Tag: John Lewis

Obama delivers call to action in eulogy for Lewis, likens tactics by Trump and administration to those by racist Southern leaders who fought civil rights

Washington Post logoFormer president Barack Obama delivered a call to action in his eulogy Thursday of late congressman John Lewis, urging Congress to pass new voting rights laws and likening tactics by President Trump and his administration to those used by racist Southern leaders who fought the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

Obama, speaking for 40 minutes at the pulpit where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, tied Lewis’s early life as a Freedom Rider to the nationwide protests that followed the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. He compared today’s federal agents using tear gas against peaceful protesters, an action that Trump has cheered on, to the same attacks Lewis faced on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., in 1965.

“Bull Connor may be gone, but today we witness with our own eyes police officers kneeling on the necks of Black Americans,” the nation’s first Black president said at Lewis’s final memorial service. “George Wallace may be gone, but we can witness our federal government sending agents to use tear gas and batons against peaceful demonstrators. We may no longer have to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar in order to cast a ballot, but even as we sit here there are those in power who are doing their darndest to discourage people from voting.” Continue reading.

Barack Obama calls out Trump and GOP’s brutal crackdowns and voter suppression in powerful John Lewis eulogy

AlterNet logoFormer President Barack Obama delivered an impassioned, rousing, and at times blistering eulogy on Thursday at a memorial service for Rep. John Lewis. Instead of showing the usual reserve and hesitancy to criticize that has characterized most of his post-presidency, Obama took inspiration from the fallen civil rights hero and aimed his fury specifically at the myriad abuses of the Trump administration and the Republican Party on American freedoms and fair elections.

“George Wallace may be gone, but we can witness our federal government sending agents to use tear gas and batons against peaceful demonstrators,” he said, drawing cheers and applause from the attendees. “We may no longer have to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar to cast a ballot, but even as we sit here, there are those in power doing their darndest to discourage people from voting, by closing polling locations and targeting minorities and students with restrictive ID laws, and attacking our voting rights with surgical precision. Even undermining the postal service in the run-up to an election that’s going to be dependent on mail-in ballots so people don’t get sick!”

For those who might criticize such direct denunciations of the GOP and the president’s actions at a memorial service, Obama had a brilliant prepared response. Continue reading.

Obama calls filibuster ‘Jim Crow relic,’ backs new Voting Rights Act bill

The Hill logoFormer President Obama on Thursday called the Senate filibuster rule a “Jim Crow relic” and said it should be ended to help pass legislation that would restore a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.

Obama made the remarks while delivering a eulogy for civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who died earlier this month at the age of 80. The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act would make it harder for states to enact racially suspect voting restrictions.

“Once we pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, we should keep marching,” Obama said. “And if all this takes eliminating the filibuster — another Jim Crow relic — in order to secure the God-given rights of every American, then that’s what we should do.” Continue reading.

Donald Trump says he won’t attend John Lewis’ memorial services

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday he will not be attending memorial services for civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis this week.

Lewis will lie in state at the Capitol as part of six days of funeral proceedings, and the public will be allowed to visit later Monday and Tuesday. Lewis died July 17 from pancreatic cancer at 80.

“No, I won’t be going, no,” Trump told reporters when asked if he would pay respects to Lewis Monday or Tuesday at the Capitol. Trump departed the White House for a trip to North Carolina Monday afternoon, where he’ll visit a facility working on a COVID-19 vaccine. Continue reading.

GOP senators mistake photo of Elijah Cummings for John Lewis in tribute

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska mixed up the two Black lawmakers on Saturday in an attempt to honor Lewis, who died Friday night.

WASHINGTON — In attempting to honor the late Rep. John Lewis after his death, two Republican senators mistakenly used a photo of Rep. Elijah Cummings, who died in October.

“It was an honor to know & be blessed with the opportunity to serve in Congress with JohnLewis a genuine & historic American hero. May the Lord grant him eternal peace,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., wrote on Twitter, attaching a picture of himself in a conversation with Cummings.

Lewis, an icon of the civil rights movement, died Friday at 80 from pancreatic cancer. Continue reading.

John Lewis Hammers Steve Mnuchin Over Trump’s Sadistic Budget Cuts

The following article by Alexandra Rosenmann was posted on the AlterNet website May 24, 2017:

Before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin attempted to defend President Trump’s $4.1 trillion budget, whose nearly $30 billion in cuts he attributed to “hard choices.” Ranking Democrat Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) wasn’t buying it.

“Mr. Secretary, I’ve often said that a budget proposal is a statement of values and priorities,” Lewis began. “This administration’s proposal makes crystal-clear that the hungry, the middle class, the elderly and the struggling will be left out and left behind.” Continue reading “John Lewis Hammers Steve Mnuchin Over Trump’s Sadistic Budget Cuts”

Trump rode golf cart while G7 leaders walked through Sicily

Note:  Remember Mr. Trump’s railing on and on about how Mrs. Clinton didn’t have the stamina to be president? Well, folks, on his first international trip, Mr. Trump couldn’t walk 1/4 mile. 

The following article (with embedded video) by Julia Manchester was posted on The Hill website May 27, 2017:

President Trump chose to ride in a golf cart while his foreign counterparts took a walk through Taormina, Sicily, on Saturday during the Group of Seven summit.

The Times of London reported the six other world leaders — from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan — walked 700 yards to take a group photo at a piazza in a hilltop town. The U.S. leader decided to wait until he could get a golf cart.

Trump was late for the photo, but joined the other world leaders during the walk down from the piazza.

Trump’s brief separation from the foreign leaders ahead of the photo op comes shortly after he refused to take part in a pledge supporting the Paris climate deal. The U.S. was the only country represented at the summit that did not sign the deal on Saturday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there was a “very intense meeting” where all six other nations “made it clear that we want the U.S. to stick to its commitments.”

However, White House officials said Friday the president’s views on climate change were “evolving.”

Trump said in a tweet Saturday he would make a final decision on the climate deal later this week.

View the post here.