Saturday night I was stunned to hear John McCain list John Lewis as one of the people whom he would consult about his policies. John Lewis was one of MLK's foot soldiers who became a courageous leader -- all before he was 25 years old. He's a hero of mine, and should be a hero of every young person under the sun. He's what you mean when you talk of "the courage of youth."
Yesterday I did a google search on John Lewis & John McCain to see if they had some kind of relationship I wasn't aware of. Nothing, except that McCain had featured Lewis in one of his books. I also emailed him about whether McCain had ever consulted him. I got no response. Steve Benen reports today, however, that Mother Jones pursued it.
At the time of McCain’s Selma speech, a Lewis associate told my colleague David Corn that McCain has never been close to Lewis. Lewis was not told about McCain’s speech in Selma in advance, nor was he invited to attend.
In response to McCain’s latest invocation of his name, Rep. Lewis said in a statement requested by Mother Jones, "I cannot stop one human being, even a presidential candidate, from admiring the courage and sacrifice of peaceful protesters on the Edmund Pettus Bridge or making comments about it." But, he added, "Sen. McCain and I are colleagues in the US Congress, not confidantes. He does not consult me. And I do not consult him."
Folks, there is something wrong with John McCain. He's cynical and hopelessly arrogant to think that not enough people would care about John Lewis to dig into his trying to use him.
Thank you, Mother Jones