A Lott of uncomfortable lessons from senator's disgrace

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | December 16, 2002 | Michael Medved

[Cyber Liberty]

Please...somebody make the bad "Lott" puns go away....

[11th Earl of Mar]

Best commentary I have read on the subject.

[MassExodus]

I eat LOTTS of cheese ...

[Cyber Liberty]

Lotts of moose once bit my sister....

[over3Owithabrain]

They'll go away when he does.

I know that's "Lott" what you wanted to hear...

[Cyber Liberty]

Sure it is. I've always wanted Lott replaced by someone with a spine.

[vigilence]

Why is everyone dancing aroung the bottom line here? The only thing the Democrats are good at is demonizing an individual. They remind me of a pack of hyenas that size up a herd for the weakest individual and then attack attack attack until the individual is consumed. Trent Lott studpidly made himself a convienent target for the Democrats to rally their core constituency behind and to regroup after last month's devastating losses at the polls, nothing more nothing less. The rest is just windowdressing.

[dirtboy]

If Nixon and Clinton had quickly and completely admitted their wrongdoing, they would have suffered intense but fleeting embarrassment, while avoiding constitutional crises that paralyzed their presidencies

This is not correct. Recall that Clinton had Dickie Morris conduct a true poll, and it said that if Clinton had come clean about Monica then, there would have been a tremendous call for his resignation. Instead, Clinton decided to stall and have the outrage subside.

[dirtboy]

Please...somebody make the bad "Lott" puns go away....

Lottsa luck, you have a better chance of winning the Lottery...

[Cicero]

I'm afraid that, nice as this article sounds, it simply isn't true.

As you say, they would have nailed Nixon regardless of what he did. In fact, exactly what did he do? Nobody really knows, other than the fact that he was a shifty-eyed Republican with five-o'clock shadow.

Clinton could not have told the truth about 95% of the things he did, or he would have been thrown in the slammer on multiple felony charges. "Oh, yes, I raped Juanita Broaddrick, but I'm sorry"? Or, "Sure, I gave the orders to kill Vince Foster and Ron Brown, but they deserved it."

As for Lott, of course it was a joke: '"When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it," he emphatically declared. "And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years."' Lott didn't vote for Strom Thurmond, he was 7 years old at the time. This was a joke at an old man's birthday party--in poor taste, I admit, but hardly a federal crime.

[TLBSHOW]

Everyone here is still a racist. If Lott goes or stays! In the eyes of the abortion party.

[dirtboy]

Everyone here is still a racist. If Lott goes or stays! In the eyes of the abortion party.

What on earth are you babbling about? Are you calling those who think Lott should step down as MJ racists?

[dirtboy]

This was a joke at an old man's birthday party--in poor taste, I admit, but hardly a federal crime.

The Clintons managed to define deviancy downward - the standard of conduct for being president went from avoiding even the appearnce of impropriety downwards to having enough doubt exist to hang a jury. Lott did not commit a crime, but as Majority Leader, I would hope that folks expect him to hew to a higher standard - what he said was just plain idiotic and reflective of a person unsuitable for such an important leadership position.

[Richard Kimball]

Well, there have been a Lott of bad puns, but you have to admit, the Rats have done a terrific job of taking anything substantive off the national radar screen and getting back to the really important issues of what Trent Lott said at Strom Thurmond's birthday party. I'm so glad we can forget about the terrorist activities, crime, and the economy and spend several weeks talking about this kind of garbage.

[dirtboy]

I'm so glad we can forget about the terrorist activities, crime, and the economy and spend several weeks talking about this kind of garbage.

Well, I must admit, that's a better form of downplaying the issue than the others I have seen.

[Richard Kimball]

So, we should spend weeks worrying about it? I don't like Trent Lott, and never have. Wonderful. Let's spend the next two weeks saying, "I am SHOCKED! SHOCKED to find out there is gambling going on in this establishment", run Lott out of the Senate, let the Rat governor appoint a Dim to replace him, and then give another RINO a chance to leverage by jumping parties, and then the Rats will have the Senate back, and we can all pat ourselves on the back.

[dirtboy]

Let's spend the next two weeks saying, "I am SHOCKED! SHOCKED to find out there is gambling going on in this establishment", run Lott out of the Senate, let the Rat governor appoint a Dim to replace him, and then give another RINO a chance to leverage by jumping parties, and then the Rats will have the Senate back, and we can all pat ourselves on the back.

You might not think that Lott's comments are a big deal. I do, and so do many other conservatives. And what differentiates us from the Dems is that we are not willing to overlook serious character flaws to hold onto power. If that hurts us in the short run, so be it - because that is why the GOP has made gains in the long run - we stand for something more than power at any price.

[dirtboy]

Actually, someone else said it better than I. From a NR opinion:

As a young Nixon staffer torn between partisan defensiveness and principle, I learned the importance of not letting ourselves be paralyzed from holding our own leaders to a high standard, merely because we are so offended by the motives and methods of those on the other side who are howling for blood. The hypocrisy of Lott's enemies in no way excuses the wrongness of his statements. Republicans can find a better Majority Leader. We should do so.

— John Andrews is a Republican state senator from the Denver suburbs. On January 8 he will become president of the Colorado senate.