50 Years Ago Today...The March on Washington

Speaker John A. Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, the House?s two most senior Republicans, were invited to speak at the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington ? but declined.

?They asked a long list of Republicans to come,? [civil rights activist Julian Bond] continued, ?and to a man and woman they said ?no.? And that they would turn their backs on this event was telling of them, and the fact that they seem to want to get black votes, they?re not gonna get ?em this way.?

Boehner instead spoke at a small Congressional ceremony. Eric Cantor's reason for not being there, though, is rather odd:

Cantor, meanwhile, was asked 12 days ago to participate in Wednesday?s event commemorating Martin Luther King Jr.?s delivery of the famous ?I Have a Dream? speech, according to an aide. The Virginia Republican, however, is currently traveling in North Dakota and Ohio, touring energy sites with Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and participating in ?nonofficial events,? according to an aide.

Hmm. You know, when someone asks you to participate in the anniversary celebration of one of the most important inflection points of modern American history, you should generally say yes. You certainly shouldn't blow them off to tour North Dakota fracking sites, or whatever the hell he's claiming was more important.

That said, I disagree with Bond. I think declining a speaking spot was a perfectly appropriate choice on the part of conservative leaders, or at least the more intellectually honest one.

Efforts to portray conservative reaction to the civil rights movement as anything less than hostile at the time (and hostile now) are insultingly dishonest, and having the community organizers, activists, spiritual leaders and labor leaders of that time putatively honored on the same spot by people like John Boehner or Eric Cantor, people who have open contempt for many of the goals expressed by those same leaders even now, might have been a bigger sin than any pretense at modern fluffy nonpartisanship could justify. Hooray that they were politely asked; hooray that they politely said no.

WASHINGTON ?There will be two notable absences at Wednesday's commemoration to mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington: George H.W. and George W. Bush.

Both former presidents were invited to participate in Wednesday's celebration, which will feature speeches from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial by President Obama as well as former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. But both Bushes are dealing with health issues and decided it best to skip the event.

"He's doing fine, but he's not able to get up to Washington this week," said Freddy Ford, a spokesman for George W. Bush, who is still recuperating after undergoing surgery this month for an arterial blockage.

Ford stressed that the younger Bush's recovery is going well, and that Bush even managed to stop by the Southern Methodist University's football practice on Tuesday.

In a statement, Bush paid tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and noted that the nation has made great progress since King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech half a century ago. But Bush noted the country's "journey to justice is not complete."

"Laura and I thank the King family and all who work to carry on the legacy of a great man and the promise of a great nation," Bush said in a statement. "May we continue to march toward the day when the dignity and humanity of every person is respected.

"Dr. King was on this Earth just 39 years, but the ideals that guided his life of conscience and purpose are eternal. There's still a need for every American to help hasten the day when Dr. King's vision is made real in every community."

Meanwhile, the 41st president visited the White House last month for an event recognizing his "thousand points of light" volunteer initiative. The elder Bush, 89, has been dealing with various health problems and was released from a lengthy hospital stay in January after experiencing severe bronchitis-like symptoms.