At 50th Anniversary of March, No GOP Speakers. (They Had Their Own Event)

[KittyWampus]

At 50th Anniversary of March, No GOP Speakers

No elected Republicans will speak at today’s event marking the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, but that hasn’t stopped GOP officials from honoring the occasion.

Snip
The Republican National Committee went a step further by organizing its own event at the Capitol Hill Club to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the civil rights landmark. A number of black conservatives attended the event, including former U.S. Rep. Allen West of Florida and T.W. Shannon, speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

Former NAACP Chairman Julian Bond told MSNBC Wednesday that event organizers invited “a long list of Republicans to come,” but each declined. A spokesman for Speaker John Boehner acknowledged that Mr. Boehner was invited to speak but instead had marked the anniversary by speaking at a July event commemorating the march in the Rotunda of the Capitol, with other top lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D., Nev.).





http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/08/28/at-50th-anniversary-of-march-no-gop-speakers/

[DreamGypsy]

1. An interesting choice of venue by the Republicans...may indicate something about their policies ...

Here's what the March on Washington looked like at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. And in 2013 where the President and two former Democratic Presidents spoke.




Here's where the Republicans decided to hold their 'celebration' in 2013:

Membership in the Capitol Hill Club is by invitation only. No person shall be considered for election to membership until proposed by a member and seconded by another member, provided at least one of the two members is a voting member of the Club. Voting members include: Life, Resident, Resident Junior, Retired Resident. The Capitol Hill Club does not have any restrictions as to race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or national origin.

Well, certainly "A number of black conservatives attended the event"...two, at least....

I wonder if the phrase "47 percent" was used during any of the speeches? Only the bartender knows for sure...

[KittyWampus]

5. Membership in the Capitol Hill Club is by invitation only.

[Jefferson23]

2. Sad: Black Republicans try to appropriate Martin Luther King

snip*Republicans, who got just 6 percent of the African American vote in 2012, saw this week’s 50th anniversary celebration of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr’s March on Washington passing them by. So they held their own commemoration. They sent an invitation “far and wide,” as one party official put it, asking black conservatives to lunch at party headquarters. About 150 accepted the invitation for chicken, cheesecake and cheeky suggestions that the late civil rights leader would have supported the causes of today’s conservatives.

Unfortunately, the Party of Lincoln discovered that its technical capability was still rather 19th century. The wireless sound system failed, and the microphone picked up only every few words. The national anthem became: “O’er the rampar . . . ah . . . ah . . . nn . . . oof . . . nigh . . . that . . . ill . . . of the . . . ay.” The hymn “Lift Every Voice and Sing” came out, in part, like this: “Skies . . . ow . . . ow . . . ing see . . . aw . . . ah . . . sing a song . . . rah . . . nah.” Its final verse went something like, “Lest our hearts . . . drunk . . . vil . . . eh . . . ub . . . eh . . . eeh . . . shadow . . . meeeeee.”

As the speakers fired staccato fragments of the speeches at the participants, techs scurried to repair the system, an RNC official sighed and the droning of a power drill on a nearby floor added to the mayhem.

“You know, Republicans can’t turn on a microphone,” quipped Ada Fisher, RNC committeewoman from North Carolina, when she came onstage to say the Pledge of Allegiance.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-black-republicans-try-to-appropriate-martin-luther-king/2013/08/26/2eb47d18-0e99-11e3-bdf6-e4fc677d94a1_story.html

[Scurrilous]

3. K & R

[moondust]

4. Pretty good turnout at their event.

[Rebellious Republican]

7. And that was just elected GOP members....

Oops, guess they were the only ones to show up.

[Bill USA]

10. touche!

[Rebellious Republican]

6. "former U.S. Rep. Allen West of Florida"

Yes thats correct FORMER. Still begging for treats at he feet of his handlers I guess.

[Bill USA]

8. recommended!!

[joeybee12]

9. Woody Allen: 80% of success is simply showing up...

By that measure, the GOP failed big time.

[libodem]

11. That should tell that voting block something

Heck, it should tell Michael Steel and Supreme Court Judge Pubic Hair McCoke Can Thomas, something. They are on the wrong side. Consorting with the enemy being usefull tools.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

12. In a sane world this would end the party.