# Tom Cotton, you are a worthless sack of shit **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 27, 2020, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486 "2020-07-27T12:16:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/41 "2020-07-27T19:33:12Z")
“As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.” In other words, he himself said that it was the necessary evil. He didn’t say that the Founding Fathers believed it, he said that it was, he stated this as a bald faced fact. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/42 "2020-07-27T19:38:39Z")
I don’t know what his beliefs are. On this specific subject, I’m talking about idiomatic English, where using “as” in that way means agreement with the quote. I’m sure you’ll get to it at some point in your class. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/43 "2020-07-27T23:31:55Z")
Yes. I hear him saying slavery was necessary for the nation. If you asked a black person or even someone with basic human values, it’s just inconceivable to get an answer like that back. It’s a white privilege to say it by definition. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/44 "2020-07-27T23:59:02Z")
> [@pool](#): > > “We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can’t understand our country. As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as [Abraham] Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.” His use of “as” here is an agreement with that which follows. He agrees that it was necessary, and that it wouldn’t last. He sounds like a real douche-fucking-canoe. I’m glad he’s not my representative. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/45 "2020-07-28T00:22:36Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > No, but a lot of them, at the time the Constitution was written, thought they’d have to come back and deal with the slavery issue one way or another within 20-30 years and/or it might lead to fighting. It ended up taking quite a bit longer than that, which speaks to how much they wanted to keep the Union together. Oh, hell. Let’s leave it to future generations. Good idea. It’ll make them feel more involved. [![](https://present5.com/presentation/007d171e8c18db236d6b5c8ff26b6736/image-10.jpg) ](https://present5.com/presentation/007d171e8c18db236d6b5c8ff26b6736/image-10.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/46 "2020-07-28T01:33:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > And Tom Cotton and Donald Trump would be the conservatives trying to defend and preserve slavery. Cotton and Trump would buy slaves tomorrow if someone were selling. Hell, if it came out tomorrow that those two had a few slaves hidden away right now, how shocked would you really be? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/47 "2020-07-28T02:11:01Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > Hell, if it came out tomorrow that those two had a few slaves hidden away right now, how shocked would you really be? With Trump, I’d be shocked he managed to keep it a secret and not mention it in one of his tweets. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/48 "2020-07-28T02:57:49Z")
> [@pool](#): > > If you read the full quote he was claiming that the founding fathers viewed slavery as a necessary evil: > > He added: “We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can’t understand our country. As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as [Abraham] Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.” Why was it a _necessary_ evil? Large parts of the country were settled and developed without slavery. So it seems to me like it was an evil of choice. The southern states could have chosen to abolish slavery if they had wanted to; other parts of the country did. They chose to keep slavery not because it was necessary but because it was convenient for the slave owners. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/49 "2020-07-28T02:59:10Z")
The junior senator from Kentucky weighs in with his thoughts on the matter[.](https://news.files.bbci.co.uk/include/shorthand/42284/media/1080x1080-satire-definition_yc1jufx.png) > **[Rand Paul Thanks Tom Cotton for Replacing Him as Most Hated Person in Senate](https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/rand-paul-thanks-tom-cotton-for-replacing-him-as-most-hated-person-in-senate)** > > According to Senate insiders, Cotton beat out a daunting field of competitors. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/50 "2020-07-28T03:04:49Z")
I have no disagreement with you I don’t believe it was a necessary evil although it was convenient at a very racist period in America. I simply disagree that he was personally endorsing this view and not attributing it to the founding fathers. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/51 "2020-07-28T03:40:57Z")
As Snowboarder\_Bo said, take an English class. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/52 "2020-07-28T03:52:51Z")
Sorry I’m like school in Summer. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/53 "2020-07-28T04:25:13Z")
That makes no sense either: “school in Summer” isn’t “a moronic troll”. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/54 "2020-07-28T04:31:33Z")
Does Snowboarder Bottom have a hardon for me? @discobot fortune ---
**Author:** ![discobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/discobot/32/570_2.png) [@discobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/discobot)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/55 "2020-07-28T04:31:35Z")
> 🔮 It is decidedly so ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/56 "2020-07-28T04:32:41Z")
Game, set, match, Discobot only gets it wrong 1/1,000,000!!! WOOT!!! ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/57 "2020-07-28T13:45:08Z")
Why the fuck is this jackass running unopposed? (Is there anyone from Arkansas on the board? What the hell happened?) Is there any grassroots anything for him to be voted out in November? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/58 "2020-07-28T13:57:57Z")
For those who don’t know Mr. Cotton very well: > [@](#): > > On February 7, 2014, (Cassandra) Butts was nominated by President Obama to be [United States Ambassador to the Bahamas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Ambassador_to_the_Bahamas). The Senate held a committee hearing on her nomination in May 2014, but took no action the rest of the year, and her nomination lapsed with the end of the [113th United States Congress](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/113th_United_States_Congress).[_[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)_ ] > > With the new Congress, Obama renominated her to the post on February 5, 2015. The [United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_Committee_on_Foreign_Relations) reported her nomination to the full U.S. Senate on May 21, 2015. However, Butts’ nomination was blocked by several Republican senators. First, Sen. [Ted Cruz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz) placed a blanket hold on all U.S. State Department nominees after he was upset with Obama for the [Iran nuclear deal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Comprehensive_Plan_of_Action).[[14]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra_Butts#cite_note-nytimes.com-14) However, after Cruz lifted those holds, Sen. [Tom Cotton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Cotton) then stepped in and once again, to protest an issue unrelated to the specific nominees, blocked Butts’ nomination and the nominations of ambassador nominees to Sweden and Norway after the Secret Service had leaked private information about a fellow member of Congress. **Cotton later lifted his holds on the nominees to Sweden and Norway, but kept his hold on Butts’ nomination**.[[14]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra_Butts#cite_note-nytimes.com-14) > > Butts told New York Times columnist [Frank Bruni](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Bruni) that she had visited Cotton about his objections to her nomination, and **Cotton told her that because he knew that Obama and Butts were friends, blocking Butts was a way to “inflict special pain on the president,”** Bruni wrote.[[14]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra_Butts#cite_note-nytimes.com-14) According to Bruni’s article, a spokeswoman for Cotton did not dispute Butts’ account, but did emphasize Cotton’s respect for Butts and for her career.[[14]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra_Butts#cite_note-nytimes.com-14) > > Butts died on May 25, 2016, still awaiting a Senate vote. NOTE: I added Miss Butts first name at the beginning of the quote. Helpful bolding also mine. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/59 "2020-07-28T14:09:49Z")
Not sure the founders thought of Slavery as “evil” per se. As Dr Johnson famously pointed out _How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?_ ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/60 "2020-07-28T14:30:16Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Not sure the founders thought of > Slavery as “evil” per se. [Washington](https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/washingtons-changing-views-on-slavery/) did actually free his slaves in his will, and at least in private expressed uneasiness about the morality of slavery in light of the ideals of the Revolution. [Jefferson](https://www.monticello.org/thomas-jefferson/jefferson-slavery/jefferson-s-attitudes-toward-slavery/#footnote2_9cx81lu) was undoubtedly a racist, who believed the “black race” to be inferior to the “white race” and who owned and exploited people in various ways (perhaps most infamously Sally Hemings). But he also did seem to pretty consistently claim that slavery was a moral wrong (even though he did not believe the Africans who were enslaved to be equal to Europeans), and made at least some attempts at trying to end slavery. In general, the founding generation (or at least its most prominent leaders) were hypocritical, and unable or unwilling to bring themselves to end slavery, even as many of them hoped (privately or even publicly) that somehow, eventually, slavery would be ended. The notion that slavery was a [“positive good”](https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/clyde-wilson-library/john-c-calhoun-and-slavery-as-a-positive-good-what-he-said/) was more associated with a later generation–the term is usually associated with John C. Calhoun’s speech in 1837–and attitudes about slavery went from condemnation (however halfhearted and mealy-mouthed and ineffectual) at the dawn of the republic, to more radically unapologetic defenses of slavery as [something “beneficial” (allegedly even to the slaves) that should exist “in all future time”](https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_texsec.asp) and as an institution [which ought to serve as the “cornerstone” of a government](https://civilwarcauses.org/corner.htm). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486.md?page=4)