Let the Republican senators' voices be heard. Do they stand with Trent or do they want new leadership? I think it is important for the party's relations with blacks and other minorities to allow them to re-vote on the issue of majority leader. Then the public can choose for themselves if they still want Republicans controlling the Senate.
...a candidate for your ping list.
It was said to Pat Boone I believe.
While I think we agree on your conclusion (Senate Rs revoting on their leadership), you need to consider the following as well:
You wrote: "Was Butz a racist? Probably not. There's no outstanding evidence to say that he or his policies even once sought to deny blacks due process or equal rights under the law."
I don't think it's helpful for whites to participate in the dumbing down of the definition of 'racism' in that way. Your definition would permit every minority group, which insists that it doesn't by itself have the power to deny whites "due process or equal rights under the law", to speak and act toward white Americans with hostility.
If you put any significance at all on racial characteristics in discussing other human beings, except to physically identify someone, you're likely being racist. Help me with some examples of how this might not be so. Even physically, the definition of 'black' is almost meaningless--so Jimmy the Greek-type references are racist. Culturally, 'black' people are increasingly less monolithic.
Limbaugh and Buchanan's pathetic distinction between sympathy and policy misses the point: separate is unequal--being 'ok on black issues' doesn't compensate for the habit of distinguishing between people on the basis of race.
It was said by a man from Indiana, apparently free from the influence of the segregationist South, still just a few years beyond the civil rights turmoil of the mid-sixties.Bull. In those days, Indiana - once outside the urban areas of the state, was percieved (rightly or wrongly) by most as being as prejudiced as depest, darkest Mississippi. And Butz's comments were pointed to as indicative of that mindset.
It was continually pointed out that the home of the KKK was in Plainfield. Ironically, today, Plainfield (in particular, metro Indianapolis in general) is a huge hotbed of Muslim activism in the midwest, with a population penetration second only to Dearborn, MI & the Detroit metropolitan area.
In any event, Butz's comments were used to help reenforce the perception that all Republicans are racist, and Lott's comments will be used the same way today. It's going to be difficult at best for me to overcome this, but I will - in time.
Whether right or wrong, personally, I don't expect Lott to survive the week, in that regard.
This article was too long to post the whole thing, but it is interesting to read. There is a nice joke he tells about the Clintons at the end of this article. It also has a different question that was supposedly asked to him when he told the joke that got him fired.
http://www.kpcnews.net/special-sections/reflections3/reflections17.html
Hard work, insight enabled Butz to become agricultural leader
By GRACE HOUSHOLDER
Dr. Earl L. Butz's Noble County roots gave him the start he needed to become U.S. secretary of agriculture ... the highest national office any Noble County native has achieved.
Butz held the position under Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford.snip...
He taught at Purdue until 1954 when he went to work for three years for President Dwight D. Eisenhower as assistant secretary of agriculture.
At that time, Butz had developed a reputation around the nation as an advocate of free-market agriculture. Butz served under Ezra Taft Benson who later went on to head the Mormon Church. One of Butz's friends during his service under Eisenhower was Vice President Richard M. Nixon.snip...
President Nixon called on his old friend from his vice president days. He liked Butz's free-market philosophy and knew he had tremendous popularity with American farmers. Butz had also become active in Republican politics.
Butz's goal as secretary of agriculture was to "get the government out of the ag business."snip...
One battle Butz fought as secretary was over the use of nitrates in bacon and sausage as a preservative. A Harvard University study found that nitrates could cause cancer.
"I asked some physician how much nitrosity would I have to ingest to get the same amount, pound for pound, as those laboratory rats at Harvard University," Butz said. "He said I'd have to eat about 15 tons of bacon a day. And I don't care for that much bacon."
Butz was famous for his barbed humor. When asked about the pope's stand on birth control, Butz quipped, "He no playa the game, he no makea the rules!"
Catholics and Italian-Americans howled in protest.
The quip that caused Butz's resignation was his reply to a question about why the Republican Party wasn't attracting more blacks.
Butz apologized for the remark, but it was not enough. Because he did not want the racial slur to hurt Ford's chances for re-election, he resigned and quietly returned to Purdue.snip...
For many years Butz remained active in Republican politics, speaking at Lincoln Day dinners across the country. He also campaigned for Sen. Robert Dole who was seeking the Republican nomination eventually won by George Bush.
Butz, 90, is dean emeritus of agriculture at Purdue. His wife, whom he called "a full partner," died several years ago. Butz lives at Westminister Village, a retirement community about a mile and a half from his office. He goes to his office for a few hours every day.snip...
Butz enjoys good health. His only challenge is a problem with balance, so he uses a cane. "I carry a cane so if I meet a 'Clinton Democrat' I can whack him," he said. "I meet very few of them. They won't admit it."
This article also mentions that he was head of the Mormons for a time.
