Defending Principles

National Review Online (The Corner) ^ | 12/17/02 | Kate O'Bierne

[BaghdadBarney]

Over the weekend, when Trent Lott’s 49 other colleagues were linking their arms and holding their breath to see how his latest serial apology played out, Senator Don Nickles did the right thing. This was not an act of ambition. One would have to think that he is a singularly stupid man to imagine that he saw this as a ticket to the top of the pile. Of course his statement of the obvious – that Trent Lott has to step aside for the good of conservative policy and the Republican party – would be seen as opportunistic. To Senator Nickles’ credit, he said it anyway. Aside from the fact that he is clearly the most experienced possible replacement for Lott, Don Nickles’ voting record, which the NAACP condemns as too similar to Lott’s, also recommends him. In contrast with Lott, he is able and willing to defend it. The sooner conservatives can defend principled votes at odds with the NAACP’s agenda without Trent Lott’s self-imposed baggage the better. The media’s line on why freshman Senator Bill Frist would be such a swell Majority Leader includes the fact that he doesn’t have Lott’s (racist) voting record.

[BaghdadBarney]

As per O'Bierne: It will be interesting to see if Nickles even runs for the post of Majority Leader. I get the feeling he may not. Regardless of his motivations, Nickles stuck his neck out and did the party a big favor. Period.

[Kay Soze]

The media’s line on why freshman Senator Bill Frist would be such a swell Majority Leader includes the fact that he doesn’t have Lott’s (racist) voting record. Bingo!

[45Auto]

No member of the US Senate has any principles; principles are checked at the door the day new members are seated. Politics is about two things: money and the power that one can accrue from having it. If there ever was any honor in the Senate, it must have been in the first Congress when the guys who wrote the Constitution were still around and had memories of what the hell the American Revolution was about.

The Constitution was written the way it was so that those elected to office would be severely constrained in the legislation which they could enact and the authority they could exert. The Founders were keenly aware of the shortcomings of the human condition; the temptation to usurp liberty.

Government has completely turned the Constitution on its head over the succeeding 200 years; now, that document is used to limit, not the power of government, but the rights of the citizens. The Senate has become a Chamber of the Oligarchs; a permanent ruling class. That's why the RATs seek to control it by any means necessary. Thta's why the flap over Lott is "Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."