John Lewis mixes it up with McCain; calls GOP campaign reminiscent of George Wallace

AP: “In a statement issued Saturday, [Georgia US Rep. and civil rights movement veteran John] Lewis [pictured] said McCain and running mate Sarah Palin were ‘sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse…. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights.’”

John McCain responded by calling Lewis’s words “shocking and beyond the pale.” This after — AP’s description — “supporters have shouted ‘traitor,’ ‘terrorist,’ ‘treason,’ ‘liar’ and even ‘off with his head’” during rallies featuring Sarah Palin and McCain.