CHAIRMAN OF THE BUDGET
COMMITTEE.
THEY GOT THEIR WISH.
I HOPE THE PUBLICITY WAS WORTH
IT FOR THEM.
JON MEACHAM, YOU AND I ARE BOTH
SONS OF THE SOUTH.
I GREW UP -- I WAS BORN IN THE
SUBURBS OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA.
AND I KNOW YOU WERE UP IN
CHATTANOOGA.
I SPENT MY SUMMERS WITH ANY
GRAND MOM IN DALTON, GEORGIA,
AND THROUGHOUT THE 60s AS A
LITTLE KID IN THE 60s AND EARLY
70s.
AND PERHAPS, IT’S WHY REVEREND
AL AND I ARE SO TAKEN BY IT, BY
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED THAT IT’S
STILL HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THE
DEEP SOUTH HAS ELECTED ITS FIRST
BLACK DEMOCRATIC SENATOR IN THE
MIDDLE OF THE AGE OF TRUMP.
A DEMOCRAT, IN WHAT USED TO BE A
DEEP RED STATE AND LESS DRAMATIC
STATE.
AS A GUY WHO WROTE HIS TRUTH IS
MARCHING ON EARLIER THIS YEAR,
BEST SELLER ABOUT JOHN LEWIS’S
EXTRAORDINARY LIFE, TELL US
WHAT’S THE HISTORICAL IMPORT OF
THIS, ESPECIALLY AFTER FOUR
YEARS OF THE UNITED STATES
HAVING A PRESIDENT THAT IN MANY
POLLS, THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS
SAID, WELL, THEY KNEW THEIR
PRESIDENT WAS A RACIST.
>> YOU KNOW, LAST TIME THE
PASTOR OF EBENEZER BAPTIST
CHURCH AFFECTED THE PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION, AFFECTED THE NATIONAL
CONVERSATION AS DECISIVELY WAS
IN OCTOBER OF 1960, SO EXACTLY
60 YEARS AGO, MARTIN LUTHER KING
JR. HAD COME OVER FROM DEXTER
AVENUE TO JOIN HIS FATHER AS
COPASTOR OF EBENEZER.
HE WAS TRYING TO DESEGREGATE
RICHEST DEPARTMENT STORE IN
DOWNTOWN ATLANTA, WAS ARRESTED,
SENT TO THE STATE PENITENTIARY.
CORETTA KING WAS TERRIFIED, SHE
WAS PREGNANT AT THE TIME, THAT
HER HUSBAND WOULDN’T COME BACK
OUT.
WORD WENT UP TO THE DEMOCRATIC
CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT.
TWO BROTHERS WHO WERE NOT KNOWN
FOR THEIR PASSION FOR CIVIL
RIGHTS, JOHN KENNEDY AND ROBERT
KENNEDY, SIMPLY ASKING WOULD JFK
CALL MRS. KING AND EXPRESS HIS
CONCERN.
KENNEDY IN A HUMANE WAY SAID
ABSOLUTELY.
BOBBY FOUND OUT ABOUT IT, AND
BLEW UP AND ALMOST FIRED HARRIS
SWARFORD, AND SERGEANT WHO HAD
SET THIS UP, AND THEN HAD A
MOMENT OF CONSCIENCE HIMSELF AND
REALIZED THAT KING HAD BEEN PUT
AWAY WITHOUT BAIL, AND SO HE
CALLS THE JUDGE, WHICH WAS
PROBABLY TOTALLY IMPROPER, BUT
HE WAS DOING THE RIGHT THING.
AND DR. KING’S FATHER, DADDY
KING, SAID HE HAD ENDORSED NIXON
BECAUSE HE DIDN’T LIKE ROMAN
CATHOLICS, AS JFK SAID, WHO KNEW
MARTIN LUTHER KING HAD A BIGOT
FOR A FATHER, SAID THAT HE HAD A
SUITCASE FULL OF VOTES AND HE
WAS GOING TO GO DOWN THEM IN
JACK KENNEDY’S LAP, AND THAT
MOMENT IN 1960 ADDED TO WHAT
HAPPENS IN ’64 AND ’65 AND THE
55 YEAR JOURNEY SINCE THEN
CHANGED THE SOUTH AND CHANGED
AMERICA.
HERE’S WHAT’S DIFFERENT AND
REMARKABLE.
THIS TIME, THE PASTOR OF
EBENEZER IS GOING TO THE UNITED
STATES SENATE, AND I THINK
THERE’S -- IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE,
ACTUALLY, A MORE VIVID AMERICAN
24 OR 36 HOURS THAN WHAT WE’RE
LIVING THROUGH RIGHT NOW WHEN
YOU THINK ABOUT IT, SO THE BLACK
PASTOR OF EBENEZER GOES TO THE
UNITED STATES SENATE, MAY WELL
HAVE A JEWISH AMERICAN UNITED
STATES SENATOR GOING FROM
GEORGIA.
YOU HAVE THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE
BEING COUNTED IN A PROCESS THAT
CAME OUT OF A CONTROVERSY IN
1801 WHEN WE PASSED THE 12th
AMENDMENT BECAUSE IT WAS SO
MESSED UP.
SO WE HAVE TWO CENTURIES AND A
QUARTER OF TRYING TO ACKNOWLEDGE
THE PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER,
AND WE HAVE A DEMAGOGUE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
EXACTLY THE KIND OF PERSON THE
FOUNDERS SET UP THE SYSTEM WE
HAVE, WHICH HOWEVER FRUSTRATING
AND DIFFICULT, IS STILL THE MOST
ENDURING DEMOCRATIC EXPERIMENT
IN THE WORLD, WE HAVE A
PRESIDENT THAT THEY DID
EVERYTHING THEY COULD TO PREVENT
HAVING, TRYING TO INCITE
VIOLENCE IN THE STREETS OF
WASHINGTON.
THE BEST OF US IS ON DISPLAY AND
THE WORST OF US IS ON DISPLAY.
AND THAT’S THE WORLD THAT JOE