Breaking: Trent Lott News Conference at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time

[MeekOneGOP]

Breaking: Trent Lott News Conference at 5:30 p.m. Easter Time

[SerpentDove]

Lott's remarks weren't racist?

CLINTON PLAYBOOK #6: “It depends on what the meaning of “is” is.

[tuna_battle]

I called Lott's office and I was told he's on vacation!

[TigersEye]

If Lott resigns as ML he will then be pushed to resign his Senate seat.
As usual the dems will go for all they can get. They don't fear backlash, they can and do excuse anything that they do.

[cake_crumb]

"Given his pantywaist record of leadership, if the Democrats had a lick of sense, they would do everything they can do to keep Lott right where he is."

That is SOOOOO well said.

It's no mystery why the Sems are getting all hystrionic over this: they ultimately failed when they tried the race card tactic on President Bush. They don't know or understand President Bush. He's a complete mystery to them.

LOTT on the other hand, the Dems know well. They know he's week and and incompetent as a leader...so they're expecting him to roll over under pressure from the left, as he has alwyas done in the past.

The Dems are doing this as a first strike in their '04 election bid...this is about the ongoing effort to destroy one of the most popular - maybe THE most popular - presidents un US history, so they can regain control of the Whote House in '04 and continue where they left off implimenting Clinton/LEIberman's Third Way Agenda in '00.

That is ALL this is about: the Dems want to regain power, and they feel that Lott, through his idiocy, is the perfect vehicle for their rise back to dictator elite class.

[usconservative]

I hope not. If Lott is to be replaced it should be for the right reasons. Not because the press and liberals whined.

Or because a bunch of stupid dimwits in the democrat party, the Congressional Black (RACIST) Caucus and the dumb-asses in the media are too STUPID to understand what he said, the forum he said it in, and why he said it.

I don't like Trent Lott. I think he's a spineless, gutless wonder. But in no way should he resign/step-down/whatever over this.

This reminds me of the teacher who was fired for saying the word "niggardly" because a bunch of stupid, illiterate parents didn't know what the word meant, were too lazy to look it up, and got "offended."

When will this country stop cow-towing to the truly stupid?

[Cold Heat]

When will this country stop cow-towing to the truly stupid?

A damn good question!

I think most seem to have a terminal form of the PC disease!

[NarniaSC]

There was the "States' Rights" of 1948, of which Strom's platform finds one and only one example: segregation.

Then there is the "States' Rights" of 2002, which includes a number of wise constitutional restrictions on the federal government, none of which have to do with institutional bigotryb.

Trent, in his infinite wisdom, decided to praise 1948.

[cake_crumb]

"I would like him to announce that he's switching his registration to Democrat in order to absolve himself of any perception of evil. It would be a hoot to see what the Dems response would be."

As long as he drags former senate obstruction Tommy Daschle to the podium beside him, and drops that bomb directly on the top of Tommy's pointy little head....waits ten seconds while Tommy tries to get a grip, then laughs and says "I was only joking. I'm remaining with the Republican party"...THEN launches into his explanation, and then leaves...your idea has LOTS of potential merit!

[cake_crumb]

"Sems" = "Dems". Geez.

[Cold Heat]

The perspective in 48' is exactly as it is in 02'!

Thurmans record shows this. Lott was commending it, as he had done in the past with the same words.

The only thing that has changed is the perception of what states rights represents. The liberals have successfully labeled it as racist!

We are now in big doo doo!

Ya just don't see it. This must be defended, and explained now! Not buried with a resignation and withdrawal from the battlefield as has become the practice!

[CatoRenasci]

Nonsense and stuff! Your attempts to argue ad hominem who is or is not a true Southerner or conservative sounds a lot like left-wingers arguing who is an authentic black. I' have none of it!

States rights per se is not a racist view, surely. However, it is an historical fact that many segregationists and racists have, in the 20th century and before, wrapped themselves in a states rights banner because they think the position has more appeal nationally than a naked segregationist appeal. Such was the substance of the 1948 Thurmond campaign.

[mrs9x]

I agree, Cato, there is no defense for what Lott did, and some on this board who are defending him need to wake up and smell the coffee. States rights and limited government are one thing, but unfortunately segregationists used such terms in the 50s and 60s to further their agenda.

There is no excuse for what Lott did, and people who are trying to defend him need to think about what they believe in.

[JulieRNR21]

Sorry, Julie. Lott did praise Thurmond's segregationist campaign. By saying the country would have been better off electing a segregationist in 1948, he's doing just that. He meant those words in 1980, he meant them last Saturday, and he meant them the times he said it behind closed doors (which in your heart you know he's done). He was pro-segregation as a 22-year-old and then went to work for a white supremacist congressman in MS. Trent Lott is a bigot. You'll feel better once you admit it.

Please show me the quote where Lott said those words: "electing a segregationist'. I really believe that he mis-spoke & was trying to praise a 100 year old....he goofed...big time....but I don't think he said those words.

BTW was Byrd a bigot when he belonged to the KKK? To me that is far worse than anything Lott has ever said.

The media is working with the DNC to try to destroy the GOP's chances with the Black community.

Lott should resign the leadership only if Byrd is also censored for his membership in the KKK! Clinton did far worse than Lott.....lied under oath & broke his Oath of Office.....he never resigned & neither should Lott!

[dfwgator]

and some on this board who are defending him need to wake up and smell the coffee. States rights and limited government are one thing, but unfortunately segregationists used such terms in the 50s and 60s to further their agenda.

Of course these same people are the ones who insist that the Civil War had nothing to do with slavery.

[Cold Heat]

Nonsense and stuff! Your attempts to argue ad hominem who is or is not a true Southerner or conservative sounds a lot like left-wingers arguing who is an authentic black. I' have none of it!

You totally ignore Thurman's record since 48'. He has effectively shed the racist label since then.

He has continued to protect and revere the Constitutional rights of the states. There is no ulterior motives here.

This can be boiled down to one simple statement of fact.

The liberal press has successfully connected a statement blatantly taken out of context to destroy a republicans credibility and subsequently the party as a whole.

We either stand and fight or crawl into the vacuous hole of appeasement.

[dfwgator]

The good news is that I think this will backfire on the Rats big time. Many blacks are going to learn for the first time that Byrd indeed once belonged to the KKK.

[dfwgator]

The way I see it, keeping Lott as Majority Leader would be giving in to the Dems wish, to keep a weak ineffectual leader as Senate Majority Leader. They know Lott won't resign over this, so the next best thing is to weaken him even more.

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

I don't think the Dems will ever learn. I'm hoping that ULTIMATELY people will be "on" to their tactics. If enough comes out about the racist actions/comments of Dems like Senator Gore Senior, Bill Clinton, Sen. Byrd, etc, then this SHOULD backfire on the Dems.

Lets hope that collectively AMERICANS waken up and smell the coffee. The Dems who are speaking out are the epitomy of hypocracy. They think Americans are dumb, as do the hollywierd types who are also speaking up. They are VERY afraid of what is happening in America. So they are being hysterical and reactionary,..and as far as the Hollywood types,.. Traitorous. But then they have their traitorous leaders to thank, to follow by example. (Bubba Clinton, Hitler'y Clinton, Al Gore, Jimmy Carter etc.)

[Cold Heat]

I agree that Lott has been ineffective. I do not agree that the reason he should be replaced was the statement he made.

We need to win both battles here. Replace Lott but make damn sure the statement is properly explained and defended.

We cannot kowtow to the PC crowd on this. States rights must be defended regardless of who may hide under that umbrella!

[dfwgator]

We need to win both battles here. Replace Lott but make damn sure the statement is properly explained and defended.

And most importantly hoist the 'Rats on their own petard by showing their hyprocrisy on the issue.