# MLK 50th. No Bush or Shrub? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 28, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414 "2013-08-28T17:14:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/21 "2013-08-30T01:31:18Z")
> [@Werekoala](#): > > The only Black US Senator was not invited to speak. > > Funny, that. [Yes he was.](http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/tim-scott-declined-invite-to-attend-march-as-spectator/) You could make the argument that he should have received a more personalized invitation. However, when you’re asked if you’re even going to be there and the answer is “no, I’m unavailable” then it’s on you. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/22 "2013-08-30T02:42:40Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Remember this the next time a modern conservative quotes Martin Luther King and consider the likelihood that they write or speak in bad faith. “If Martin Luther King were alive today, he wouldn’t attend his own ceremony.” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/23 "2013-08-30T04:07:36Z")
If I were a Republican lawmaker, I don’t know that I’d attend either, though. If you look at the speeches, there was a lot of “we need stricter gun control”, and “Get rid of stand your ground”, and “How dare the court do that to the Voting Rights Act”, and “We need equal rights for gays”, and “We need to pass an immigration bill”, and “Republicans care about bankers but not poor people”, etc. It wasn’t really a very Republican or conservative friendly event, and I don’t know that I’d want to be a Republican politician speaking there. It’s probably safer, if you’re a conservative Republican to send your regrets and make some statement like, “Doctor King was a great American, whose passion and dedication to American principles of equality and justice helped bring about equal rights for black Americans. Let us never forget his memory, and continue to work together for a day where we are judged not by the color of our skin but the content of our character”, then go and play golf or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/24 "2013-08-30T04:21:59Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > If I were a Republican lawmaker, I don’t know that I’d attend either, though. If you look at the speeches, there was a lot of “we need stricter gun control”, and “Get rid of stand your ground”, and “How dare the court do that to the Voting Rights Act”, and “We need equal rights for gays”, and “We need to pass an immigration bill”, and “Republicans care about bankers but not poor people”, etc. It wasn’t really a very Republican or conservative friendly event, and I don’t know that I’d want to be a Republican politician speaking there. Didn’t Republicans produce this situation by not attending and offering their own views? If you decline to speak up on your own behalf, don’t complain when nobody else does it for you. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/25 "2013-08-30T04:32:18Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > If I were a Republican lawmaker, I don’t know that I’d attend either, though. If you look at the speeches, there was a lot of “we need stricter gun control”, and “Get rid of stand your ground”, and “How dare the court do that to the Voting Rights Act”, and “We need equal rights for gays”, and “We need to pass an immigration bill”, and “Republicans care about bankers but not poor people”, etc. It wasn’t really a very Republican or conservative friendly event, and I don’t know that I’d want to be a Republican politician speaking there. That’s pretty consistent with the original march, though. You can’t tell me that arguing for voting rights or expanded economic opportunity is inconsistent with that agenda. (And Sensenbrenner did talk about the VRA just the other day.) So that just raises the same question from another angle: why can’t Republicans frame their positions in a way that’s consistent with the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement? It sounds like conservatives want to be seen as being on the right side of history here - everybody does - and in the runup to the anniversary it was easy to find articles about how the Civil Rights Movement was fundamentally conservative. So why can’t Republicans make this argument in public? Why wouldn’t they want to say their agenda advances the Dream? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/26 "2013-08-30T11:10:10Z")
Say what you want about GWB - and I’m on record as thinking he was a terrible president - but in several years of covering him and observing after I stopped, I never once picked up any hint that he harbored any racist tendencies. You might argue that the policies of the republican party work against the best interests of minorities (then again, others might not) but the man, in my opinion, wouldn’t skip such a thing out of hostility to the cause. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/27 "2013-08-30T11:20:39Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > If I were a Republican lawmaker, I don’t know that I’d attend either, though. If you look at the speeches, there was a lot of “we need stricter gun control”, and “Get rid of stand your ground”, and “How dare the court do that to the Voting Rights Act”, and “We need equal rights for gays”, and “We need to pass an immigration bill”, and “Republicans care about bankers but not poor people”, etc. It wasn’t really a very Republican or conservative friendly event, and I don’t know that I’d want to be a Republican politician speaking there. > > It’s probably safer, if you’re a conservative Republican to send your regrets and make some statement like, “Doctor King was a great American, whose passion and dedication to American principles of equality and justice helped bring about equal rights for black Americans. Let us never forget his memory, and continue to work together for a day where we are judged not by the color of our skin but the content of our character”, then go and play golf or whatever. Except we’re not talking, generically, about “a conservative Republican” who has to worry about what is “safer”. We’re talking about a former president who will never run for office again, and who has only his legacy to concern himself with. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/28 "2013-08-30T11:22:27Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > I don’t blame either man for not going (especially Bush the Elder) but a stand-in would be just that and seen as such. Jeb was actually also invited to represent his father and brother given their health issues, but also declined (I don’t know why). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/29 "2013-08-30T15:32:32Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Say what you want about GWB - and I’m on record as thinking he was a terrible president - but in several years of covering him and observing after I stopped, I never once picked up any hint that he harbored any racist tendencies. You might argue that the policies of the republican party work against the best interests of minorities (then again, others might not) but the man, in my opinion, wouldn’t skip such a thing out of hostility to the cause. There’s no reason to think there’s any personal dislike, no. He does have to get some credit for appointing the first (and second) black secretaries of state regardless of how little attention he paid to Powell. I’d take the Bushes explanations at face value here. The broader response isn’t so easy to explain. Tim Scott’s reaction is just weird. He’s the only black Senator and he turned down an invitation to the march, as if just attending wouldn’t have been a significant thing- and then says he’d have made time if they’d invited him to speak when he’d already told them he couldn’t make it? I don’t know if his office is confused or if he’s being a diva. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/30 "2013-08-30T17:43:46Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Say what you want about GWB - and I’m on record as thinking he was a terrible president - but in several years of covering him and observing after I stopped, I never once picked up any hint that he harbored any racist tendencies. You might argue that the policies of the republican party work against the best interests of minorities (then again, others might not) but the man, in my opinion, wouldn’t skip such a thing out of hostility to the cause. I agree. Bush was ideologically narrow-minded but I never felt he had any racial issues. He was perfectly willing to accept people of any race, religion, or gender as long as they shared his political views. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/31 "2013-08-30T17:51:11Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Tim Scott’s reaction is just weird. He’s the only black Senator and he turned down an invitation to the march, as if just attending wouldn’t have been a significant thing- and then says he’d have made time if they’d invited him to speak when he’d already told them he couldn’t make it? I don’t know if his office is confused or if he’s being a diva. The Republicans are treading a fine line with Scott and I don’t think they’re going to get away with it. If they push the issue, some hard questions are going to be asked, like _“When the event organizers were asking you guys for suggestions for a Republican speaker, did you guys suggest Senator Scott?”_ and _“Was Senator Scott able to attend or not? He said he had other commitments that made it impossible to attend but now he’s saying he could have been there if he had been asked to make a speech. So was his original refusal just blowing off the ceremony because he didn’t want to go?”_ ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/32 "2013-08-30T17:57:11Z")
I saw that GWB was well enough to be shown live on Fox playing golf this morning. It seems to me that saying a few words at a podium two days earlier shouldn’t have been too taxing for him. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/33 "2013-08-30T18:01:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The Republicans are treading a fine line with Scott and I don’t think they’re going to get away with it. If they push the issue, some hard questions are going to be asked, like _“When the event organizers were asking you guys for suggestions for a Republican speaker, did you guys suggest Senator Scott?”_ and _“Was Senator Scott able to attend or not? He said he had other commitments that made it impossible to attend but now he’s saying he could have been there if he had been asked to make a speech. So was his original refusal just blowing off the ceremony because he didn’t want to go?”_ I think Scott doesn’t want to be seen as having blown it off. The Republicans probably don’t care what his deal is. > [@AtomicDog](#): > > I saw that GWB was well enough to be shown live on Fox playing golf this morning. It seems to me that saying a few words at a podium two days earlier shouldn’t have been too taxing for him. Oh for crying out loud. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/34 "2013-08-30T18:09:32Z")
Illness was given as a reason he didn’t attend. Why shouldn’t I question his participation in a golf game two days later? ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/35 "2013-08-30T18:16:38Z")
Probably because you’re not a doctor. You don’t know the particulars of the game of golf he played nor what would have gone in to his attendance at the ceremony. While I don’t know for a stent operation, I’ve had friends who have had bypasses and they were given restrictions like “walk or stand only 10 minutes out of every hour” for the first several weeks. A stent is a much more minor procedure, but it could be he is under activity restrictions that would still allow him to play golf. For example he might have to rest on the golf cart for a good period of time in between holes. Even for an ex-President, travel is always a bit of a dog and pony show. You have to shake hands with everyone you run into, you have to talk to everyone and most likely he’d have been expected to give a pretty decent length speech and not just a few lines of remarks. Additionally, after a stent procedure air travel itself has been linked to an increased risk of clot formation, and for the week immediately after the stent is implanted I believe it is advised you do not travel by air at all. Finally, W. Bush didn’t claim he was “too ill to attend” but that he had health problems preventing his travel. That isn’t the same thing, you can still be fully ambulatory but not really be in the right health to travel. That isn’t the same as being bedridden with the flu or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/36 "2013-08-30T18:38:43Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > Illness was given as a reason he didn’t attend. Why shouldn’t I question his participation in a golf game two days later? > [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Probably because you’re not a doctor. The comment was directed at Bush, not **AtomicDog**. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/37 "2013-08-30T19:56:33Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > The comment was directed at Bush, not **AtomicDog**. Sorry. Obviously, I was confused, there. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/38 "2013-08-31T12:08:51Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Except we’re not talking, generically, about “a conservative Republican” who has to worry about what is “safer”. We’re talking about a former president who will never run for office again, and who has only his legacy to concern himself with. Which one? The Bushes didn’t attend for health reasons. I’m talking more about the fact that other Republicans didn’t attend. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414/39 "2013-08-31T12:45:02Z")
I wonder if Chris Christie was invited. He seems less partisan than most. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-50th-no-bush-or-shrub/667414.md?page=1)