MSNBC News Live guest host Cenk Uygur on Wednesday railed against opposition to gay marriage, asserting that conservatives "fought against women's rights and they lost. They fought against civil rights for blacks and they lost." He also touted the supposed moral superiority of liberals, lecturing, "This country is fundamentally progressive." [MP3 audio here.]
To bolster this case, Uygur quoted Marting Luther King: "'Cause as a very smart man once said in the middle of another civil rights battle, 'The arc of history bends towards justice.'" Yet, liberals hardly have a spotless record when it comes to human rights.
In 1972, Jane Fonda famously parroted communist propaganda while sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun. Many progressives have also fawned over the communist murderer Che Guevara.
Uygur derided, "And at some point, some conservatives will pretend they were never against [gay marriage] and that they've always been for equality for all...We know better. But, all of that will be irrelevant, because in the end there's only one thing this country does with conservative ideas when they fight against progress, they throw them in the trash bin of history."
Here, Uygur, the host of the liberal radio show The Young Turks, was just being historically sloppy. Ronald Reagan made Martin Luther King's birthday a holiday.
When the historic 1964 Civil Rights Act came up for a vote, a higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats supported the bill. (Republicans were in favor 138 to 34. Democrats supported it 152-96.)
Finally, it was Lincoln and later the Radical Republicans who made the progress for civil rights in the 19th century.
A transcript of the August 4 segment, which aired at 3:07pm EDT, follows:
CENK UYGUR: Now, look, let's go to "My Take." Will there be gay marriage all across the country one day? Of course there will. Hear me now. Quote me later. It is inevitable. 'Cause as a very smart man once said in the middle of another civil rights battle, "The arc of history bends towards justice." This country is fundamentally progressive.
When our founding fathers started a revolution for the idea of self-rule and democracy, it was arguably the single most progressive act in history. Conservatives fought against women's rights and they lost. They fought against civil rights for blacks and they lost.
They're fighting against gay rights and they will lose, because this country believes in progress and human rights. That is what it's absolutely based on. So, we will go through this drama for some time more, but the final act is clear. And then looking back many years from now, Americans will shake their heads and say how could people have possibly thought that?
As they say now about people who fought against integration and a woman's right to vote. How could they have possibly thought that? And at some point, some conservatives will pretend they were never against it and that they've always been for equality for all.
And some of them might even pretend to be fans of famous gay rights crusaders like Harvey Milk as some now pretend to be big fans of Martin Luther King. We know better, but all of that will be irrelevant, because in the end there's only one thing that this country does with conservative ideas when they fight against progress, they throw them in the trash bin of history.
