Catholic Biden, hoping to divert attention from his deceptive classified document chaos, delivered a sermon at Martin Luther King’s Ebenezer Baptist Church this morning
Ballotpedia blandly describes the passage of the Martin Luther King Day holiday in Arizona, noting, “The act establishing a Martin Luther King, Jr./Civil Rights Day on the third Monday in January as a paid state holiday and consolidating the paid state Lincoln and Washington Day holidays into a single Lincoln/Washington Presidents’ Day holiday.”
It was much more complicated than described. Republican Gov. Evan Mecham, a former state senator and successful businessman, was relentlessly derided for refusing to authorize another paid-not-to-work holiday. Instead, he set the observance for a Sunday, logically reasoning Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a minister and a Sunday observance made perfect sense, since it was fiscally prudent while honoring King’s legacy.
Impeachment petitions were circulated from the onset of Gov. Mecham’s election by homosexual activist and later convicted murderer Ed Buck (born Buckmelter), previously a high dollar donor to national democrat candidates including Barack Obama, Adam Schiff, Hillary Clinton and Kyrsten Sinema. Buck was charged and convicted of numerous murders stemming from his penchant for luring young black drug addicts to his home where he injected them with methamphetamines and had sex with them. Some were able to escape and contacted the police.
That wasn’t good enough for those who wanted another taxpayer-funded weekday off from work. Gov. Mecham, a religious man, was also practical. But his leftwing detractors in the local press swiftly and offensively portrayed him as a bigot, falsely claiming he rescinded the holiday. In 1990, by a margin of 75.36% – 24.64%, Arizona voters rejected Proposition 301 to create a paid Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
Nonetheless, the devious contrivance was intended to heap scorn on the conservative governor, who won the 1986 GOP Primary Election trouncing well-known and well-financed contenders. Mecham went on to win the General Election in a stunning upset, defeating longtime GOP Majority Leader Burton Barr who incurred voter wrath for smirkingly admitting, “I lied. Next question,” when asked about breaking his promise to rescind a tax increase A WWII fighter pilot, Evan Mecham was shot down over Germany, and captured as a POW at age 20, endured a long hospitalization and was awarded the Purple Heart and Air Medal. Still Mecham was marginalized and mischaracterized. The NFL even pulled Super Bowl XXVII from Arizona, based on the deceptive reporting.
Two years after the loss estimated at $350 million in major convention business and the Super Bowl, Arizona became the first and only state to popularly vote for and approve a Martin Luther King Day, creating the holiday in 1992. On March 23, 1993, the NFL awarded Super Bowl XXX to Tempe, proving that even hints of extortion can be powerful persuaders.