Lott Decried For Part Of Salute to Thurmond(Senate Leader Hails Colleague's Run As Segregationist)

Washington Post ^ | 12/07/2002 | Thomas B. Edsall

[KQQL]

Senate Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi has provoked criticism by saying the United States would have been better off if then-segregationist candidate Strom Thurmond had won the presidency in 1948.

Speaking Thursday at a 100th birthday party and retirement celebration for Sen. Thurmond (R-S.C.) in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Lott said, "I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."

[metesky]

Sleeping dogs should be left alone and he just threw hot bacon grease on it. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I hold no brief for Lott. In my opinion he has not been a good leader (that power sharing vomit among other things).

The right of free association should not be left to die, however.

[John W]

I'm trying to recall,were many great strides against segregation made during the term of the winner of that election,1949-early 1953?

[Huck]

No, Lott didn't say that. This is a platform of the Dixiecrat Party.

I know what it is; I can read. Lott said we'd have been better off had we all voted for Thurmond as President. There is the platform he ran on. Lott said what he said this week. It is inexplicable. And it isn't just the press "going after him." I am not a member of the press. I am a conservative Republican voter who is very troubled by this bizarre endorsement of the Dixiecrat party by the Senate leader of the GOP. This is not good news.

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

I listened to the tribute on CSPAN radio. The Washington bleep is working overtime on this one. Lott did say it but there was no response from the audience. As a matter of fact, Lott was pretty terrible in most all of his remarks. Came off as a jerk as he didn't know whether to be light or serious. I have to say Bob Dole was way better.

I agree with the Mad Ivan on having someone else as Majority Leader as Lott is IMHO ineffective and still wants to treat the Dims as gentlemen. However, Lott can not and should not be removed because of this remark. The WP is merely trying to stick it to the Repubs. Their nose is still out of joint as a result of the midterm elections.

[Always Right]

Everyone is reading way to much into this. All Lott was doing is paying tribute to a great American, Strom Thurman. Strom has been one of the great Senators in the history of our country, despite being a racist Democrat at one time. That was our history and Strom was part of it.

[d.p.2222]

I think the issue is Lott pure and simple. He is not willing to fight/work for a core set of values. He wants to play things safe. He can't articulate values which he knows the press doesn't support. His feet are made of clay. He is the reason Clinton got away. He allowed Clinton to paint right wrong and wrong right. Goodbye Trent!

[metesky]

If that's what he wanted, he's dumber than we think and should be put on the back-bench where he belongs.

[Huck]

I can see how my earlier post was misleading. My apologies. I meant to say only that I couldn't believe that Lott was, by his recent comments, endorsing a platform which contained segregationist elements like the ones I posted. I can see how you got the impression that I was misattributing that platform as a direct quote from Sen. Lott. I am sorry for my "snippy" reply.

[MattinNJ]

I just heard O'Donnel report on NBC that if Terrel wins, "La. will join the rest of the Confedaracy in being solidly Republican." Looks like they have their first talking point to rally the blacks in 04.

[metesky]

Harry Truman integrated the Armed Forces, but I don't remember if it was during his term or when he was finishing out FDR's fourth term.

[pbranham]

Wow! I knew Lott was spineless but I didn't realize he was an idiot to boot.

Let's hope this story doesn't blow up until after today's LA election.

Maybe this will be a good thing in that it will give us an excuse to finally get the new leadership most of us Freepers have been craving.

[AppyPappy]

So you inferred he was talking about segregation.

[Catspaw]

Well, don't get snippy about it :-))

It just that a smart politician knows when to keep his mouth shut. I don't include Lott among those smart politicians.

[John W]

Hes not smart,can't argue that.However,its distressing to see conservatives doing too very liberal-like things;applying our current enlightened state to a totally different time,and,using something such as this to throw a poor leader overboard.

[Catspaw]

This is only the last in a long string of woosie moves & faux pas by Trent Lott.

[aristeides]

I agree that Lott is not smart, but attacks on Lott over this kind of stupid remark just reinforce the PC strictures on speech. It's particularly discouraging to see them on a conservative forum like this one.

[William McKinley]

There was probably no response from the audience because they were sitting there in stunned silence.

[BillCompton]

So you inferred he was talking about segregation.

This isn't a logic test we talking about here, its politics. When Bubba said it depends upon what the meaning of the word "is" is. He had a point because he was saying "There is no relation with that woman." He was being slick because there "was" a relationship but now there "is" not a relationship. Logically, he had a point, but it bit him on the ass. Unlike a lot of people here, I like Lott, but this was an impolitic thing to say and furthermore, I wonder myself what the hell he meant by it.

[11th Earl of Mar]

The Post is trying to make a big deal over nothing. And you people are falling for it.

Lott, in his clumsy way, simply stated that his long time friend would have been a good national leader. He did not endorse all of Thurmond's views. He simply stated the US would have avoided many problems with Strom as President. It was a very polite thing to say about a friend and colleague.

Yes, Lott should retire and go fishing. But this non-story is a lot to do about nothing.

Time to move on and focus on the real enemies.

[Catspaw]

Lott should've known that the press would be all over him when he made the remarks, bringing up the segregationist platform of the Dixiecrats and his speech before the CCC, but he said it anyway--on live TV. He gave the Dems a weapon against him. They can use this to say, "see? This guy is a leader of the Republican Party and he believes in segregation. Don't vote for a Republican unless you want to go back to drinking at a 'colored' water fountain, using a separate bathroom and sit at the back of the bus." That's stupidity, sheer idiocy, and Lott gave it to them.