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The Daily Dish - 2006-2011 archives for The Daily Dish, featuring Andrew Sullivan

That Clinton MLK Gaffe

By The Daily Dish
Jan 18 2008, 12:21 PM ET

This sums it up pretty succinctly:

The analogy Clinton was implying was obvious: I'm Lyndon Johnson, unlovely doer; he's Martin Luther King, charismatic dreamer. Vote for me if you want results.

Forty years ago, that arrangement -- white president enacting African-American dreams -- was necessary because discrimination denied blacks their own autonomous political options. Today, that arrangement -- white liberals acting as tribune for blacks in return for their political loyalty -- is a demeaning anachronism. That's what the fury at Hillary was all about, although no one was willing to say so explicitly.



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