the 40th anniversary of his death and speak in front of the motel of where he was assassinated. In my opinion, this was an attempt to garner camera time and votes for the general election by trying prostitute the legacy of a man and a movement. In his defense Senator McCain has said his position has evolved since he voted against the now national holiday, but his evolution is hard to comprehend when he continued to vote against legislation for the advancement of minorities and the underprivileged.

In 1990, Senator McCain voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1990. This bill was designed to address employer discrimination by imposing new penalties on employers convicted of job discrimination. Senator McCain didn’t vote against this bill not once, not twice, not three times, but FOUR times. In 1999 Senator McCain voted to table an amendment that required States to address juvenile delinquency prevention efforts and system improvement efforts designed to reduce the disproportionate number of juvenile members of 'racial minority groups' who come in contact with the juvenile justice system. When interviewed in 2004, Senator McCain stated he would not support affirmative action policies in public college admissions. Concerning the underprivileged, Senator McCain has on 8 different occasions voted against increasing the minimum wage.

Like I said before, I consider myself to be a very optimistic person and I want to assume positive intent of his “tour” through areas of the country he feels the Republican Party has neglected and taken for granted for so many years. It is hard for me to do this because it was just last year where Senator McCain denied the opportunity to participate in a dialogue concerning the issues of minorities and the underprivileged during “The All American Presidential Forums” held on the campuses of Howard University and Morgan State University. These debates were opportunities for the candidates from the Democratic and Republican Parties to directly address the issues facing the people described in Senator McCain’s tour. It is funny how back then when nobody believed he had a shot at a legit bid at The White House he didn’t want to address the issues of minorities and the underprivileged. Now since he is on the brink of doing what he set out from the beginning of his candidacy, he wants to now reach out to those who have been forgotten.

I’m sorry Senator McCain, but I’m not buying what you’re selling.