Martin Luther King III gave a fiery speech where he did not let up on either Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema.
MLK III lit into Sinema & Manchin
Martin Luther King III had a message he wanted to be told unambiguously. He did not play nice because the senators who are stalling are putting our Democracy in danger on false pretenses.
Freedom To Vote Act (H.R. 1) and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act (H.R. 4), and the corresponding bills in the Senate are imperative.
“Let me be clear,” MLK III said. “When states are engaging in lawless voter suppression, only the law can stop them. Senators Sinema and Mansion also say if the bill doesn’t get bipartisan support, it shouldn’t pass.”
King then challenged the absurdity of their position by pointing out some historical realities. What would they have done then?
“Well, the 14th Amendment granted citizenships to slaves in 1868,” King said. “That didn’t have bipartisan support. Should formally enslaved people have been denied citizenship Senator Sinema? The 15th Amendment that gave formally enslaved people the right to vote in 1870, that didn’t have bipartisan support. Should former slaves have been denied the right to vote, Senator Manchin? In 1922, 23, and 24, some Senators filibustered an anti-lynching bill that it passed in the House. Would Senator Manchin and Senator Sinema have supported blocking those bills too? I’m just applying their logic here and showing that it’s not logical at all.”
King then presented the case that most exposed these Senators’ hypocrisy.
“To them, the filibuster is sacred except for when it is not,” King said. “In 2010, Senator Sinema supported the idea of using reconciliation to get around the filibuster and pass health care reform. Just last month, they both supported an exception to the filibuster to raise the debt ceiling. But they draw the line at protecting the rights of millions of voters. History will not remember them kindly.”
That is the height of disregard. These Senators should be ashamed of themselves. We must continue to call them out as anathema to Democracy for some.
