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  1. #1
    Banned GennGreymane's Avatar
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    Maine Governor Offers John Lewis an Erroneous History Lesson

    http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireS...esson-44829166

    Republican Gov. Paul LePage on Tuesday offered an erroneous history lesson about racial segregation to a black Georgia congressman who risked his life to fight for civil rights, and he called on the NAACP to apologize to white people.

    Democratic U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who was beaten while marching in Selma, Alabama, with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., should be grateful to Republican presidents and shouldn't question the legitimacy of GOP President-elect Donald Trump's victory, LePage said.

    "You know, I will just say this: John Lewis ought to look at history," LePage, who's white, said on WVOM-FM. "You It was Abraham Lincoln that freed the slaves. It was Rutherford B. Hayes and Ulysses S. Grant that fought against Jim Crow laws. A simple thank you would suffice."

    Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and pushed for the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery. But historians say LePage is wrong about Jim Crow laws, which legalized racial segregation.

    Jim Crow laws didn't exist during the Grant administration and an electoral deal that put Hayes in office led to the end of Reconstruction and the removal of federal troops, setting the stage for the creation of Jim Crow laws that followed, said Colby professor Dan Shea.

    "Paul LePage is going to give John Lewis a tutorial on the history of black oppression in the United States? That's rich," Shea said.

    LePage's criticism of Lewis comes on the heels of Lewis' comments last week that he would not attend Trump's inauguration.

    "You know, I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It will be hard. It's going to be very difficult. I don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president," Lewis said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" that aired Sunday.

    Lewis' spokeswoman said Tuesday that the facts of history refute LePage's statements about the Jim Crow laws.

    Later in the afternoon, the governor tried to clarify his remarks to the Portland Press Herald by saying he felt all white people were being lumped together. He said that the "NAACP should apologize to the white people, to the people from the North for fighting their battle."

    The governor also said that "the blacks, the NAACP" paint white people with one brush and added that "to say every white America is a racist is an insult." The governor has said a racist "is the absolute worst, most vile thing you can call a person" and last summer left an expletive-laced voicemail for a Democratic legislator that he thought called him a racist.

    LePage said he knows many Maine families who had ancestors who fought in the Civil War. Maine, the nation's whitest state, is 95 percent white, according to 2015 census estimates.

    The head of the Portland branch of the NAACP says it's unfortunate that LePage tried to revise history and disparage a civil rights leader a day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

    LePage on Tuesday also had harsh words for a Maine congresswoman who is among more than 40 House Democrats so far to say they are skipping Trump's inauguration. He said Rep. Chellie Pingree should resign if she doesn't attend.

    "They're trying to bully us out of believing our Constitution," LePage said of Democrats.

    Pingree said Monday that "President-elect Trump's actions go beyond any kind of reasonable debate—they threaten the constitutional values our country is based on."

    Pingree's office on Tuesday called LePage's remarks about Lewis divisive and inaccurate.

  2. #2
    The Undying Kalis's Avatar
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    Are the geography lessons in Waitrose okay though?

  3. #3
    Is LePage trying to push the "republicans saved black people way back when so you should worship us, the current republican party, for what happened 100 years ago because we are totally the same these days" idea?

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Algy View Post
    Is LePage trying to push the "republicans saved black people way back when so you should worship us, the current republican party, for what happened 100 years ago because we are totally the same these days" idea?
    Yes. It's an oft-repeated talking point that, while factually accurate, completely ignores any and all context about the switch in the parties platforms, appeals, and supporters over the past 150 years or so.

    But it's LePage, he's literally proto-Trump.

  5. #5
    John Lewis is an embarrassment on par with crack smoker Marion Barry.

  6. #6
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    John Lewis, who I don't know, looks like one of very few sane American lights. So he should reject these lessons and keep is good work up.

  7. #7
    Fluffy Kitten xChurch's Avatar
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    Considering this guy is batshit crazy, no one should be listening to anything he has to say.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Hiram View Post
    John Lewis, who I don't know, looks like one of very few sane American lights. So he should reject these lessons and keep is good work up.

    I understand your ignorance of this idiot Jon Lewis. In the states he is widely considered an embarrassment.

  9. #9
    The Insane Dug's Avatar
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    Ah yeah the old "Lincoln was a republican" argument. People really need to brush up on their history of the political parties.

  10. #10
    Does the governor realize that the Republicans used to be the liberal party, but that the 2 parties switched sides in the 60s during the civil rights movement?

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by flexilexi View Post
    I understand your ignorance of this idiot Jon Lewis. In the states he is widely considered an embarrassment.
    My ignorance is based on the German wikipedia site which to me makes him one of Americans greatest heroes. I want to trust in that before in Americans who are against him and made Trump viable.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Dugraka View Post
    Ah yeah the old "Lincoln was a republican" argument. People really need to brush up on their history of the political parties.
    And people who think political parties in the 1800s are the same as today should give us all a hearty laugh.

  13. #13
    The Insane Dug's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zenkai View Post
    And people who think political parties in the 1800s are the same as today should give us all a hearty laugh.
    Yes that is my point.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Ralgarog View Post
    There is something i don't understand about this story.

    I don't even know how to phrase this question without having some twat jump down my throat.


    What I am getting is essentially since this guy was a civil rights activist and has battle scars, he can just coast through the rest of his political career?

    I ask this because all the rebuttals are like, "But civil rights, MLK!" or "His district is very successful (lets ignore the fact that the things it is successful for has nothing to do with his actions, decisions or guidance, but the things he is responsible for, while not the worst in the nation, are pretty bad).

    I didn't read up on this from my usual places. This opinion was formed from reading various media articles about this situation.
    Well, why do you immediately discount the fact that he fought for civil rights? Standing up for your beliefs and effecting change that would benefit millions of people for generations to come is honestly a pretty big deal, especially given the way things were fifty years ago. And it's not like he stopped being a civil rights leader between then and now.

    Also, not sure what you mean by 'coasting'.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Dugraka View Post
    Yes that is my point.
    Except my point doesn't involve a fairy tail.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Hiram View Post
    My ignorance is based on the German wikipedia site which to me makes him one of Americans greatest heroes. I want to trust in that before in Americans who are against him and made Trump viable.
    They're against Jon Lewis because he doesn't like Trump. That's about it.

  17. #17
    The Insane Dug's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zenkai View Post
    Except my point doesn't involve a fairy tail.
    Care to point out the fairy tale in my post?

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by LaserSharkDFB View Post
    Well, why do you immediately discount the fact that he fought for civil rights? Standing up for your beliefs and effecting change that would benefit millions of people for generations to come is honestly a pretty big deal, especially given the way things were fifty years ago. And it's not like he stopped being a civil rights leader between then and now.

    Also, not sure what you mean by 'coasting'.
    'Coasting' means he should get a free pass to say whatever it is he says or does, without having someone put him in his place, because he's such a "hero".

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Wyrt View Post
    They're against Jon Lewis because he doesn't like Trump. That's about it.
    I'm against him because he's a tool. :-/ Well, that coupled with the fact someone is finally standing up to such a hero for saying something about them.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by alturic View Post
    'Coasting' means he should get a free pass to say whatever it is he says or does, without having someone put him in his place, because he's such a "hero".
    "Put him in his place." Uh-huh. Just gonna let that sit there when referring to an African-American civil rights leader.

  20. #20
    The Insane Dug's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LaserSharkDFB View Post
    "Put him in his place." Uh-huh. Just gonna let that sit there when referring to an African-American civil rights leader.
    Those coloreds are getting mighty uppity lately, huh?

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