John Lewis is a bona fide civic rights hero. He stood up with Dr. King and other civil rights warriors before the time when fighting for civil rights was cool. Back then it was very dangerous. The Wikipedia page about Mr. Lewis notes:
Lewis was instrumental in organizing student sit-ins, bus boycotts and non-violent protests in the fight for voter and racial equality. He endured brutal beatings by angry mobs and suffered a fractured skull at the hands of Alabama State police as he led a march of 600 people in Selma, Ala. in 1965.
Mr. Lewis earned our respect through his early heroic deeds.
Unfortunately in subsequent years Mr. Lewis become a Washington insider with little connection to our district. Later, maybe when he became confident he would never be voted out of office, he became a race baiting tool for the Democrat party, no better than Bull Connor or George Wallace. Those are strong words. Let me explain why I describe Mr. Lewis that way.
I first became aware of Mr. Lewis's extreme prejudges during the 2006 election cycle. Mr. Lewis (along with then Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin and former UN ambassador Andrew Young) recorded a campaign ad for a local politician and convicted extortionist, Reginald Eaves. The ad is shameless. Here is the text of Mr. Lewis's narration:
Hello, I'm congressman John Lewis. On November 7th we face the most dangerous situation we ever have. If you think fighting off dogs and water hoses in the 60's was bad, imagine if we sit idly by and let the right wing Republicans take control of the Fulton County commission. The efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and many others will be lost. That's why people like Shirley Franklin, Andrew Young, and Hank Aaron are voting John Eaves for Fulton Country chairman, and you should, too. We must stand up and vote for the Democrats on election day, and especially for my friend John Eaves. Unless you want them to turn back the clock on equal rights, human rights, economic opportunities for all, vote for John Eaves for Fulton County chairman. Your very life may depend on it.
Please listen to the John Lewis ad and hear it for yourself. Also, listen to the John Lewis, Shirley Francklin, and Andrew Young ad. Read what the Gwinnett Daily Post had to say about this despicable racist ad. Read about Shirley Franklin's up-yours response to the controversy.
So there you have it. These are the beliefs of my elected representative in Washington. Mr. Lewis would have you believe guys like me are more dangerous than dogs and water hoses when we support candidates who share our opinions and try to get them elected. Mr. Lewis would have you believe I want to do away with equal rights, human rights, and economic rights. In fact, because of my political beliefs, Mr. Lewis would have you believe "your very life" is threatened.
In essense, Mr. Lewis would have you believe I am evil. I take this very personally. As for me and everyone I know (including my friends on both the political left and right) we are all working toward a common goal of building the best community and nation that we can. We sometimes disagree on how best to get there. It's toxic to our society to believe those who hold differing opinions are evil.
Fast forward to 2010. On March 20th, on the eve of the health care vote, a group of black Democrat Congressmen including John Lewis (eschewing the private tunnels they usually use to cross from their offices to the Capitol) chose to walk through a crowd of protesters, confident that some Tea Party goon would respond with racial epithets. There was no racial incident so they made one up anyway, and it was widely reported.
Mr. Lewis along with several other representatives purposefully waded into a crowd of protesters in an attempt to evoke a crude response. When it didn't happen they fabricated a story of protesters shouting "Nigger" and being spit on. Mr. Lewis's walk through the crowd was documented extensively. Although there isn't a single video of the entire walk, there are many smaller videos shot by individuals with their cameras and cell phones along the way. I know of no video or audio recording that corroborates Mr. Lewis's fabricated story. A $10,000 reward was offered to anyone who could produce evidence that this event happened. The reward has never been collected because it was a lie from the beginning.
That's what my representative, civil rights hero John Lewis, has been reduced to, faking hate crimes to support legislation a majority of American are strongly against.
Mr. Lewis has a heroic past. Today, though, he is unfit to serve in office. His values aren't the values of his constituents in the 5th district. He has sullied his office, the people of the 5th district, the civil rights movement, and the people of this nation. It's time for him to go. It's past time for him to be voted out of office.
Bob Baggerman
bob.baggerman (at) yahoo.com