LOTT THREATENS TO QUIT THE SENATE IF FORCED FROM LEADERSHIP

Newsnight with Aaron Brown | 12/13/2002 | Jonathan Karl

[ApesForEvolution]

"Could you be more specific as to how you judge Lott's capabilities? If he's dumb, please demonstrate how and why.A gaffe doesn't make one a moron.I bet even you have said some dumb things in your lifetime and been thankful that your apologies were accepted."

You're a lost cause and if you think the Vacant Lott is capable of leading effectively for the good guys with his undisputed record of RAT-loving.

[MHGinTN]

Lott isn't a racist ... white supremicists are racist. Lott a segregationist in the same sense that so many black people are segregationists. It ain't so bad to be a segregationist, but it's a far cry from being the racists the despotic democrat machine is trying to portray and then smear all over the Republican party. That's race baiting methodology and is one of the hallmarks of the current democrat party. That said, a segregationist doesn't belong in leadership of the Senate, so it is time for Trent to sit down and shut up and vote his conservative seat from Mississippi for the remainder of his last term.

[Torie]

It was the Civil Rights Act of 1957, and by the time Lott was worrying about a lot of blacks going into his frat, LBJ had tacked. So the post was technically correct, and yours is technically wrong. Have a good evening. What Lott thought or did in college is irrelevant IMO by the way. That factlet has less weight than hydrogen.

[jwalsh07]

Ok, we'll see. I hope you're right. I'm getting a bit since I hit 50 but I haven't reached the stage of crotchety old bastard yet.

[fooman]

Its all about being part of the 'in' crowd. At 18, I had twice the wisdom that I do today at 34 and realized that I had a future beyond being accepted as a greek...

[ApesForEvolution]

"This is a lot bigger than most people realize."

Well, you have at least that much right. The Vacant Lott created a situation that will be picked apart more than anything else he ever blew, including the 'trial' that wasn't, power-sharing and his other RAT-rubbing. And, he did it single-handedly, seemingly void of understanding what he did.

[habs4ever]

You have proven once more you have no idea what the job requirements on being Senate Majority leader are.But I bet you also do the same for the POTUS as well.In fact, I bet you haven't a clue what it takes to be a good leader and how to identify such a person.

[Darlin']

Thanks for that link, good article. :) It was interesting who expressed concern about the long term damage that might have been done, Sen. George Allen who is the new chairman of the National Republican Senate Committee and Sen James Talent who benefitted tremendously from the President's campaign trips on his behalf.

[Tall_Texan]

They should vote him out as leader, and immediately afterwards pump him full of a very strong sedative so he'll forget all about leaving the Senate and all about anything, and keep him pumped full of them round the clock for the rest of term, so he'll be a good boy like ol' Strom and just vote like he's told to.

GREAT IDEA!!!

Let's "Patsy Mink" him! Move over, Ted Williams...

"Dead? Why, no... Trent just has a serious infection, that's all...."

[Sabertooth]

Everybody knows what he was referring to with Thurmond's 1948 campaign, and it wasn't segregation.

Then maybe he should have spelled it out a little better, since everyone knows that the point of Thurmond's Dixiecrat campaign was, in fact, segregation.

Everyone also ought to know that there is simply no point in trying to put a positive spin on the Strom Thurmond of 1948.

[marajade]

Maybe I'm missing something but what's wrong with being Greek? I would think it would be something a person would be proud of?

I'm an american apple pie, a little of everything... and not much heritage... I'd love to have a heritage...

BTW, I was first exposed to Greek food on a blind date in San Diego. The date was terrible but I found out that I absolutely loved Greek food...

[EternalVigilance]

I said I was going to bed, but what sort of specifics about Trent's 'capabilities' would you like answered?

His ability to turn victory into defeat?

His ability to put his foot fully into his mouth repeatedly?

His ability to not only give our enemies the bullets to kill us with, but to help them pin targets on our backs?

His ability to come across to the public as a smarmy schmoozer with no sincerity?

His ability to divert the entire Republican agenda into this incredibly harmful imbroglio?

His ability to stand strong for his own interests and power but to be spineless and weak when we need him to stand up for us and our principles?

Which ones? Or do I need to come up with more choices?...I better stop though...wouldn't want to overheat my puny little brain cells.

[sneakypete]

Your hate has sure clouded your ability to understand this president.

I'm obviously not drinking the same Kool Aid you are drinking. I understand Bush perfectly. He's a Corporate Communist who is looking out for family and "class" first,and to hell with the country.

[marajade]

"His ability to come across to the public as a smarmy schmoozer with no sincerity?"

Are you sure you aren't talking about Clinton?

[EternalVigilance]

...it is time for Trent to sit down and shut up and vote his conservative seat from Mississippi for the remainder of his last term.

I agree with you. It's the ONLY positive solution possible.

[EternalVigilance]

:-) If the shoe fits....

[Sabertooth]

You have proven once more you have no idea what the job requirements on being Senate Majority leader are.But I bet you also do the same for the POTUS as well.In fact, I bet you haven't a clue what it takes to be a good leader and how to identify such a person.

Are you saying Lott has been a good Majority Leader?

[Torie]

The Dixiecrats were really a plot to drain votes from the Wallace campaign. You will notice that Wallace (no, not George, he came later) got few votes where the Dixiecrats pulled a significant vote, so the plan worked out well. Their effort to stop a Commie symp in his tracks was successful. I am pleased to help you with some of this.

[lavrenti]

This is how I believe Byrd should be handled.

My dream would be for a GOP leader to stand up and say this the following: "I find it troubling that there sits in the Senate, in an honored place among his collegues, a Senator who belonged to a subversive organization, a secretive group that engaged in senseless terrorist acts against innocent civilians on our own shores, a group that laid a century-old legacy of hate upon one-half of our Nation, a group so reviled that some of our senior citizens quake at the very mention of the three words that made up their name.

Not only that, this "honorable" Senator was a ranking officer in this cabal of terror, getting cash enmueration from his nefarious paymasters to recruit other men to this group, individuals who may have later committed evil and unspeakable acts of which detailed truth is lost to the graveyard.

This man, a member of a wealthy and politically powerful family in his region, had no logical reason to join this dangerous group of evildoers other than the fact that he believed in their cause and approved of their methods. His earnest enthusiam was so great that he was promoted within their ranks.

This man, I say to you all, has never fully explained his involvement with this devilish band of outlaws, and he is yet to publically apologize for his membership, in good standing, as an officer of this fanatical gang of miscreants.

This was a group that also engaged an alliance with agents of America's enemies during World War II and was a handmaiden of murder from New Jersey to Nevada. Has he yet said anything about these matters?

In closing I say to you, my fellow Americans. Strom Thrumond, for all his sins in the past, was never involved in a lynching. However, Robert Byrd belonged to an organization that did.

When I stand before you I think of the three letters that stand for the name of this group. I also remember their legacy: Murder. Crossburnings. Drive-by shootings. Bombings. Again, again and again.

What do you remember, Honorable Senator?"

Okay maybe a little over the top. But you catch my drift.

[habs4ever]

Sure, that sounds like a Keyes promo, but where are the specifics? Stump speeches are fine in there place, but if that is the best you can come up with, you ought to stay home.

Emulating Keyes' tedium isn't a good way to win over hearts and minds.