Posted on 12/16/2002 9:36:16 AM PST by GOPBlonde
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott is now a significant liability for the Republican Party and he should resign his leadership position forthwith, given his deeply divisive remarks at a celebration for Senator Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday. Senator Lott demonstrated terribly poor judgment and insensitivity when he asserted, "I want to say this about my state (Mississippi). 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 hearing this particular statement, most Republicans were aghast, realizing its indefensible and impolitic nature. What was Senator Lott thinking?
Strom Thurmond's past as a "segregationist Dixiecrat" was a disgraceful period in his life, which he successfully repudiated as he moderated his position on civil rights. For heaven's sake, why would Trent Lott or anyone else for that matter, bring up or laud that shameful era? In his 1948 presidential bid as an independent candidate from the "Dixiecrat" Party, South Carolina's Governor Strom Thurmond ran on a platform promoting racial segregation, and opposing emerging civil rights initiatives in this nation. Logically, it would appear that Lott was endorsing ideas integral to Thurmond's 1948 campaign, and it's really a stretch to interpret Lott's remarks in any other way.
Let's address the pertinent question on which all else hinges: Can Lott now function effectively as Senate Majority Leader, and implement the GOP agenda, after uttering that deleterious statement? In my judgment, the answer is NO. Lott now lacks the moral authority, and accompanying support, necessary to conduct business as head honcho in the Senate. As indicated by Journalist Peggy Noonan, it's very noteworthy that Republicans are NOT coming to the defense of Senator Lott. And there is somewhat of a generational component, as the "under 50" crowd is especially dismayed that Lott doesn't "get it", that he doesn't fully appreciate the ugly history of racial divide in America.
Lott is more than an embarrassment to the Republican Party with his foot-in-mouth remarks. He has caused enormous damage to the GOP by: a) reinforcing an unfair and inaccurate stereotype about Republicans, b) undermining President Bush's ongoing efforts to court minorities for the purpose of broadening the party's base, and c) jeopardizing the ability of the GOP to implement its goals, its stated agenda. Yes, Lott's type of harmful stupidity, his ""blind spot" as he calls it, does merit dismissal from a high-ranking post. Moreover, Lott has broken faith with the American people by his cavalier remarks that are incongruent with our American beliefs enshrined in law. Lott is now on a full-fledged "apology tour" in a concerted endeavor to rehabilitate his image, but I doubt that it will fend off further attacks from the Left-leaning media and its cohorts. In fact, Lott has handed the political Left a ready weapon in their arsenal against the GOP.
But for the moment, let's give Lott the benefit of the doubt and suppose that he was just spouting a brain-dead "throwaway line" that was only intended to flatter old Thurmond. Then what does that say about a seasoned politician careless enough to engage in a profound faux pas, which was sure to offend people and spur controversy? Clearly, if Lott is that politically and socially tone-deaf, then he should not be holding a high profile Congressional leadership position. To be fair, in recent years Lott has demonstrated considerable support for the African-American community in his legislative efforts. But Lott's critics continue to add fuel to the fire, underscoring that he had expressed similar sentiments about Thurmond on past occasions, and demonstrated a "less than stellar" civil rights record in his earlier days, voting against both the Voting Rights Act and the enactment of a "Martin Luther King Day" holiday.
The bottom line is this: The GOP cannot permit the Liberal establishment to wield Lott's pernicious statement as a bat to bludgeon him, and by extension, the Republican Party. Ideally, Lott needs to fall on his sword and resign his leadership position in the Senate - but unfortunately Lott has made it clear that he's playing hardball politics and refusing to budge. More appallingly, he has come out swinging, basically blackmailing the GOP by threatening to quit his Mississippi Senate seat if forced out of his prestigious leadership post. This maneuver would assuredly result in an interim Democratic Senator chosen by the Democratic Governor of Mississippi, and a de facto 50/50 split in the Senate. Lott is apparently familiar with the old rubric that crisis breeds both danger and opportunity, and he has clumsily reached for the latter. Lott undoubtedly feels under considerable siege, and he has decided to use any leverage at his disposal to help preserve his position. In any event, the Republicans are NOT going to give up their majority, so Lott may indeed have the GOP by the shorthairs. However, Lott may reconsider his hard-line stance, and we'll just have to watch and wait as things play out.
President Bush has already signaled his unhappiness with Trent Lott, as he recently underscored that, "Any suggestion that the segregated past was acceptable or positive is offensive and it is wrong"... He (Lott) has apologized, and rightly so. Every day our nation was segregated was a day that America was unfaithful to our founding ideals". And aside from Lott's current debacle, frankly many Republicans were less than copasetic about his leadership style that is more geared toward assuaging Democrats than standing on principle. And certainly Lott was aware of this growing dissatisfaction among GOP ranks, and a hankering for a new Senate leader such as Senator Bill Frist (Tennessee), a brilliant man (the Senate's only physician, a cardiac surgeon) with impeccable public relations skills who helped strategize the GOP "big win" in the 2002 Election. Now, Senator Don Nickles (Oklahoma) is actively challenging Senator Lott, calling for a new election for the Senate Majority Leader spot. Besides Senators Frist and Nickles, Senator Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) and Rick Santorum (Pennsylvania) are also possible candidates for the Senate's top post.
The Left-leaning media, in tandem with the Democratic Party and the Liberal establishment, have long promulgated the false notion that the GOP is a party of "racists" and "segregationists". It's time Republicans expose that myth for being unadulterated hogwash. In fact, the political Left is rife with hypocrisy about their shortcomings in the sphere of race relations. Here's an interesting factoid, as noted by Rush Limbaugh, journalist Diane Alden, and other conservatives, which the Liberal media will never tell you: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was largely passed with Republican votes: 80% of Republicans in the House of Representatives voted for it, as opposed to only 61% of the Democrats -82% of Republicans in the Senate voted for it, as opposed to only 69% of the Democrats. By the way, Al Gore's father voted against that salient Civil Rights legislation. Strom Thurmond was a Dixiecrat Democrat during his racist phase, not a Republican. Democratic Senator Robert Byrd was once a dedicated member of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), which is certainly much more egregious than anything Trent Lott has ever said or done. And let's not forget that Bill Clinton's mentor, J. William Fulbright, was another Dixiecrat. Moreover, this notion that all Southern segregationists became Republicans is more poppycock. Just look at Al Gore, Sr., Fritz Hollings, and Robert Byrd to name a few.
In her 3/7/01 article about Democratic Senator Robert Byrd's sordid past, journalist Michelle Malkin states: "The ex-Klansman later filibustered the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act -- supported by a majority of those "mean-spirited" Republicans -- for more than 14 hours. He also opposed the nominations of the Supreme Court's two black justices, liberal Thurgood Marshall and conservative Clarence Thomas. In fact, the ex-Klansman had the gall to accuse Justice Thomas of "injecting racism" into the Senate hearings. Meanwhile, author Graham Smith recently discovered another letter Sen. Byrd wrote after he quit the KKK, this time attacking desegregation of the armed forces".
Moreover, Byrd has been known to use the "poisonous epithet", the "N word", as recently as last year, but the liberal press still ignores this. If that were a Republican politician who uttered the "N word", you can bet your bottom dollar that he or she would be summarily run out of Washington, DC.
The long and short of it is that the GOP must continue to expand efforts to out-reach and communicate with members of the African-American community. It's essential that the Republican Party continue to confront the prevarications and subterfuge of the political Left, and set the civil rights record straight.
Copyright © 2000-2002, GOPUSA.com, Inc. Privacy Notice | Subscriber and Member Agreement 281-412-2184 | feedback@gopusa.com
It would be payback to his self-righteous fellow Republicans who, instead of standing up to the assault from the left, hid in the tall grass and left Mr. Lott to fend for himself.
I don't often meet FReepers who demonstrate so much love for liberals. It's refreshing.
There is nothing to be said now. Sack Neville Lott.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.