Georgia Democrat John Lewis has gotten a pass for years, primarily because he was brutally beaten by racists during the 1960s civil rights demonstrations. He’s lived off that horrid episode ever since, unleashing partisan attacks while posing as a moralist.

Last Saturday, Rep. Lewis accused John McCain and Sarah Palin of “sowing the seeds of hate and division,” comparing them to George Wallace, the segregationist Alabama Democrat. Congressman Lewis said that while Wallace “never threw a bomb” or fired a gun, he created a climate that fostered violent attacks on innocent Americans.

“Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham.”

Now, John McCain and Sarah Palin have never associated with anybody who killed innocent Americans. Bill Ayers, however, founded a group that bombed both the Pentagon and the US Capitol building, where Lewis gives his speeches.

The truth is, only one candidate running for president has dealings with a terrorist bomber, and that’s Barack Obama.

I’m not going to mince words here. Congressman Lewis, your attack on McCain dishonors the memory of the innocent victims you so willingly exploit. Moreover, it exposes you for what you are: an unprincipled partisan hack, willing to trade your soul to peddle the worst kind of racial rhetoric.

You are sowing hate and division yourself. You’re cheapening the legacy of the civil rights movement in which you once fought. It’s painful to witness what you have allowed yourself to become — simply to be a partisan hack Democrat.