Your sarcasm is well placed. It is absurd to even suggest dropping Lott at this moment in time. Frankly, I agree with those who point out that he has been wishy-washy and often ineffective. But in the face of this vicious attack on Lott because he dared to praise the most consistently Conservative Senator in recent decades is patently outrageous. People need to stop and catch their breaths, and look at what is being done here:
The Left has launched one of their typical, apparently hysterical, but actually carefully calculated efforts to push America to the Left, without ever even debating the issue on the table. We are being treated to the typical ex cathedra pronouncements. We are seeing the typical raised eyebrow, the supercilious disdain, the sanctimonious pretense of the moral high ground. But no where do they dare to debate the actual issues before the American people, when Strom Thurmond ran for President in 1948. We are just supposed to kneejerkedly assume--because they belligerently demand that we assume--that Strom Thurmond was wrong, and that anyone who suggests that he was right, must be driven from American politics.
Well, Strom is now over 100, and is retiring from the fray. But those Conservatives, who think that Strom was wrong--so very wrong that it is an unforgiveable sin for anyone to even suggest that he was right--need to at least acquaint themselves with the issues. Because it was Thurmond--and not Truman or Dewey (and certainly not Henry Wallace, who ran on the far Left)--who took the stands that were by far the most consistent with the overall Conservative philosophy. And the Left is making fools out of Conservatives, who will jump through hoops to distance themselves from values they actually hold sacred.
The principal reason that Thurmond led a revolt from the Democratic Party in 1948 was about freedom and the preservation of a predictable Constitutional heritage that put freedom first. It was the same reason he again revolted in 1964, to lead many Conservative Democrats into the Republican Party, in support of Barry Goldwater. It was the same reason he insisted ever since, that Republican Presidents appoint more Conservatives to the Federal Judiciary. (It was Thurmond, more than any other man in Washington, who has responsible for the gradual improvement on the Federal Bench, since 1969.)
The major "Civil Rights" issue in 1948, was whether Washington should be allowed to dictate employment practices to private employers across America (F.E.P.C.). How can anyone suggest that Lott needs to apologize for supporting Thurmond in opposing such Federal dictation? 16 years later, when Lyndon Johnson finally rammed the proposal through, the Conservative Republican candidate for President--Strom Thurmond's good friend, Barry Goldwater--also opposed the Socialistic measure--as do I. (For more on the specific issue, see "Civil Rights" vs. A Free Society.)
But no one is actually debating the underlying issues. They are simply buying the Leftist smear of Thurmond--when we should all be honoring him--on the pretense that Lott has done something terrible in praising his lifetime of dedication to Conservative and Constitutional values. It does not take a lot of analysis to understand the corner that those Conservatives, who are in a panic over this, are painting themselves into.
For the love of common sense, we need to say to those who are parrotting the enemy, "Snap out of it!"
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site
Strom Thurmond says he was wrong. Holy crap! Some people on this site stun me.
Thurmond: "All the laws of Washington and all the bayonets of the Army cannot force the Negro into our homes, our schools, our churches."
The Dixiecrat Party platform: "The negro is a native of tropical climate where fruits and nuts are plentiful and where clothing is not required for protection against the weather ... The essentials of society in the jungle are few and do not include the production, transportation and marketing of goods. [Thus] his racial constitution has been fashioned to exclude any idea of voluntary cooperation on his part." "We stand for the segregation of the races and the racial integrity of each race."
The Dixiecrat Ballot:[A vote for Truman is a vote in suppport of Truman's civil rights program]...This means the vicious FEPC--anti-poll tax-- anti-lynching and anti-segregation proposals will become the law of the land and our way of life in the South will be gone forever."
That you would try to defend this sickens me.
Trent needs to step down from his leadership position, but not from the Senate.
The racial divide in our country has been carefully cultivated by the left for decades. If the mainstream media won't hold "Rev." Jesse Jackson accountable for his hypocrisy, extortion, campaigning for America's enemies in Brazil, inciting riots in Florida, etc., we will not get a fair hearing now...except on alternative news sites. It's too distracting, divisive and BIG to deal with now. We'd have to examine the billion dollar industry of black victimization - including our new revisionist history schools, the truth about the far left NAACP, the socialist Congressional Black Caucus, the real story of slavery in America and who actually fought to free the slaves (Republicans and Christians first)...all un-PC, counter the leftist propaganda Americans were fed for years.
In a fair world we could simply present the evidence and ask for an apology from the left for the years of slanderous attacts. Black Americans and the press would register Republican and Jesse Jackson would stop calling himself a Reverend and pray for forgiveness from God...ah, but this comment makes me a "racist" in modern America...and, thanks to modern telecommunication and transportation...the left can assemble an international group of "outraged" celebrities to fill the airwaves with anti-Republican rhetoric - not just from sea to shining sea, but from Montezuma to Tripoli.
The UN conference on racism featured Jesse Jackson denouncing the USA - especially George Bush and the Republican party (AP, BBC and the international press reported extensively on "racist Republicans" in Florida during the 2000 election - another lie from the left) - and calling on the assembled world leaders to join the fight against American and Israeli racism. Representatives from over 180 nations spent a full week listening to mostly anti-American rhetoric and took this message home to their countries - many ruled by dictators and thugs - on Sept. 9, 2001. Think this will be included in the 9-11 Terrorism Report, or Kissinger's investigation? Eactly 15 months after 9-11 and still no comments from the press. Racism is too incendiary internationally.