Posted on 01/02/2003 6:12:39 AM PST by sheltonmac
Most Americans seem to believe that Trent Lott deserved to suffer for his "insensitive" comments at Strom Thurmond's birthday celebration. Now that Lott has been forced to step down as Senate Majority Leader, neo-conservative Republicans are the ones cheering the loudest.
"We've wanted him gone for a long time," some have said. "We needed to get rid of him and move on with our agenda." The trouble is, no one in the party seems to know exactly what that agenda is.
Of course, that hasn't stopped neo-cons before. Pragmatism has always trumped principle, and as long as the polls reflect public approval for their actions, they really don't care about anything else. They must increase their majority in 2004 at any cost, and to do that they must first shake their xenophobic image.
As everyone knows, the GOP has long been branded as the party of racists. Such labels have been successfully utilized by the liberal left for years, and Republicans have tried everything to keep those labels from sticking. The end result is that in order to present the voting public with a kinder, gentler GOP, Republicans typically begin adopting Democratic positions.
It's the same three-step process every time: 1) liberals make the accusation of racism against a Republican, 2) the Republican denies the charge and 3) the Republican agrees to sign on to the liberal agenda, hoping that in doing so he might prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is not a racist. The entire fiasco surrounding Trent Lott is only the latest example of this kind of Republican cowardice.
Lott's comments sparked all the predictable reactions from all the usual suspects. Men like Al Sharpton and NAACP president Kweisi Mfume —both veteran champions of racial divisiveness —wasted no time in attacking the senator.
Sharpton, who had remained strangely silent in 2001 when Senate Democrat Robert Byrd let fly with his "white niggers" remark, said, "[Lott] should step aside. No one is saying that if the people of Mississippi want to elect him to the Senate that they don't have the right to do that. But to be the head of the party in the Senate, given the sensitivity of that position for the interest of the country and the party, Mr. Lott should step aside."
Mfume's response was a bit more harsh. He called Lott's little speech "hateful bigotry that has no place in the halls of the Congress," and dismissed Lott's subsequent apology as "too little, too late."
Reacting to the verbal barrage from the left, the neo-cons scattered. No one even bothered to mention the possibility that Lott was simply acknowledging the distinguished political career of his 100-year-old colleague. Nobody proposed that when the senator from Mississippi implied that we would be better off had Strom Thurmond been elected president in 1948, he was referring to some of the more noble causes Thurmond stood for, like states' rights and a less-intrusive federal government.
No, the neo-cons were so desperate to prove that they could be just as racially sensitive as their slightly more liberal counterparts that Lott's political fate had already been sealed. He was the perfect fall guy, and his sacrifice was worth it if it meant keeping the GOP in power.
Republicans, listen up. Whether you agree that Trent Lott should have resigned as Majority Leader or not, his ousting is yet another sign that you just don't get it. No matter what you say or do, you will always be viewed by the left as a bunch of bigots and racists. Bending to political peer pressure doesn't help —in fact, it makes you look weak. The sooner you learn that, the sooner we can begin repairing the damage your party has done to the conservative cause.
But it's probably too late. The mob has spoken, and Trent Lott has been forced out of his leadership role. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah summed up what Republicans expect of Bill Frist, Lott's successor: "I think Bill has a kind of a more moderate record and a more moderate approach toward things, and I think that it's going to be very difficult to criticize him."
In other words, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." And that, my friends, has become the battle cry of the neo-conservatives in the GOP, Party of Cowards.
"Here's the deal cy: While all conservatives are not Republicans, all Republicans are conservatives."
You wuz funnin on that one, right???? Fell out of my chair. Good laff Luis....
I guess it doesn't matter, as long as you make sure the dangerous end of the gun is pointed away from you. ;-)
It's so funny that you should post that response on this thread. People in FR have spent time ranting about how the first line of defense for the Democrats against conservatives is to play the race card, and your first post to me uses the very same technique.
You know Joe, there's no difference between you and the Democrats.
Or you and this guy for that matter.
You didn't go through the floor, did you?
I hear trailers have very thin floors.
Bet that makes you feel right at home louie.
First you address me and talk behind my back without posting to me because you don't have the guts. And now you accuse me of playing the race card? Cute louie, after you pulled it out of every sleeve and cuff in your conservative disguise and played it against me and many others.
Or did you conveniently forget that you called me a nazi, KKK member, and other assorted vile accusations.
What? You think I forgot all that louie?
No, I wont forget you louie. Hard to forget someone that makes those types of unfounded accusations and lies, with nothing to back it up. Nothing.....
You are the one that should have been banned long ago, with your slander and lies. Not others that had the guts enough to speak out against this massive immigration crisis.
Thanks for the reminder. When I see things like an explosion in public education spending, bigger farms subsidies, and campaign finance "reform," it's easy to forget that all Republicans are conservatives.
Behind you back Joe? It's right there, for all to see.
hey Joe, look at the thread, you threw in the racist comment, in standard Liberal fashion.
Race card Joe...reporting for duty.
Appeasement only emboldens your enemy.
Trent Lott was getting silly. Not only did he say silly things, he went out and made things worse with his PR response. He was a political liability.
IOW, he needed to fall back quickly to a defensible position, then counterattack. But, Lott being Lott, it was inevitable that he would instead gradually go into the fetal position.Lott had to go, simply because he WAS Lott.
"Or did you conveniently forget that you called me a nazi, KKK member, and other assorted vile accusations."
Well, I don't know about that Joe, but I don't think anyone will give me an argument when I peg you as a race baiter of Democratic proportions.
To: TLBSHOW Have your parents written the college you attended to ask for their money back? 66 posted on 01/02/2003 9:29 AM CST by dirtboy
If you think those remarks were offensive you have lived a very sheltered "FR" life. That was one of the mildest flamming rebukes I have seen here.
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