THE ATTEMPT TO UNDO AN ELECTION: I MAY BE RELUCTANTLY CHANGING MY MIND ON LOTT

dfu | 12-2002 | dfu

[doug from upland]

I have wanted Trent Lott removed from leadership since Impeachment. The spineless weasel had the votes to bring live witnesses before the Senate on national television that would have revealed the extent of Bill Clinton's sexual predator history.

David Schippers called it a SELLOUT. Schippers was absolutely correct. Could the prosecutors have changed enough minds to get 67 votes? We will never know. They should have had the opportunity to try. Lott is the one who stood in the way.

The RATS have been in turmoil since the midterm elections. They were shocked to their core. And now, Lott puts his foot in his mouth to give them the opportunity for which they have waited.

The same people who were not concerned with rape, perjury, obstruction of justice, intimidation of witnesses, etc., are suddenly concerned that a weak-kneed GOP leader (who is their best friend) made a really stupid statement last week, made the same kind of statement 20 years ago, and didn't want his fraternity integrated 40 years ago. We know what the South was like 40 years ago. It appears that Lott has led his public life since those days as someone who believes in racial equality.

Now, he is being a whiner and threatening to quit the Senate if he is removed from leadership. What a weenie. We don't want him as leader, but we need him in the Senate. It is blackmail.

Perhaps the statements will blow over soon. He is certainly damaged goods, but the GOP may have no choice but to keep him. The RATS will benefit either way. If he stays in his position, he will continue to compromise and kiss their RAT posteriors. That is Trent.

The more ominous scenario is that the GOP does the right thing to force him out. Yes, I believe if he is forced out of leadership he will quit the Senate and a RAT governor will appoint a RAT to the Senate.

So here we have the reason for the assault. If Lott stays, the RATS have an issue to fire up their base and they have a weak Lott right where they want him. If Lott goes, the Senate is 50-49-1, with the 1 voting for their team.

But it won't stop there. I suspect that the RATS are confident that either Snow or Chaffee might then see an opportunity to jump. Either of them could become an Independent and vote with the RATS. All of the effort by the GOP to retake the Senate will be flushed down the toilet.

This really is an effort to undue an election. The RATS, not surprisingly, are even doing it in time of war while al-Qaeda plans another assault on our nation.

We may have little choice but to reluctantly support Lott. Let's see how it plays out through the Christmas season (not the "Holiday season"). If he survives for another week, he may ultimately keep his post.

The real conservatives of the party, and those who really know how to deal with RATS, better sit Lott down and tell him the facts of life. If he is to keep their support, he needs to throw down his pom-poms, get rid of his light loafers, and start acting like a man. We don't need a wimp when we are dealing with the RATS.

President Bush made some strong statements as he clearly needed to do. Now it is up to the rest of the party to start fighting back. It is time to be reciting the awful, hateful, racist comments said by the RATS. We really do have an opportunity to stick it in their faces if we have the gonads to do it. There is no White Caucus, but there is a racist Black Caucus. It is no time to sit on the sidelines and wave pom-poms. Or is it pom-pons?

[wotan]

Get the judges confirmed first.

Pass the important legislation.

Then throw Lott out on his sorry *ss.

[Illbay]

It appears that Lott has led his public life since those days as someone who believes in racial equality.

Rush is right. All it would take is for Lott to become a Democrat, and all would be forgiven.

Lott's past is NOTHING compared to that of George Wallace, for example, and when Wallace was elected governor once again in the 1980s, the pundits remarked how "he'd really grown, and is now running as a liberal Democrat." They constantly showed film footage of him being welcomed with open arms by black leaders in Alabama.

When Lott did what he did 40 years ago, he was a DEMOCRAT. That's what ALL the old segregationists were: Democrats. When Thurmond ran for the Presidency in 1948, he was NOT a Republican, but a "Dixiecrat," basically a Democrat who dissented from the direction the national party was (finally) taking away from its support of segregation. Segregation has ALWAYS been a Democrat policy (even now; they just hide it more cleverly).

I have challenged several people to tell me what it was that Lott said that was "offensive." Always the reponse was "it wasn't what he said, it was what he meant."

Thought-crime. I should've known.

[RGSpincich]

Leave it to Lott to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory for the Republicans.

[NYS_Eric]

Doug,
Stay with your first impulse. There IS a way out of this that neatly solves everything (or at least minimizes the damage already done). But it requires Lott to stop being selfish and take one for the team. STAY in the Senate, but resign as Majority Leader.

[WarrenC]

Here's a post from a link provided by National Review Online's "The Corner" section.


ME, TOO! I have nothing original to say about Trent Lott, but I thought I'd pass along something that my friend and former colleague Dan Polsby posted to a discussion list (and kindly agreed to let me repost):

Is it not curious and wonderful that Sen. Lott seems unable to see what everyone else can see about his predicament? Here he is, hunkered down in his regulation Beltway duck-and-cover position, thinking of firestorms past and how people have survived them. It's all about him. The welfare or interests of other people who depend on the leader of a political party, and how he might best serve them, have never evidently crossed Sen. Lott's mind since this business began -- if ever. The latest bleat seems to be: those Democrats, that Jesse Jackson, they have unclean hands and double standards. In other words: if they can have double standards, so can we. Fooey.

There is something the matter with this guy. The same thing is the matter with many of them. Not racism -- solipsism. The "it's all about me-ness" of the world. This is the sort of person who steps up to the plate when offices and dignities are being passed around. They have to be controlled. Madison was a genius.

[twyn1]

Are you sure the story about his "blackmail" threat is true ? If it is -- I wonder why he only shows some spine when he's dealing with his own party ? I have NEVER been impressed by Trent, and yes I think he should go as ML, but I agree with wotan -- let's get the important stuff done (judgeships, PBA, tax cut) -- then toss him (not from the Senate, just from SML position)! Now -- if he totally turns weasel and folds to Democratic pressure, refusing to bring votes up, etc. -- if that happens -- I don't know what the Republicans in Senate should do ? Is there such a thing as a vote of "no-confidence" ? And if that happened would Lott thumb his nose at his party and resign from the Senate ? -- if this blackmail story is true-- he probably would -- gosh how I WISH the South Dakota (Thune/Johnson) count would be proven to be fraudulent -- grrrrr !

[doug from upland]

Amy Tuck, the Lt. Governor, switched to our side. What are the chances that Musgrove can either be recalled or switch sides?

[twyn1]

Segregation has ALWAYS been a Democrat policy ...

Anne Coulter, on Hannity and Colmes last night, put it this way (paraphrasing) -- the Democrats have always been segregationists, they've just changed the skin color of the people being discriminated against

[doug from upland]

He would be out already had we won in Louisiana. That election is now much more critical than it appeared. We really needed that seat.

[ProudGOP]

I consider Lott a bigger impediment to Conservative causes than the Democrats. He may vote conservatively but he is incapable of the political maneuvering necessary to defeat the Democrats. He has almost no political sense. He seems to treat the Senate as a type of club where it is more important not to alienate any of the members than it is to fight for your causes.

In fact, the most hardball political move I've seen him pull was when he pushed up the vote on majority leader so that his opponents wouldn't have time to organize against him.

If only he would have used ruthlessness on the Democrats but he is incapable or unwilling. He had his chance to lead. He doesn't deserve another.

[RJCogburn]

So, there are no good options. Best to do the right thing. After all, we should be better than the liberals.

[doug from upland]

I agree. If we could get absolute commitments from Snowe and Chaffee (and McCain) that they would remain Republicans, I would want Lott gone this second. At this time, however, we cannot do anything that jeopardizes getting our judges confirmed.

[TLBSHOW]

Anne Coulter, on Hannity and Colmes last night, put it this way (paraphrasing) -- the Democrats have always been segregationists, they've just changed the skin color of the people being discriminated against


any where I can get a transcript to the show

[sinkspur]

He would be out already had we won in Louisiana.

Jesse Jackson wouldn't have raised a firestorm if we'd won in Louisiana.

This is about politics, Doug, not race. It's about getting the Senate back, by whatever means necessary.

[doug from upland]

I agree with doing the right thing. In this case, however, what is doing the right thing? He said something stupid. Does that justify removal on the RATS' terms? He did not rape a nursing home owner. He did not sell missile technology to the ChiComs. He did not commit perjury or suborn perjury. He did not obstruct justice. He did not get disbarred. He did not introduce a false affidavit to the court. He did not intimidate witnesses.

I don't want Lott gone for saying something stupid. I have wanted him gone for being ineffective and a pushover for the RATS. But I don't want him gone because the RATS are making it happen. He did not commit an "impeachable" offense here.

[twyn1]

The LA race wasn't close (alltho' they did hold the Orleans precinct report until very last, as usual) -- the "sugar issue" (AKA big last-minute lie) & the Democratic "knock and drag" did Terrell in (well...that and the fact that she came across weakly in debates -- plus it seems there were some sourpuss Reps. who refused to vote because "their guy/gal" didn't win the "primary" race -- THANKS folks !)

But the South Dakota race was only 500+ apart, and there was all that fishy Indian reservation stuff -- I keep praying that someone (ANYONE ???) who knows what went on there would step forward and blow the whistle on the Dems.

[TennTuxedo]

Anyone jumping on the RATS "Throw Lott From The Train" Bandgwagon, is helping further the RATS agenda. The liberals will not be happpy with anything less than a liberal RAT to take his place and undo the 2002 elections.

[puroresu]

"Madison was a genius"

What???? He was a slave-owning segregationist!!!!!!! He opposed women's suffrage!!!! (sarcasm)

Kind of ironic. In a few years, a kind word about Madison will trigger the same feigned horror and demands for apologies and resignations that this Lott incident has produced.

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

Thought-crime. I should've known.

Bingo! As compared with the liberally deprecated Deed-Crime.