Today, we celebrate the life of a truly great man, who -- armed only with his bravery and powerful words -- brought Jim Crow to its knees. It's also important to remember that the political heirs of those who created and enforced Jim Crow for a century -- Southern conservatives -- are now running the Republican Party. And that's why it's easy to understand why the fiercest opposition to making MLK Day a national holiday was in the GOP.

The last Republican candidate for president opposed it.

"Mr. Conservative" (Barry Goldwater) voted against the holiday.

Ron Paul voted against the bill that created the holiday -- twice.

77 of the 90 nay votes in final bill in the House were cast by Republicans.

18 of the 22 nay votes in the final bill in the Senate were cast by Republicans.

And the Greatest American in the History of America, Ronald "States' Rights" Reagan, only reluctantly signed the bill into law because it arrived on his desk with veto-proof majorities. Before he signed it, he said,

Congress seemed bent on making it a national holiday.

What an inspiring endorsement.

American Conservatives: Wrong About Everything Since 1776.