Republican Lies

You might remember a story from Maryland last year, about Martin Luther King, Jr., a.k.a. one of the greatest leaders of the 20th Century and a known champion of social equality, being claimed by the GOP as a Republican in an advertisment. Yes, it's absurd:

That is why the ad was "a joke," said Christopher Arps, a former spokesman for Rice and the association [that ran the ad that claimed MLK as a Republican]. "Anyone with any sense knows that most black people were Republican at one time. But it's a far stretch to think that in the '60s Martin Luther King was a Republican."

Well, the Mecklenburg County GOP is repeating this absurdity:

It should come as no surprise that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican. In that era, almost all black Americans were Republicans. Why? From its founding in 1854 as the anti-slavery party until today, the Republican Party has championed freedom and civil rights for blacks. And as one pundit so succinctly stated, the Democrat Party is as it always has been, the party of the four S's: Slavery, Secession, Segregation and now Socialism.