| Username |
Post |
| Bramhanda |
Posted
on 18-Dec-02 09:04 PM
Lott's long affair with racism
It's time for the Republican Party to deal with the racist history represented by its Senate leader.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Robert Scheer
Dec. 19, 2002 | Did Trent Lott's mother, who once publicly recommended that a bullet be put through the head of a local editor who supported integration, raise the future senator to be a bigot? Or was it his favorite uncle, Arnie Watson, a leader of the White Citizens Council -- a more respectable version of the Ku Klux Klan -- who inspired the senator's lifelong love affair with race hate?
Other white Southerners, such as Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, managed a bold break with the evil ways of their elders, but not Lott. After a week of meandering apologia, the best the Senate Republican leader could muster for his recent, but not first, celebration of Strom Thurmond as a representative of the good old days of segregation is that he -- Lott -- is a hapless product of the prevailing racism of his youth: "I grew up in an environment that condoned policies and views that we now know were wrong."
Now know were wrong? "Now," as in last week, when Lott was roundly denounced, even by the president, for views he'd held all his life? Or is it "now" as in this week, when a Republican rival is publicly gunning for his job as Senate majority leader? Or "now" as in his keynote address in 1992 to the neo-segregationist Council of Conservative Citizens, in which he was quoted as saying, "The people in this room stand for the right principles and the right philosophy."
In fact, race-baiting, though generally more subtle than Lott's embrace of Thurmond's 1948 campaign for a segregated nation, is what gave the GOP dominance in the Deep South, and Lott has long been one of its main practitioners. The so-called Southern strategy, given its fullest support by Richard Nixon three decades ago, successfully aimed at recruiting the white racist Dixiecrats who had been uncomfortable with the Democratic Party since President Truman's 1947 order to desegregate the Navy.
When Lyndon Johnson pushed through the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Republicans turned their backs on Lincoln and pro-civil rights Republican moderates like Dwight Eisenhower, and became the refuge of eternally aggrieved Southern racists.
Lott was one of those recruits, leaving his job as top aide to a retiring segregationist Democrat and running with his mentor's support and money as a Republican, on Nixon's coattails, in 1972. In Congress, Lott outdid Thurmond himself when it came to being a racial reactionary, opposing establishment of a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and extension of the Voting Rights Act.
Lott is above all else a politician, and his playing the race card, while periodically impolitic, has been the consistent subtext of Republican campaigns for decades, even in national races. Recall Lee Atwater's use of the Willie Horton scare endorsed by the elder George Bush in his winning campaign against Michael Dukakis, or the intimidating attacks on black voting in Florida and elsewhere in the 2000 presidential election.
Perhaps with President Bush's belated but forthright condemnation of Lott, this vicious opportunism will be abandoned and the GOP again will become the party of Eisenhower, who used federal troops to enforce school desegregation.
It is interesting to note that prominent African-American Republicans Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice have ignored Lott's appeals for support in his current crisis.
What Republicans must realize is that despite Lott's various stabs at apology, what he will not concede is that racism -- real, powerful, cancerous -- continues to haunt the nation and that the destruction of the black family, in particular, is the direct consequence of an organized system of slavery and segregation that aimed at destroying not only equal opportunity but the very humanity of black people.
Though nearly every group of immigrants to the United States has been discriminated against to some extent, none arrived en masse in shackles, as African-Americans did. Nor was any other group kept in the bondage of legal segregation for an additional century.
Racial prejudice continues to be the United States' Achilles' heel, yet there has been an increasing denial of the obligation to make good on the country's enduring debt to black people. Even the mildest affirmative action programs are under attack. Perhaps, thanks to Lott's most recent indiscretion, we may begin to more seriously confront the ongoing duty to right racism.
http://www.salon.com/news/col/scheer/2002/12/19/lott/index.html
|
| safasaja |
Posted
on 19-Dec-02 04:30 PM
I can't believe that neta like Lott made such a remark. Very surprising in such a democratic nation like USA. It may represent South or Missisippi, but not whole US.
|
| Bramhanda |
Posted
on 20-Dec-02 01:31 PM
The fact that the SENATE leader for the Rep. speaks with an attitude of such condescendence and bigotry, speaks a lot for the view of conservativeness and the constant fear of influence of other races that is quite strongly held amongst the republicians especially of the south. Of course, some of them are more moderate, and welcoming. But, unlike some of the other dem. leaders that rose from the south, there
seems to quite a deeply entrenched view in the South that is similar to Lott's. This does much to appease to the Christian right wingers that have quite a role to play in the Republican party.
A representative (especially a leader) represents the views and directs the actions of that party.
Hope this Bushie and republican stronghold will disppaear in the next elections!!
Need a more freer and open world!
|
| NK |
Posted
on 20-Dec-02 04:07 PM
safasaja, It should not have surprised you, really. Republican party is made up of people like Trent Lott and it (the party) is not afraid to bring it to the front in election time. As a matter of fact they have to play their race card to win the heartland. Why do you think Bush II went to the segregationist university in North Carolina to deliver one of his major speeches when he was running for the presidential bid????
Oh by the way,the former Kuklaxklan sympathasier just resigned from his majority leader post.
|
| Bramhanda |
Posted
on 20-Dec-02 04:27 PM
Looks like one of the bigots stepped down.
---------------------------
December 20, 2002
Statement From Trent Lott Stepping Down
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:55 a.m. ET
---------------------------------
Statement on Friday from Senate Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi:
``In the interest of pursuing the best possible agenda for the future of our country, I will not seek to remain as majority leader of the United States Senate for the 108th Congress, effective January 6, 2003. To all those who offered me their friendship, support and prayers, I will be eternally grateful. I will continue to serve the people of Mississippi in the United States Senate
|
| Bramhanda |
Posted
on 20-Dec-02 04:30 PM
But, he still will remain in the Senate. They're unflinching. Bushie in praise of Lott.
----------------------------
December 20, 2002
Bush Statement on Lott's Resignation
``I respect the very difficult decision Trent made on behalf of the American people. As majority and minority leader of the Senate, Trent Lott improved education for the American people; he led the way in securing tax relief; he strengthened our national security; and he stood for a bold and effective foreign policy. Trent is a valued friend, and a man I respect. I am pleased he will continue to serve our nation in the Senate and I look forward to working with him on our agenda to make America safer, stronger and better.''
|
| NK |
Posted
on 21-Dec-02 04:24 PM
Read more
from NY Times on this issue:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/21/opinion/21RICH.html
...its effort to portray Mr. Lott as a one-of-a-kind bad apple, The Wall Street Journal's editorial page said on Thursday: "Republicans may once have used race to polarize the electorate, especially in the South. But that strategy long ago stopped being useful." Tell that to George W. Bush, who beat John McCain in the 2000 South Carolina primary after what Newsweek called "a smear campaign" of leaflets, e-mails and telephone calls calling attention to the McCains' "black child" (an adopted daughter from Bangladesh). Or to Sonny Perdue, the new Republican governor of Georgia, elected in part by demagoguing the sanctity of the Confederate flag.
Long ago stopped being useful? Tell that to Mr. Ashcroft and Mr. Bush, who appeared at Bob Jones University in 1999 and 2000. "Of all universities in America," asked the commentator Fareed Zakaria on ABC last weekend, "why is it that Republicans have felt the need to make a pilgrimage to the one university that bans interracial dating?" Now that Mr. Lott is no longer the issue, will any of the conservatives who called for his decapitation answer that question?......
|
| VillageVoice |
Posted
on 22-Dec-02 11:00 AM
Race has pretty much been a Republican agenda. Lotts' mistake: he acknowledged it a bit too loud. And Bush, facing a re-election, masterfully orchestrated his ouster. Guess he had no choice.
The President's message to fellow Republicans? Khanai pare ramrari milayera khawo; na-gheecha, moraho.
By the way, those words are borrowed from--where else?--a rich world of Nepali officialdom. An avuncular advice given by a senior police officier to his ghus-happy juniors.
|
| Bramhanda |
Posted
on 23-Dec-02 08:51 PM
Interesting additions NK.
Village Voice, thanks for furnishing Bush's perspectives- in the realm of the Nepali govt system that is in operation. The republicans only prove that point that they are catering to the top percentage of the US --who are wealthy and white. That, these panderers to the benefits to the corporate interests and right wing white christian groups , are nothing more than a group of elected officials in a masquerade as the republican party, has been shown time and again. This time it was starkly evident. The fact that most of the states slated for Bush during 2000 was from the Southern Bible belt was hardly surprising!
Will this burning matter be doused and hus hushed , or can this be employed as an attack on the true face of the Rep. party? If it can be used ,then that would shake things around.
Ramro Sanga Chapayera Khaye, chahi Digestion problem pani avoid hune. Gheechda chai not only does it look grotesque, but one tends to have ramifications --of unwanted order. :-).
I suppose, if there were one or two of these Gichuas that can be brought out to the open (with sufficient enticement) to perfrom their innate roles, then, the democrats, could get their house in order.
|
| Bramhanda |
Posted
on 24-Dec-02 01:52 PM
Bush got Dr. Perfect to fill in the vaccum created by strategically ousting Lott. Can Democrats stir up commotion on this appointment??
_________________________________________________
Paging Dr. Perfect
By MAUREEN DOWD
WASHINGTON — We knew they were good. We didn't know they were this good.
With a spectacular triple bank shot, Karl Rove and George Bush, the Butcher Cassidy and Sundance Kid of politics, blew away Trent Lott, Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton.
Only a week ago, it looked as though Trent Lott could survive, and if he didn't, Don Nickles or Mitch McConnell might step up. But then Mr. Bush authorized the first executive action of his presidency, a stealth assassination of Mr. Lott.
How could the president not finish him off, when the hapless Mississippi senator not only supported Strom Thurmond over Thomas Dewey in '48, but Jack Kemp over George Bush père in '88?
With a cat-burglar finesse that wowed Washington, W. and Karl spirited away the majority leader job and waltzed a Tennessee heart surgeon into it, anointing the urbane Bill Frist the fresh new conservative face of the Republican Party.
"They've created a real live player here," said Bill Carrick, a Democratic strategist. "He comes off as a friendly doctor, which is what he is."
The Boy King and the Boy Genius plucked Dr. Frist from the chorus and made him the headliner, despite misgivings, as Mr. Rove muttered to pals, that the doctor might be too ambitious, too big for his scrubs.
This White House does not like to have any other stars besides Mr. Bush, or independent spirits, or anyone who ever supported a rival. That is why they never recruited Rudy Giuliani to run homeland security, or Warren Rudman for the 9/11 commission, or John McCain for the cabinet. They prefer bland team players they can control.
"They don't want to give anybody else any oxygen," said a former Bush administration official.
So why did they give the 50-year-old surgeon, who didn't even vote until he was 36, room to operate? His elevation makes him a hot prospect for 2008. Not only does Dr. Frist occlude Dr. Rice's vice-presidential hopes, should Dick Cheney decide to leave. He eclipses Jeb, the brother who snatched the presidency for W. and is waiting for his own shot, the brother who spoke up to help W. boot Lott.
"43 has done everything in his presidency not to be 41 and he doesn't want a 44," said a family friend. "He doesn't want to be part of a Bush sandwich. In his own family, he's still ranked as the fourth best politician, after his mother, father and Jeb."
James Carville notes the rule of White Houses: "Help thyself first."
Dr. Frist was the answer to the White House's immediate problems, and certainly he's been a team player, backing up Mr. Bush by retreating on AIDS funding he cares about and crimping stem cell research he knows would revolutionize medicine.
In the long run, maybe W. and Karl reckon that the top Senate job isn't a flattering showcase for a contender trying to impress the conservative base. The suave surgeon will turn sausage maker, playing footsie with moderates, making deals for votes.
The doctor has faced conflict questions over his family health care empire and health industry contributors, and has been scolded for racial insensitivity. Democrats, dying to embarrass the Republicans again, are poring over his records.
Yet you can't underestimate a man who persuades people that cutting open their chests is a good idea.
As Senate campaign chairman in the midterms, Dr. Frist resuscitated his party and won the Senate back. As the first doctor-Senator elected since 1928, he routinely resuscitates Capitol Hill tourists who go into cardiac arrest or pass out; he revived Strom Thurmond the last time he collapsed on the Senate floor.
He works round the clock, often gets by on four hours of sleep, has three sons, yet still finds time to volunteer, operating on AIDS patients in Africa and checking on monkeys' hearts at the National Zoo. He was a calming presence during the anthrax attacks on the Hill and the bioterror debates.
He's a Princeton grad and Harvard med school grad who flies planes and owns a house in Nantucket. He looks like a TV anchor, and has a far smoother bedside manner than Tom DeLay and Dick Armey.
Senator Clinton was hoping that Mr. Rove and Mr. Lott would overreach with a majority Senate, and frighten suburbanites.
But now in 2008, St. Hillary might face Dr. Perfect — a man who not only talks about saving the health care system, but saves lives on his way to the Senate floor.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/22/opinion/22DOWD.html
|
| NK |
Posted
on 24-Dec-02 03:49 PM
Maureen Dowd ths time got it wrong. She should know as THE opposing party , one cannot rely on other party to make mistake to win . I don't think Hillary Clinton was expecting the G.O.P. to slip and chose another mean looking, KKK supporting, hatred espousing, Segregation sympathizing nasty face as to replace Trent Lott. It is time the Republican Party rethink their "Southern Strategy." If the democratic party indeed, is that gullible and stupid that the G.O.P. ( Rove, that is) is that dumb, then they deserve to lose one more time!
|
| Bramhanda |
Posted
on 24-Dec-02 04:05 PM
That's the game when you underestimate your enemy, and hope to attack when the enemy is meek & vulnerable. It could be a ," Stronger amongst the weak strategy", and certainly "Not the Stronger amongst the Strong" , or the "First Amongst the Equals one". If democrats continually expect their opposition to be some buffoons, and also fail to address issues that make them more resolute and distinct from that of their oppostion, then we'll see more display of the buffoonery of Bush for the next 6 years.
Ok, what would the democrats do to muster their courage and come up with a more solid plan at this juncture given that they've be given a rude awakenin?
Pehaps a charismatic spirit with political insight?
Or an ethnic minorit who has an avid interest in and knowledge of economic and social matters ?? Could they play the race and the [state of the] economy card?
How are Dems going to turn this momentum in their favor??
|
