Former President Bill Clinton did not shy away from political advocacy while commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech," opting instead to push a policy agenda closely aligned to President Obama's and to rip the Supreme Court over its decision on the Voting Rights Act.
Clinton mocked the logic the high court used in June to lift the requirement for certain states — largely in the South — to get federal approval before changing their voting laws and procedures.
The states "made it harder for African-Americans and Hispanics and students and the elderly and the infirm and poor working folks to vote. What do you know? They showed up, stood in line for hours, and voted anyway, so obviously we don't need any kind of law," Clinton said with heavy sarcasm.
"But a great democracy does not make it harder to vote than to buy an assault weapon," he declared.
The assault-weapon mention is a barb aimed at antigun control groups that successfully blocked Obama's proposal to expand background checks on weapons purchases.
Clinton's speech also included policy endorsements for several other of Obama's preferred policies, including the president's health care overhaul and more federal funding for science and technology.
