posted on December 12, 2002 03:04:26 PM new
Why Could they NOT have had That STUPID Birthday party , 'roud Bout October 25th??!!?? Oh well, only 2 more Years (Ughh!!).
posted on December 12, 2002 03:05:31 PM new
Only NOW? Sheese! MOst of us have known about Lott's feelings since he hounded after Clinton to be Impeached! Trent's father started up an organization that was a front for the Ku Klux Klan. Trent used to belong to this. When Civil Rights came along, and there was a lot of presure to get rid of the Klan, the organization "reogranized" just enough so as to drop off the radar scope of the feds. In the later years, Treant wold drop out of this organzation of KKK and try to pretend it never happened. LOL! Funny how these things just never seem to go away! Bob Barr has worse credentials and Dick Armey had a few skeletons in his closet as well!
Funny. The Democrats get the "reformed" KKK types, while the Republicans get the KKK types that never were!
posted on December 12, 2002 03:10:27 PM new
Whether or not he mis-spoke [meant what he said or didn't - we'll each decide on our own]...I just love it how all the defenders of free speech scream that their right to free speech is being taken away....but when anyone says something that they don't approve of/agree with ....oh boy...watch out....they should resign, etc, etc. etc.
posted on December 12, 2002 03:17:28 PM new
Not defending Lott but his latest apology:
"My comments conveyed things that I did not intend, and I regret it. And, you know, I apologize for it. And I would hope that we could move on from that and move to things that we can do to help the people all across this country, economic opportunity for everybody, community renewal, which is something that's important for people
of all races and income levels, work to make sure we have election reforms that uarantees that people have an opportunity and a right to vote, and the funds to pay for it; put more money in the education, so that really no child is left behind."
"borrows heavely from speaches by Clinton" "Now it is time--in fact, it is past time to move on. We have important work to do--real opportunities to seize, real problems to solve, real security matters to face."
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/08/17/speech/transcript.html
and Jesse Jackson. "a mistake of the head, not of the heart".
posted on December 12, 2002 03:27:23 PM new
Trent Lott has a long history of racist remarks and actions.
Lott gave a keynote address in 1992 to the Council of Conservative Citizens, which advocates the preservation of the white race. He was quoted as saying ``the people in this room stand for the right principles and the right philosophy.''
posted on December 12, 2002 03:56:46 PM new
Lott advocated tax exemption for school that banned interracial dating
WASHINGTON (AP) - While a young GOP congressional leader two decades ago, Trent Lott declared that "racial discrimination does not always violate public policy" as he tried to save the tax exemption of a Christian university that banned interracial dating.
In his 1981 friend-of-the-court filing with the Supreme Court, Lott cited court rulings upholding affirmative action programs at colleges and compared them to the dating ban between black and white students at Bob Jones University.
"If racial discrimination in the interest of diversity does not violate public policy, then surely discrimination in the practices of religion is no violation," he argued, in asking the justices to block the Internal Revenue Service from stripping the school's tax exemption. At the time, he was the Republicans' new whip, the second highest position in the House GOP hierarchy.
Now the Senate's top Republican, Lott is battling to quell criticisms, fueled by Democrats, over remarks he made at a birthday party last week for 100-year-old Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C. Lott had suggested the country would have been better off if Thurmond, running for president on a pro-segregationist ticket in 1948, had won.
White House officials said Wednesday that President Bush found the remarks indefensible but said they expected Lott to weather the storm. Lott said neither the administration nor any Republican colleagues have asked him to resign as the Senate GOP leader, as some top Democrats suggested.
"Look, you put your foot in your mouth, you're getting carried away at a ceremony honoring a guy like this, you go too far. Those words were insensitive, and I shouldn't have said them," he said Wednesday night on CNN's "Larry King Live" program after completing a round of television news shows to make further apologies.
He also said he was not considering stepping down from the majority leader post he is to take over next month.
Bob Jones University is a fundamentalist Christian school in Greenville, S.C., and its ban on interracial dating among students has long stirred controversy. It has dogged judicial nominees who were involved in the school's various legal fights, and presidential candidates, including Bush, who have been criticized for visiting the campus. The school recently lifted the ban.
The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 to strip the school of its tax exemption about two years after Lott filed his brief.
"The government now advocates penalizing Bob Jones University for its uncontestedly genuine religious beliefs," Lott wrote in one of just a handful of friend-of-the-court briefs filed in the case.
"To hold that this religious institution is subject to tax because of its interracial dating policies would clearly raise grave First Amendment questions," he argued.
A Lott spokesman said Wednesday night that the Senate leader was not endorsing the university's interracial ban when he filed the brief but rather was expressing a "concern that this could create a precedent for all religious schools to lose their tax exempt status."
Though the university was located in South Carolina and the case involved the ruling of an appeals court in Richmond, Va., Lott asked in 1981 that his views as a Mississippi congressman be heard as a "friend of the court" to protect Congress' interest and the interests of other religious institutions in his own state that might be affected.
In his filing, Lott said if the Internal Revenue Service succeeded in revoking the tax exempt status of the university, it might have far reaching implications. "The IRS might next decide to deny exemptions to churches that refuse to ordain women," he argued.
The filing came to light as the controversy over his remarks on Thurmond's birthday continued Wednesday.
Lott, at Thurmond's birthday event, said Mississippians were proud to have voted for Thurmond in 1948. "And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."
Democrats called for Lott's resignation as GOP Senate leader. "I simply do not believe the country can today afford to have someone who has made these statements again and again be the leader of the United States Senate," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., one of several potential 2004 presidential candidates to weigh in against Lott.
The four Republican appointees to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a joint statement deploring Lott's comments as a "particularly shameful remark coming from a leader of the Republican Party, the party of Abraham Lincoln."
Some Republicans rose to Lott's defense. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said Lott's comment should be accepted as an "inadvertent slip and his apology should end the discussion."
"I know Trent Lott very well from working with him in the Senate for the last 14 years and can vouch for the fact that he is no supporter of Senator Thurmond's 1948 platform," Specter said.
In a 1997 interview with Time magazine, Lott said he once favored segregation as a college student watching armed U.S. marshals help a black student gain entry to a Mississippi university.
"Yes, you could say that I favored segregation then. I don't now," Lott was quoted as saying. "The main thing was, I felt the federal government had no business sending in troops to tell the state what to do."
posted on December 12, 2002 06:38:13 PM new
".I just love it how all the defenders of free speech scream that their right to free speech is being taken away....but when anyone says something that they don't approve of/agree with ....oh boy...watch out....they should resign, etc, etc. etc."
I haven't heard anyone here say Lott didn't have a right to say what he said. He had a perfect right to...just as the American people have a perfect right to be revolted and speak out against an elected official who even jokingly makes a crack in support of racist attitudes. That this bigot remains in office (never mind that Confederate fossil Helms) is a testament to how deeply rooted racial hatred in this country is. That Bush did not villify his remarks is just plain pathetic.
posted on December 12, 2002 06:39:44 PM newA Lesson For Republicans:
"Look. Every partisan in every party has to learn one thing: Sometimes your people are wrong. To paraphrase an old retort, saying "My party, right or wrong" is like saying "My Kennedy, drunk or sober." Credibility is earned, and standing up and saying "Fie!" now and then reinforces your truthfulness."
from Helen's link above: GOP to Lott: Here's your hat, here's the plank, take a walk!
UBB
[ edited by Borillar on Dec 12, 2002 06:41 PM ]
posted on December 12, 2002 09:04:06 PM new
This is a statement from the man, Strom Thurmond, that Trent Lott was honoring. Their "story" to cover their history of racial prejudice is that they had both changed their attitudes over the years. Of course, this change or pretension of change was necessary in order to be re-elected.
Thurmond in 1948: "I want to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, 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."
Trent Lott should not represent the people of Mississippi.
Aside from the right thing to do, if the Republican party fails to take a strong stand on this issue, they will very likely forfeit the next election.
posted on December 12, 2002 10:15:02 PM new
Liberal Attacks on Lott Called Hypocritical
By Fred Jackson and Jody Brown
December 12, 2002
(AgapePress) - A pro-family advocate says Trent Lott's controversial remark last week
was stupid, but that the liberals calling for his resignation are hypocrites.
Gary Bauer says the Senate Majority Leader is right to be
apologizing over his statements last week that sounded like he
was endorsing Senator Strom Thurmond's segregationist views
of 54 years ago. Lott has apologized, saying his comments at
Thurmond's 100th birthday celebration were "poorly chosen and
insensitive; I regret the way it has been interpreted."
Several liberal Democrats are calling for Lott to resign from his
leadership role in the Senate. One of those, Senator John Kerry
of Massachusetts, said the country cannot afford to have
someone like Lott as the leader of the U.S. Senate. But Bauer
says those calls are nothing more than political opportunism.
Bauer notes leading liberals say "hateful" and "mean spirited" things all the time and
seldom pay any price for it. He offers a few examples, including House Democrat John
Dingell who described federal law enforcement officers as "jackbooted American
fascists."
And Bauer says there are the incidents involving Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin who,
during the Clinton impeachment hearings, suggested Republican Henry Hyde should be
stoned -- and Jesse Jackson's reference to New York City as "Hymie Town."
Bauer says we need to end this "gotcha" game where "only conservatives are punished
and left-wing intolerance gets a free pass."
Meanwhile, it appears the mainstream media has declared open season on Lott in the
wake of his remarks. Associated Press is reporting today on statements Lott made
more than 20 years ago when, as Republican whip in the U.S. House, he defended the
tax-exempt status of Bob Jones University -- a status that was under attack because of
its policy that banned interracial dating.
At that time, Lott argued that to tax a religious institution because of its interracial dating
policies "would clearly raise grave First Amendment questions."
posted on December 12, 2002 10:38:37 PM new
As one who sticks one's foot in their mouth too often I can personally commiserate with Lott.
But politically,
As an American with the best interests of our country in mind I think he should quietly (ha ha)resign his position of power. Democrat or Republican, we cannot have someone with his past and poor choice of words there. I expect much more of our representatives especially the head honchos. I'm sure his remarks had been thought through before he said them.
posted on December 12, 2002 10:44:23 PM new
Lott's gaff in praising Thermond pales before the fact the people of his state repeatedly showed their agreement with who and what he is.
posted on December 12, 2002 11:28:58 PM new
I was watching a news thingie bout Thurmond's history. He was a Dixiecrat - a democrat and a southern bigot. That got him elected. But once the Democratic Party began to embrace >>GASP!<< "niggers, chinks, kikes, wops, spics, mex, coloreds, slanty-eyed" voters, then Strom switched political parties to a the safe haven for bigotry in this country, the Republican Party. And look where that got him!
Today, the Republican Party is PROUD of their record of hiring TOKEN Blacks, TOKEN Asians, TOKEN Hispanics, and TOKEN Women to positions within their own party! Yessiree! Those doors are coming w-i-i-i-d-d-e open! And if the political situation continues to deterio -- opps, to "improve", they'll even have their first TOKEN open Gay if 'push comes to shove' as it were! One would almost imagine that the Republican party would open its elitist doors to the common man and woman (white, of course) who vote and support them and allow them to Step Up to their Aristocracy and join them for drinks out on the lawn or allow them to actually join their country clubs. Wouldn't that be sweet of them?
posted on December 13, 2002 06:34:15 AM new
Strom Thurmond could be called the father of the modern day republican party. In 1948 practically all southern voters, at least all white males who were able to vote freely wouldn't vote a republican ticket because that was a vote for "Lincoln's Party", and they hated Lincoln. But it was becoming increasingly difficult to vote democratic in the south because The Democratic Party wanted to end segregation, to allow blacks to vote, and to give blacks full civil rights. That is not a platform that would appeal to the average white southern male at that time. But they were in a bind, because they couldn't vote for the party of Lincoln.
Along came Ol' Strom, quiting the democratic party to be a republican, and ultimately running for president on a third party "Dixiecrat" ticket. As much a political savior as anyone could imagine. Eventually, the Southern Democrats (white racists who weren't really Democrats, but said they were because they hated Republicans so much) would join the Republican Party. By 1994, they would control the Republican Party, and they do today. That's how the republican party of Lincoln, which ended slavery in this country, became the party of Strom Thurmond and Trent Lott, who never wanted to end segregation.
The Dixiecrat ticket was comprised mostly of a promise to return to state's rights, or rather the right of southern states to be free of federal meddling in their policies and practices regarding civil rights. A racist campaign from the get go, and to express a wish that that ticket had been sucessful in 1948 is to express a racist viewpoint and preference which is as unacceptable in any public figure now as it should have been always.
This is not a free speech issue. Trent Lott is as free to burn crosses on his bedroom carpet as he always has been (to paraphrase Anthony Scalia). This is a matter of another amendment and much public law.
I see that bush has finally "scolded" Lott. His delay shows clearly that the scolding is only a political expedient and not a human gut reaction to the essential wrongness of lott's statements. He must have spent the last few days constantly on the phone smoothing the way with the republican heavyweight funding who agree with lott.
posted on December 13, 2002 07:06:15 AM new
In the present storm over Lott and Strom, I read a recent article that said Strom Thurmond bragged about having sex with a female death row inmate when he was a state circuit judge.
Apparently he volunteered to drive the woman from the prison to death row and had sex with her in the back seat of the car.
Having sex with a person that is under your arrest authority is called RAPE, not sex.
I never liked Thurman or Lott, today i like them a lot less.
posted on December 13, 2002 07:26:14 AM new"I read a recent article that said Strom Thurman bragged about having sex with a female death row inmate when he was a state circuit judge"
If that's true can anyone imagine more appalling behavior by any public official?
He's been reelected over and over, almost as a matter of course. Does that speak to the prevailing attitudes in his state more loudly than any claim otherwise, however many times repeated?
posted on December 13, 2002 07:42:36 AM new
I haven't been able to find the article to link it yet, read it yesterday. It also mentioned that Thurmond knew the woman before she was convicted. Apparently she was a school teacher that he hired while he was on the school board. She must have been married too because she was a Mrs.
That incident was included in a biography by Jack Bass when Thurmond was a senator. The womans name was Sue Logue.
Helen
I edited the second link because the story was crude and vulgar. You may find information about this incident by a google search for - Thurmond and Sue Logue.
posted on December 13, 2002 08:34:48 AM new
The story is so raunchy, I was thinking about removing the link.
I have a textbook which was used in the Terry, Mississippi school system in 1981 in which Thurmond is pictured as a hero by winning the state of Mississippi in the 1948 presidential election when he ran against Harry S. Truman. Thurmond received 167, 538 votes to Truman's 19,384. (5,043 for Dewey) The Mississippi delegation was offended by Truman's civil rights platform.
BTW...Abraham Lincoln was only mentioned twice in that book...two sentences.
The tragedy is that not much has changed in Mississippi since Lincoln was shot. Lott's recent statement, praising Thurmond and the covert approval of it is evidence of that fact.
Lott will have a press conference today, in Pascagoula, MS at 5:30, EST. It will be interesting to see if he addresses his voting record outlined in the Edsall story above.
