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I think Lott has been a poor Republican leader over the years, but for me the issue is stopping a 'rat smear campaign from working yet again. I think political correctness is one of the greatest threats to political freedom in our country today.

But people are so damned short-sighted. They think appeasing racist pimps like Sharpton, Conyers, Waters, and the rest is a way of buying their good will. They fold like a house of cards in the wind the moment race is invoked, however moronic the allegations.

People don't seem to understand that even as we speak, there are young conservatives all over America taking positions on issues that could be thrown in their face 30 or so years from now if they reach the upper tiers of political power, and if Political Correctness retains its grip.

Take gay marriage as an example. If the liberals get their way, and we have gay marriage imposed on our society, does anyone think that alone will satisfy them? No, they'll also find it necessary to completely and utterly destroy anyone who opposed them on that issue. So in the year 2034, the son or daughter of someone on this board may be up for a judgeship, or a cabinet post, or the presidency of a university. And maybe that son or daughter, while in college this year (2002) voted against a resolution endorsing gay marriage in the student senate. Maybe they worked with the Boy Scouts over the summer in some capacity. Or maybe that very year (2034) they'll say something nice about an elderly man who once ran on an anti-gay marriage platform.

So how is that gonna look in Politically Correct 2034? Your son or daughter is going to be declared to be a homophobic monster, a bigot, a hate monger, and worse. "We can't allow someone to serve on a court who once voted against gay marriage," the leader of the 46 member congressional LesBiGay caucus will declare. "We already know this person is a bigot and a hater", the head of the ACLU will announce, adding, "Revelations that he worked with the Boy Scouts back 30 years ago before court-ordered sexual desegregation only adds to our concern".

Meanwhile, here at Free Republic, half the so-called conservatives will collapse and grovel before the PC Totem. "If that idiot didn't see that banning gay marriage was evil back in 2002, then they don't need to be part of our conservative movement", they'll shout.

Political Correctness is a scourge on our society. Every inch given to the PC Thought Police is another slit in the jugglar vein of human liberty, freedom of thought, and individual dignity.

Lott fell afoul of the prevailing PC zeitgeist, which is that everything and everyone associated with the old south was an evil abomination who should have been eradicated from human history. Most people today in the south are no longer segregationists, and that's a good thing. But to rob southerners (and I am one) of their heritage, their history, and their ancestry is just wrong.

Strom Thurmond was an "old south" guy who ran for president 54 years ago on an "old south" platform that included a lot of things people find offensive today. Thurmond changed and came to accept blacks as full citizens. But the man doesn't have to have his face stomped into the mud to show that we reject his old beliefs. Many southerners look at Thurmond and see their granddad, who probably also didn't want the races mixing together.
Most southerners look back at men such as Thurmond, Richard Russell, William Fulbright, Russell Long, Sam Ervin, Harry Byrd, and many others with respect. Yes, they were segregationists, but it isn't all they were. There's a building in Washington named after Russell, who was one of our great defense experts, but who also voted against every civil rights bill and denounced race mixing on national television.

So what do we do? Eradicate them from history? Demand that nothing positive be said about them? Compare them to Nazis for supporting stupid segregation laws?

If that is route we're going to take, then we'd better be prepared for a major historical pogrom against the non-PC. Because just as sure as I'm sitting here writing this right now, the time is coming, very soon, when "slave owning" Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and other will need to be declared political non-persons.

I know it's tempting to follow the herd on PC issues. The allegations of racism, sexism, and all the other isms are scary. They can end careers. They can ruin lives. But the Democrats count on a large segment of the Republican Party to totally go into boot licking mode the moment they howl "racism". It's time for us to stop it and stand up to the PC bullies. Clarence Thomas should be our role model for this. After all, one of the many lame charges against him was that he kept the Georgia flag, which contains the Confederate flag, on his desk.

Now, having said all this, Lott should not threaten to resign from the Senate if he loses his leadership post. Emotionally, I understand how he feels, but I would hope he realizes he owes is to us not to throw the Senate to the 'rats.