House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
One member of House Republican leadership attended Saturday's commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Selma voting rights march. One. And House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy took it as an opportunity to
blow off the idea of restoring the Voting Rights Act:
McCarthy noted that this year’s delegation of two dozen Republicans was his party’s largest ever to a commemoration ceremony at Selma. And Congress has honored the legacy of the march, he said, pointing to the congressional gold medals awarded to Rep. John Lewis and other Selma foot soldiers, as well as the screening of the movie “Selma” hosted on the Hill last year.
Well, if they
watched a movie, I don't know what more voting rights advocates could possibly want. That there is some serious commitment to civil rights that is not to be questioned.
Could someone maybe administer a pop quiz, though, to see if congressional Republicans actually understood the first thing about what the movie Selma was about?
But Saturday, McCarthy said, was only about history.
“I think today is celebrating what those did before us to make this nation better, and that’s what we’re all looking for,” McCarthy said.
Let's celebrate what those did before us to make this nation better, while categorically rejecting doing anything ourselves to make it better now. Honor the civil rights fights of the past while pissing on those of the present. It's the Republican way.