If Lott must go, so should Calif Dem. Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante - he used the "N" Word

http://newswatch.sfsu.edu/buzz/021201bustamante_bulletin2.html ^ | Feb., 01 | San Fran Chronicle

[churchillbuff]

So Lott stupicly said a naughty? What about the Democratic Lt. Gov. of California, Cruz Bustamante? Where were Al Gore and Jesse J. to demand his head when he said "N----r" in an address to African Americans?

For some reason, Bustamante's racist language went down the media's memory hole real quick.

[narby]

Lott can go, right after that old grand dragon, Senator Byrd.

[Poohbah]

The price tag of adhering to a higher standard is that you are expected to...well...adhere to it, even when it costs you.

To use the "lookee at who else does it" defense is to use Clinton's defense.

[JoeSixPack1]

What about the Democratic Lt. Gov. of California, Cruz Bustamante?

Did you mean Democrat or Democratic? The difference is glaringly intrusive.

[Imal]

What we need are politicans who have no race or ethnicity, and are equally offensive to everyone. That way, we can finally be rid of these insipid "race scandals".

[Bars4Bill]

Racist charges and countercharges aside, who wants Lott in the GOP? He's a wuss, a wimp, a coward, and a criminal. As senate majority leader, he refused to put Bill Clinton on trial as the Constitution instructed him to do. He belongs with the 'Rats.

[alnick]

Terry McAuliffe, the newly appointed head of the national Democratic Party, used the phrase "colored people" in a meeting with party leaders, provoking winces all around. McAuliffe meant to say "people of color," but flipped the words around, a party spokeswoman said.

He's dyslexic.

[zingzang]

Plus, he's an idiot.

[judgeandjury]

Earlier this month, Terry McAuliffe, the newly appointed head of the national Democratic Party, used the phrase "colored people" in a meeting with party leaders, provoking winces all around.

And yet the leading organization for promoting fairness and equality for black Americans is called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and this organization's name is accepted by black Americans as being ok.

[Lizavetta]

Where's the Registered graphic of Bustamante with his Tourette's Syndrome? It was hilarious.

[Phantom Lord]

Anyone got a link to the article Hannity read (or other information) about Clinton giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom to William Fulbright, an avowed segregationist and Clinton mentor in 1993?

[IronJack]

How about Henry Hyde, the old night rider? David Duke was pilloried for being a Klansman, but Ole Hank has more holey bedsheets than the Pope.

[Phantom Lord]

Henry Hyde was in the Klan?

[ApesForEvolution]

If Lott would do the right thing, step aside as leader, then calling the other's mistakes to the light of day would be much more impacting...

[ApesForEvolution]

Exactly. Lott needs to be the bigger man and do the GOP and America a favor. Step down from Senate Majority leader NOW.

[krb]

Former President George Bush told a campaign audience in 1988 that he will stand "for anti-bigotry, anti-Semitism and anti-racism

HAHAHA...that's a riot...

[Saundra Duffy]

RIGHT ON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ApesForEvolution]

I fully agree. He shot his own foot off and it was only a matter of time. Step down Lott.

[billhilly]

A wonderful thing happens to children in their formative years. Actually, many wonderful things happen, but in this context, I refer to Fables. Children learn valuable life lessons from fables. Take the "Little boy who cried wolf." In the beginning all of the villagers would rush out to slay the wolf. Soon, the little boy cried wolf just to see the villagers come out. They grew tired and stopped rushing out to kill the wolf, the one that they had concluded would not be there, even if they rushed out to kill it. I think you can see where I am headed with this.

Frankly, cries of racism have long ago ceased to have meaning to most americans. We have seen that those cries have value to the ones who cry out most often. They are not cries for protection, but for priviledge. I saw the C-span broadcast of Senator Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday. While I am not a fan of Trent Lott, I read his remarks to be those of someone experiencing history that was not likely to be repeated, and he was trying to humor and flatter an old man. Not a bad motive if you ask me.

[dpwiener]

So Lott stupicly said a naughty? What about the Democratic Lt. Gov. of California, Cruz Bustamante? Where were Al Gore and Jesse J. to demand his head when he said "N----r" in an address to African Americans?

As your article indicates, Bustamante had to furiously backpedal and apologize for his screw-up. And that was in fact the correct thing for him to do: Admit he had made a huge error and humbly ask for forgiveness.

There's nothing wrong with admitting you made a mistake, and voters are usually willing to forgive a politician who does so promptly and without hedging. They obviously forgave Bustamante, since he easily won re-election a month ago.

Trent Lott should have done the same thing, but (like most politicians) he will never admit to making a serious mistake. So instead of apologizing he is rationalizing and stonewalling.

It will be up to the voters of Mississippi to decide whether to return Lott to the Senate the next time he's up for re-election. But it's the responsibility of the other Republicans in the Senate to decide whether they want Lott to represent him (and the Republican Party) as their Majority Leader. Based on Lott's lack of contrition thus far, the other Republican Senators justifiably risk being branded by Lott's remarks if they fail to repudiate him.