Former President Bill Clinton has a message for those who lament the political gridlock that has paralyzed Washington in recent years — on the budget, immigration, and healthcare, for example — Martin Luther King, Jr. had the courage and willpower to take on much worse.
“Oh, yes, we face terrible political gridlock now,” Clinton said in a speech commemorating the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington at the Lincoln Memorial. “Read a little history. It is nothing new. Yes, there remain racial inequality in employment, income, health, wealth, incarceration and in the victims and perpetrators of violent crime.
“But we don’t face beatings, lynchings and shootings for our political beliefs any more and I would respectfully suggest that Martin Luther King did not live and die to hear his heirs whine about political gridlock,” he added. “It is time to start complaining and put our shoulders against the stubborn gates holding the American people back.”
