The Weakest Link - Will Republicans say goodbye to Trent Lott? ~ John Fund

Opinion Journal ~ John Fund's Political Diary ^ | December 12, 2002 | John Fund

[Elle Bee]

Amid the firestorm over his remarks embracing Strom Thurmond's 1948 segregationist presidential campaign, Trent Lott may not consider himself lucky. But he is. Back in October, he abruptly advanced the date of Republican leadership elections by several weeks in a bid to squelch competition for his job. The vote re-electing Mr. Lott was held only two weeks after the November elections. Smart move.

[Elle Bee]

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[anniegetyourgun]

Of course, Lott is history....because we R's always eat our own.

[RJCogburn]

Of course, Lott is history....because we R's always eat our own.

Well, then, let's eat away. We conservatives should be better than the others.

[anniegetyourgun]

While I would agree that we can (and should) do better than Lott in leadership skills, he is by no means a racist.

[Sungirl]

For those who missed it, Mr. 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."

IS what Lott said true?

[RJCogburn]

he is by no means a racist.

Who know's what's in a man's heart? He may or may not be, but he is clearly an idiot who made a statement that sounds racist. We all should be clear in our disapproval. The liberals may ignore similar type statements from their 'team', but we ought to be better than they are.

[RJCogburn]

IS what Lott said true?

No.

[Guillermo]

The Weakest Link >> Perfect way to describe Lott.

Lott should resign (for a myriad of other reasons), and if he does this whole thing would have been a blessing.

[anniegetyourgun]

I don't disagree with your sentiment that we can and should do better. As for Lott (and others), I can only go by his actions - and they are not those of a racist.

[trebb]

Nor could these remarks be construed to have been a mere endorsement of the South Carolinian's overall conservative philosophy, as Mr. Lott's office originally claimed.

All these mind readers out there - Kreskin had nothing on them...

[shuckmaster]

Click Here!

[No Truce With Kings]

"While I would agree that we can (and should) do better than Lott in leadership skills, he is by no means a racist."

Whether Lott is or is not a racist is less an issue than whether he is an idiot.

His statement was idiotic. It may let the Democrats demonize the Republicans as pro-slavery, segregationist racists for yet another election cycle. (Ironic since the Republicans are the ones that freed the slaves and overturned Jim Crow laws -- but that should illustrate how truth goes out the window when emotions are involved.) And, yes, W. occasionally gets his tongue wrapped around his eyeteeth to create malopropisms, but this is not the first time Lott has fumblemouthed on racial issues. About the only thing he does more is cave to the Democrats.

So don't think of it as "eating our own." Think of it as maintaining standards -- something the other party is afraid to do.

[Elkiejg]

Will Republicans say goodbye to Trent Lott?

Only if the RATS say goodbye to KKK-Byrd, Hollings, clinton, etc., etc.

[arthurus]

Conservatives have been wishing this near RINO would go away for a long time. It would be a bad thing if he quits the leadership position AND his senate seat.That would raise the value of a turning of the coat to Chafee or McCain.

[Sabertooth]

Of course, Lott is history....because we R's always eat our own.

No, Lott is History because of his clueless comments and completely self-inflicted wounds.

For those who missed it, Mr. 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."

On its face, that's an endorsement of the segregationist Dixiecrats. Since I believe Lott's not a racist, I can only conclude he's blitheringly stupid, and therefore, a liability.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

My following comment has nothing to do with what he meant or didn’t mean a few days ago. I have always found him to be a ninnyfied (if this is not a real word, I like it anyway), weak conservative link. I have always felt he probably has an interesting FBI file that keeps him hopping when the Democrats sneeze his way.

[anniegetyourgun]

I don't disagree with anyone here that Lott is not leadership material and never has been. The party should never have selected him in the first place. Now R's will have to eat it publicly....and some of the mushy middle electorate will presume it's because he is (and most R's are) racist.

The lesson learned here will not be by pols on either side, because only R's discipline their own. The only lesson learned will be that the lib/dem spin machine output works well when placed into high gear fed through the general media. I wonder who their next target will be.....

[randita]

Rush has made the comments many times that Democrats are only successful when they can demonize a Republican (Newt, DeLay, Ken Starr) and make that demonized person the face of the whole party.

They have been unable to successfully demonize W or others in his administration thus far.

But Lott has presented them with a gift--someone to demonize.

I didn't think so at first, but I'm starting to believe that Lott will have to step down. It's a shame it was under these circumstances.

[Darling Lili]

But he wasn't joking when he made his remarks at Mr. Thurmond's 100th birthday party. Nor could these remarks be construed to have been a mere endorsement of the South Carolinian's overall conservative philosophy, as Mr. Lott's office originally claimed.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

What an absolute mess this man has created.

[CatoRenasci]

The worst part of this now is that Lott won't do the right thing and eliminate any further controversy by turning the leadership over to McConnell or Frist. Just another bad decision by Lott.