John McCain: ENDA Could Lead To ‘Busing’ And ‘Reverse Discrimination’

When you think back on John McCain‘s long history in the Senate, and his presidential campaign, you remember a statesman who works to do the right thing for the American people, and a man who seems fanatical and possibly, well, crazy. McCain’s war against the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” almost sunk his reputation permanently. Despite his far more enlightened wife and daughter, when it comes to LGBT issues the senior Senator from Arizona is a right-wing extremist.

Now that Harry Reid has announced he will — finally — bring ENDA to the floor for a vote, equality advocates won the support of three Democrats this week, delivering 100 percent of the Senate Democratic caucus.

But John McCain, known for crossing the aisle, is moving far, far right.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act is supported by 68 percent of all Americans, including 56 percent of Republicans. It’s one of the safest bills for any politician to support.

And Cindy McCain even signed a petition asking him to support the bill.

So what does Senator McCain think of the bill that would protect LGBT people from being fired, merely for being LGBT?

“Whether it imposes quotas, whether it has reverse discrimination, whether it has the kinds of provisions that really preserve equal rights for all citizens or, like for example, busing,” MvcCain told the Huffington Post. “Busing was done in the name of equality. Busing was a failure. Quotas were a failure. A lot of people thought they were solutions. They weren’t. They bred problems.”

Clearly, he hasn’t talked with Meghan McCain about it.

“I think the young people know we do not need reverse discrimination, they don’t believe in quotas and they don’t believe in some of the programs we saw in the name of racial equality implemented in the past which turned out to be counterproductive,” the Senator said. “Ask people in Boston if busing turned out to be a good idea.”

Of course, END specifically does not allow quotas — nor does it implement “busing” or “reverse discrimination.”

Getting John McCain to support ENDA would go a long way to ensuring its passage. His support would open the door for other Republican Senators to vote for it.

Will he do the right thing?

 

Image: Warren K. Leffler/ Library of Congress U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection