Blurted Out Conviction of the Week: Trent Lott (Legs Folks)

Slate ^ | Friday, December 6, 2002, at 1:54 PM PT | Timothy Noah

[BillCompton]

chatterbox
Blurted Out Conviction of the Week: Trent Lott
What's a little segregationism among friends?
By Timothy Noah
Posted Friday, December 6, 2002, at 1:54 PM PT

"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 of followed our lead we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."

—Trent Lott at Strom Thurmond's 100^th birthday party, as reported Dec. 6 in ABC News' political Weblog, The Note. To watch a video of the festivities, click here.

"I want to tell you, ladies and gentleman, that there's not enough troops in the army to force the southern people to break down segregation and admit the Nigra race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches."

 —Strom Thurmond, then-governor of  South Carolina, in a speech from his 1948 "Dixiecrat" presidential campaign. To hear an audio clip, click here.
Article URL: http://slate.msn.com/?id=2075151

[ellery]

I respectfully disagree, although I support your focus on freedom of expression. Lott isn't a private citizen shooting his mouth off -- he's a public servant. His public statements are a relevant part of his job -- and he should be held accountable for them (this holds whether his remarks are based on racism or mere stupidity).

[aristeides]

Rush, I'm glad to say, is saying right now that Lott's comment is no big deal.

[CenterRight]

Here's a link to a one-hour video and audio recording of the C-SPAN broadcast of Thurmond's birthday celebration. It includes Lott's entire speech. I have in on my screen now and I'm reviewing it.

http://www.c-span.org/politics/

The link to the Javascript is at about the center of the C-SPAN page. I'll transcribe the remarks by Lott, preceding his "all these problems" statement. There is no printed transcript on the Internet that I can find, at least not yet.

Feel free to click on the link above, download the 1-hour recording and follow along with me. If you're following along with me, fast-forward to exactly halfway through the recording. That is where Lott's speech starts.

Dole introduced Lott by mentioning that when Strom Thurmond was landing by glider in Normandy on June 6, 1944 Trent Lott was only three years old. http://www.c-span.org/politics/

Verbatim transcript of the beginning of Trent Lott's speech:

Well thank you, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you my good friend and my predecessor, my hero, Bob Dole, for that introduction, that very brief introduction I might add [Laughter] But for Senator Strom Thurmond's family and friends and admirers all, it's a great pleasure for me to be here with you today, and I know that you're enjoying every minute of this. And I knew that the previous remarks would be just as they were. I mean, after all, Bob Dole received the Republican nomination and dang near was elected President of the United States telling Strom Thurmond jokes. [Laughter] If he'd just gotten himself some new material there toward the end he would have done it. [Laughter] I want to say this about my state. When Strom Thurmond ran for President we voted for him. [Laughter] We're proud of it. [More laughter] And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either.

HE WAS JOKING, PEOPLE.

The quotation that has been bandied about as so-called "proof" of Lott's "racism" was clearly told for laughs. It was at the beginning of the speech, after Dole told a few Strom Thurmond jokes. Then Lott stood up and said that in 1996, Dole was nominated for President "and dang near was elected President of the United States telling Strom Thurmond jokes."

Then came the quotation that everyone is bleating about, and it got a few laughs, exactly as Lott had clearly intended. Then came more jokes, including one about how "the Capitol froze over" inserted in place of "hell freezes over," and a reference to Dole's Pepsi commercial with Britney Spears.

[ellery]

I think he's wrong -- this has all the earmarks of a major debacle. If I thought Lott was right, I'd say to heck with the media frenzy...but in this case, his remark was at the very least dumb. If it's true that it's wise to choose your battles, is pulling Lott's bacon out of the fire b/c of his own stupidity a battle we want to fight?

[aristeides]

Hannity now playing Byrd's brain fart about white n*****s. I don't think he thinks Lott's comment is a big deal either.

[aristeides]

Hannity agrees with you that Lott was speaking tongue-in-cheek.

[aristeides]

Hannity: "The left is trying to make this an issue when it's not an issue."

[ellery]

Guess the next few days will tell...

[SerpentDove]

". Lott happens to be a real strange one, yet you want to throw him to the wolves."

I want Lott fired from Majority leader primarily because he is an unthinking fool, as this episode has clearly shown.

Since he purports to represent the Republican Party, you're damn right we're going to speak up about his stupidity. He has given ammunition to the enemy. Does it not trouble you in the least that Tresnt Lott's idiocy may very well cost us at the polls?

And don't think for one minute that it can't.

[dirtboy]

I don't see anyone throwing stones at this former bedsheet-wearing, night-riding terrorist!

We've thrown plenty of stones at Byrd over the years. However, Byrd's actions in no way should excuse Lott's idiotic statements. I would hope that, unlike the other side, we are above trying to defend someone by playing the moral equivalence game.

[aristeides]

I care a lot more about individuals' freedom to make un-PC comments than I do about how a party does at the polls.

[dirtboy]

I care a lot more about individuals' freedom to make un-PC comments

Lott is perfectly free to make these comments. However, the people in turn are perfectly free to say they do not think he should be majority leader, and his fellow GOP Senators are free to act on it. Lott's freedom of speech would only be infringed if he were being threatened with jail for making these statements (i.e., hate-crimes legislation).

[SerpentDove]

>> The socialists do not eat their own or cast them aside. Republicans tend to act in righteous indignation, much to the delight of the socialists. <<

And you know what else? Socialists are being voted out of power, because people see through their dishonesty.

The Demonrats stuck by Clinton when the truth was apparent to all. Look how they did in November.

Republicans are in the majority. People see them as people of integrity, or they wouldn't vote for them.

I say let's stick with what is working: integrity, and holding our leaders accountable. Don't you?

Or do you hold up the Democrats as a "good example"?

[SerpentDove]

>>
I care a lot more about individuals' freedom to make un-PC comments than I do about how a party does at the polls.<<

He is more than just an individual. He is an elected representative who, in an official capacity, said very foolish and possibly damaging things.

If you think we don't have the right to hold our elected leaders accountable for their words, you are very mistaken.

[Poohbah]

He has the right to be a complete jackass in public...and to suffer the consequences of doing so.

[SerpentDove]

Couldn't have said it better myself.

;-)

[CenterRight]

Are you the aristeides from Capitol Grilling?