Josh Marshall: The geniuses who run the Multnomah County Republican Party in Multnomah County, Oregon are honoring Martin Luther King Jr and Abraham Lincoln by raffling off a rifle in their honor.Not only are they raffling off guns “in honor of” people murdered by guns, but they’re returning to the old “MLK was Republican” lie — after a year of especially nasty Republican racism. The party — who argued that Trayvon Martin got what he had coming to him, who said that Mike Bloomberg’s stop-and-frisk racial profiling policy was the smartest thing ever, who defended Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson after he said African-Americans had nothing to complain about in the lynching south — does not get to say they’re the inheritors to Martin Luther King jr’s legacy.
From the MCP website …
Portland, OR January 13, 2014: Multnomah Country Republicans recognize the incredible time of year we are in. In successive months to start the year, we celebrate the legacy of two great Republicans who demonstrated leadership and courage that all of us still lean on today: Martin Luther King, Jr and Abraham Lincoln. In celebrating these two men, and the denial of the rights they fought so hard against, the Multnomah County Republican Party announces that we have started our third raffle for an AR-15 rifle (or handgun of the winner’s choice). The drawing will be held at our Lincoln Day Dinner on February 15th, 2014. Tickets are once again $10 apiece, or 12 for $100, and there is a hard cap of 500 tickets in the raffle.
And who remembers what MLK was doing the day he was murdered by a Second Amendment Hero using his God-given liberty to protect America from the tyranny of desegregation? That’s right, he was in Memphis supporting the right of collective bargaining for sanitation workers — a right the GOP is currently stripping away from workers in state after state after state.
The only way this could be more offensive is if they took the guns they’re raffling and set up a shooting range where you take shots at an MLK effigy for prizes. The Republican Party in no way represents Martin Luther King’s work — on any level. And anyone who pretends otherwise should prepare themselves for the justifiable anger of those who know better.
