Trent Lott's Debacle - Now, Bush Must Act

December 14th, 2002 | Sabertooth

[Sabertooth]

Once again, in his own indelible words, the Republicans' Senate Majority Leader-elect:

"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."

~Trent Lott - December, 2002

When Strom Thurmond ran for President, he was a segregationist Dixiecrat spurred into revolt against the Democrats by Hubert Humphrey's Civil Rights plank in the '48 Democratic Party platform. Mississippi was one of four segregationist Southern States that voted for Thurmond. Segregation was the purpose and limited appeal of the Dixiecrats. It was the banner under which they marched.

The plainest sense of Lott's words are that he approves of the above.

Even though I don't believe that's what Lott meant, nor that he's a racist, that fact is inescapable. It takes backpedaling and damage control to escape the plain meaning of what Lott said and explain what's really in his heart. It's disingenuous to suggest otherwise.

The only way to for Trent Lott to address Thurmond's '48 campaign would have been to chart how far the retiring senior Senator from South Carolina has traveled in the last 54 years, and to use him as a metaphor to further illustrate how far the South and America have come. Had he done this, Lott could have simultaneously honored the Centenarian Senator and reiterated that Republicans, like the South and like America, have learned the errors of racism and segregation, and have long since embarked on a better path.

That Lott could not grasp this after decades in Washington is striking, particularly since this isn't the first time he's failed to navigate this reef. Speaking after a Thurmond speech for Ronald Reagan in 1980, then-Congressman Lott told the crowd: ""You know, if we had elected this man 30 years ago, we wouldn't be in the mess we are today."

Now, the Democrats are all over the opportunity Lott has injudiciously provided to them. That it seems unfair is irrelevant. He left himself open for the sucker punch and got pounded. He's only made matters worse with his tepid series of apologies: too little, too Lott. He is finished as a Senate Majority Leader of even mediocre effectiveness. It's time to cut our losses.

President Bush needs to invite Lott to the ranch in Crawford, and offer him a more artful and diplomatic rendering of the following:

"Senator, with your ill-advised remarks you've brought turmoil and embarrassment on yourself, the party, and the country. You've served all well in the past and I thank you for that service from the bottom of my heart. Unfortunately, the events of the past few weeks call for a reassessment of the nature of your future service. The horses have left the barn, but there does remain an open path for you, a path that is both honorable and humbling: step aside as Majority Leader and continue to serve in the Senate.

I understand the sacrifice my request places on you, and sympathize with it's burden, but our nation and our agenda are in peril.

I need you, and I'm asking you as you President to do this for the good of America."

[EternalVigilance]

Uhmmm, you don't defeat the enemy by going on offense against your own army. I cannot believe the shallow thinking going on in this issue. You don't win a war with friendly fire, now move out of the way and let the soldiers win this war.

You also don't win wars with Generals who not only give the enemy the bullets to kill you with, but pin targets on everybody's chest while he's at it.

You simply promote another General and go back into battle.

[Wild Irish Rogue]

" I am no longer calling for his ouster but not because I believe he should remain. I'm backing off because I believe that this country needs to be united while we are facing grave dangers. However! Once this is resolved, we need to keep him from ever being put in front of a camera as a representative of the republican party unless we surgically remove his tongue. We simply can't afford any more of his political ineptness."

I want his face to be on milk cartons.He can stay as ML and keep the seat warm,let Nickles and the others be the new face of the party.If he has any smarts, he will use this time to be a good soldier,mend his fences and be ready to resign when the time is right. If he stays in the background and does what the WH wants,he could have some life after he leaves.Right now, he will be run out of town on a rail-not exactly prime consultant material.I hope that somewhere in his ego,he realizes the only honorable options are to resign the ML position,but stay in the Senate . Or he can stay on and quietly rehab himself, by behaving as a true conservative,but, flying under the media radar. They can't make him a target,if they can't see or hear him.He has to know that he is on borrowed time. Since he appears be unwilling to do the first,I hope he has the sense to do the second.

[TLBSHOW]

And Republicans who fail to support him are displaying cowardice.

Jesse Lee Peterson

You said

I don't think Lott is a racists, I think he is mindnumbingly stupid!

They said that about me on my latest thread.

WAKE UP GOP THE ATTACK ON LOTT IS ALL ABOUT THE BANNING OF PB ABORTION ITS COMING FROM NOW

gives me hope if Lott got as far as he did stupid! LOL

fact is this is playing out fine and may I point out post #62 for a part of what can be done and not only stop the democrats dead with racist bs we can win over the black vote and send the rats back to the stone age. You do know Freeper Coulter supports Lott I know she isn't stupid. And our good friend Jesse Lee Peterson too. Right here

I encourage the Senator to not give into the demands of racists who want to keep blacks on the Democratic plantation.

Sen. Lott has released a statement and appeared on national media to apologize for his statements. He has explained his statement and the context in which it was made—enough is enough!

Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Maxine Waters, and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) are hypocrites and they are the real racists.

Jackson has not apologized for his ‘Hymie’ town comments, nor for his forty years of immoral leadership; Sharpton has never apologized for his role in the Tawana Brawley disgrace; members of the Congressional Black Caucus have never asked fellow Democrat Sen. Robert Byrd to step down for using the word ‘nigger’ twice on national television.

Black and white Democrats alike who continue to demand that he [Lott] step down are doing so only for political reasons. And Republicans who fail to support him are displaying cowardice. Lott should not step down; he should not offer any more apologies—this matter is done! We should judge people based on their hearts and actions, and unlike many of his detractors, Trent Lott has no history of being a racist.”

[sinkspur]

so I am wondering if Some Lott defenders don't mirror his views.

And just what are his views?

I'll grow a thicker skin when you back up your "musings" that some people are racist.

That's a damn serious charge to make to be just "wondering."

[John Lenin]

Quit acting like we have this huge mandate on our side, we don't. All the senate seats won were by narrow margins, trying to ram the far right-wing agenda down peoples throats will ruin us. Lott is the perfect guy to give the RATS the rope they need to hang themselves. It worked on Nov 5th, whats a matter, you can't stand success ?

[Sabertooth]

I know a lot of people don't want Lott to step down because it appears that the Republicans are capitulating to hypocrites whom have ignored, downplayed, and gotten away with far worse gaffs.

Lott has given us nothing bad choices. I didn't want him a Majority Leader again, but I'd have preferred that rather than him stepping aside under these circumstances.

As for what Democrats like Robert Byrd and Cruz Bustamante have gotten away with, I hold Republican politicians entirely responsible. It's their job to finish off the Democrats who've shot themselves in the foot, and they've repeatedly failed to even try to get it done.

[Oberon]

You don't think Lott meant anything racist, or that he is, in fact, racist, still it's an "inescapable fact" that he is racist.

Help me out here. I don't get it.

No, you don't. In the following quote: "Even though I don't believe that's what Lott meant, nor that he's a racist, that fact is inescapable," the author is referring not to the supposition that Lott is a racist, but to this earlier sentence which appeared previous to the abovementioned quote:

"The plainest sense of Lott's words are that he approves of the above."

In other words, Lott isn't a racist... he misspoke badly, and needs to backpedal hard to make it better.

Frankly, I wouldn't mind seeing him step down. He hasn't done much to advance anything resembling a conservative agenda.

[Dave S]

There've been FOUR apologies, and there will be more. How many are enough for you?

How many of Clintons non-apology apologies satisfied you?

[John Lenin]

Why don't you sit back and watch how it plays out before you raise the white flag. Let's not act like the French and surrender to the enemy before the battle has begun.

[deport]

The gratitude and respect of his comrades and party.

Just curious how does President Bush offer/give him the 'respect of his comrades and party'?... Seems that would be up to each individual member and right now there is a whole hell of a lot of ppl that are after his body to be served upon a plate... Besides his comrades have shown gratitude and respect for him for the last five Congresses by electing him Majority Leader. What does that say about them over that time.... should they be castigated also since it appears they support a racist from Mississippi?

Yep say hello to a power shared Senate and maybe a ML Daschle just down the road...

[EternalVigilance]

...trying to ram the far right-wing agenda down peoples throats will ruin us.

No threat of that with Lott, is there...

[Oberon]

Funny that he was good enough to be elected ML for five times but now he's not worth a bucket of warm spit.

Oh, come on... In Washington of all places, you should know that the two aren't mutually exclusive. There are plenty of veteran incumbents who aren't worth a bucket of warm spit.

[Z-28]

I was wondered where the next attack from the Left would come:

Attacking Bush's war on terrorism and homeland security policies failed.

Attacking Bush's tax and economic policies failed.

Now we're back to retrograde racism attacks from the 1950s.

[Jeff Chandler]

Blaming the Democrats is like blaming the cow for the manure on your boot.

 

I blame the rats for making a mountain out of a mole hill.

I blame the rats for the double standard.

I blame Lott for handing them the sword they now wield.

 

Lott is a spineless, unprincipled buffoon, but... if we play this wrong, we will lose the senate before the new term starts. It's a fragile majority, and we need to keep it, even with a stupid dickweed like Lott in charge.

[EternalVigilance]

Why don't you sit back and watch how it plays out before you raise the white flag. Let's not act like the French and surrender to the enemy before the battle has begun.

Hey, it's Lott who was down on his hands and knees yesterday promising the race pimps the sun, the moon and the stars...not me. If anybody is surrendering here, it's Trent.

[sinkspur]

At least you have the honesty to assert that you think Lott's racist.

I don't, I didn't take his comments to be racist, and I believe people like Paul Weyrich and Dick Morris, who have defended Lott against charges of racism in long associations with him.

So, you fight on the side of the Maxine Waters and Sheila Jackson Lees.

Tom Tancredo, (whom I cannot stand) is being accused of racism for his associations with Glenn Spencer. I will defend Tancredo just as vigorously.

Nobody's safe when the race pimps beat you down for something you're not.

[Sabertooth]

Yourself included it seems.

Actually, it was close to a week before I commented on this at all.

His stupidity and disgrace is no source of glee to me. See my #106 above.

[John Lenin]

No threat of that with Lott, is there...

If you think this country is far right, think again.

[dogbyte12]

And just what are his views?

Well so far as I can tell... Lott views a meaningless day to honor the Mississippi trio of Schwerner, Cheney, and Goodman as something he couldn't support in 89. He has voted twice against extending the 65 civil rights act, once against the 64 act being extended. His political mentor was on the dixiecrat slate. He fought to keep his fraternity segregated, he voted against the MLK Jr day, then later tried to pull funding for it. In a state that has the highest black population in the entire country(36.6% as compared to the 12.3% nationwide) he has 1 black person working in his mail room, from a staff of 65. He has twice now spoke publically about how he wanted Strom and the dixiecrats to win. He lied to Sean Hannity about his involvement with the CCC. His own Uncle, a lifelong member of the Citizen's Councils, has called him on it, by stating that Trent was a dues paying member. He did not meet with them "just once". He said that they had "the right views". He filed an amicus brief to support Bob Jones' policy of banning interracial dating and marriage. He called the Civil War the "war of aggression" in Southern Partisan Magazine, while trying to re-instate the citizenship of Jefferson Davis.

Coming against this background... he has to be prodded for nearly a week, to just state the words "segregation was wrong". What in the heck am I supposed to think until he honestly tells us something otherwise other than the fact that his dad was a milkman sharecropper?

[bybybill]

Love to go to Vegas with you. If you bet black, I`d bet red. Surefire why to win millions.

My point, it is over. Unless there is something new, Lott keeps his job. Why, cause the Republican Senators and GWB want him to stay.