January 20, 2008

Libertarian Presidential Candidate George Phillies on Martin Luther King Jr.’s Legacy

Jan 20: Speaking in Worcester, Massachusetts, Libertarian Presidential candidate George Phillies said for Martin Luther King day «It was Martin Luther King’s great triumph to fulfill the promise of the 14th Amendment. The end of the Civil War brought to Americans the promise ‘No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States’. It took the Freedom Marches and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to make that promise real.

«The American Civil Rights Movement began over two hundred years, ago with many events in my home state of Massachusetts,» Phillies continued, recalling his recent speech at the Fresno City College Presidential forum. «In 1776, the American Revolution began at Concord. In 1780, Massachusetts became the first state to abolish slavery. In a splendid piece of judicial activism, Chief Justice William Cushing interpreted our State Constitution’s statement ‘all men are born free and equal’ to mean ‘slavery is inconsistent with our…Constitution.’

Then, in 1861, the southern slaveholders rebelled,» he continued. «Thousands of Massachusetts men — and, as we now know, more than a few women — flocked to the colors to defend our country. They waged the sacred crusade that ended the abomination of slavery.

«Americans can be proud of that achievement of our forefathers. Our forefathers quashed the rebellion of the slaveholders. Then, in 1868, the 13th Amendment washed away the blot of slavery. The 14th Amendment crushed the racist ‘States Rights’ doctrine that states have the power to take away a person’s rights and liberties. But it was not until Martin Luther King’s great crusade almost a full century later that this Constitutional promise became a reality.

«Sometimes I’m asked whether it is worthwhile to run as a third party candidate. I am immediately reminded of another third party. The anti-slavery Liberty Party of 170 years ago never elected a President. In the end, their abolitionist doctrines were gloriously triumphant. However, third parties do not always lose. After all, our two original major parties were the Federalists and the Whigs. The Whigs and Federalists are as extinct as the wooly mammoth. They were replaced by the ‘third’ parties who my Libertarian Party now aims to replace.»

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Carolyn Marbry, Press Director pressdirector@phillies2008.org

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George Phillies for President 2008 http://phillies2008.org