# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/61 "2020-07-28T14:36:04Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > Why the fuck is this jackass running unopposed? (Is there anyone from Arkansas on the board? What the hell happened?) It’s a bad bit of business all around. The Dem candidate dropped out (purportedly for family health reasons) 2 hours after the deadline for the party to replace him on the ballot. The state party was unsuccessful in its legal attempts to change this (which Asa Hutchinson and Cotton naturally opposed strongly). There have been various conspiracy theory grumbling but nothing definitive. That doesn’t leave much, other than a write-in campaign and a Libertarian candidate. Cotton isn’t terribly popular even in Arkansas, but it would have been an uphill climb for anybody to run against a Republican. It’s like Ted Cruz in Texas. People don’t like him but as long as he has that (R) next to his name, he mostly needs to not screw up. And since Cotton is running virtually unopposed, he’s felt no real need to temper that natural charm of us to even that extent. ---
**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, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/62 "2020-07-28T14:41:06Z")
I would also add that the founding generation did do some things to try to end slavery; for example, the [Northwest Ordinance](https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/nworder.asp) (adopted under the Articles of Confederation to govern what is now the eastern Midwest and eventually establish new states there) barred slavery from those territories: > [@](#): > > There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: _Provided, always_ , That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid. As can be seen from that quote, they compromised (_Provided, always_…), as they did when they adopted the Constitution. They did not do enough. But they did not do nothing at all, either. Ultimately, they thought slavery was wrong, but that it was too entrenched to do anything about just yet, so they kicked the can down the road, thinking some future generation could deal with the problem–but then slavery grew more entrenched in the South, not less, and that “future generation” wound up having to fight a bloody Civil War, and that was followed by another century of entrenched and systematic racial oppression in a large region of the country (and considerable racism throughout the United States). ---
**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, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/63 "2020-07-28T15:16:02Z")
Not sure why you’re apologizing to me. After all, I was just telling you what Snowboarder\_Bo said. ---
**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, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/64 "2020-07-28T16:27:06Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Cotton isn’t terribly popular even in Arkansas, but it would have been an uphill climb for anybody to run against a Republican. It’s like Ted Cruz in Texas. People don’t like him but as long as he has that ® next to his name, he mostly needs to not screw up. And since Cotton is running virtually unopposed, he’s felt no real need to temper that natural charm of us to even that extent. Yeah, I know that a non-R in Arkansas is more or less dead in the water. But with comments like this, that candidate could have gotten instant backing (money, resources, star power, publicity) to make Cotton at least do some work for the seat. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/65 "2020-07-28T16:55:03Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > Yeah, I know that a non-R in Arkansas is more or less dead in the water. But with comments like this, that candidate could have gotten instant backing (money, resources, star power, publicity) to make Cotton at least do some work for the seat. I’m no longer in Arkansas but do keep up with the home state as I can. There is a grassroots effort for Dan Whitfield, who is a progressive having to run as an Independent. He was denied a spot on the ballot. He’s fighting that in court, arguing COVID related difficulties should be taken into account. If he does make it onto the ballot, that’ll force Cotton into some effort. Not a lot of effort, but enough to maybe burn some money. The state’s Democratic Party apparatus is in need of a tuneup. To be honest, they didn’t try that hard with their Senate candidate, and there were rumors of campaign finance irregularities. They didn’t push for a better candidate in the first place, despite that. It wasn’t that long ago that Democrats held most of the positions, so it’s not impossible. They do have to deal with some demographic changes, though. NW Arkansas is very conservative but the younger crowd moving into the area (because of Wal-Mart, among others) is increasingly growing liberal but at odds with the old school members of the party in Little Rock and everywhere in-state except NWA. Generational change happens, and they’re dealing with the pains of that right now. There’s also the Libertarian candidate, Ricky Harrington Jr, but I’m not sure a Libertarian candidate for a statewide office has garnered even 5% of the vote in ages. ---
**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 28, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/66 "2020-07-28T17:52:10Z")
The man has black people in his district and he constructively agreed with those who called slavery “necessary.” He can’t imgine not enslaving their ancestors, and he wants them to agree. ---
**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 28, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/67 "2020-07-28T18:34:27Z")
He’s a Senator. His “district” is the entire state. ---
**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 28, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/68 "2020-07-28T18:35:23Z")
That’s even worse. “…In his state…” ---
**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, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/69 "2020-07-28T18:52:27Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > 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). Let’s give Eli Whitney a share of the blame too. In Washington and Jefferson’s time slavery was in decline due to economic reasons. Most people could foresee a point when every state would voluntarily abolish it. Then Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793 and cotton production started making big profits. Plantation agriculture was revitalized and slavery became profitable once again. Not only could you use slaves to grow cotton on your own land; you could also sell slaves to new settlements in places like Alabama and Mississippi and Texas so they could grow cotton on their land. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/70 "2020-07-29T01:25:46Z")
Cotton is obviously in the wrong profession, unless solid communication skills are no longer considered vital in a politician. If some internet jerkoff apologist has to twist himself into a pretzel to expain your words, you’re probably doing it wrong. The trash that support Trump have to do the same thing, so maybe it’s the new normal. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/71 "2020-07-29T18:15:10Z")
He has also built his entire philosophy of law and governance around the Constitution as a sacred (rather than a living) document, and the “Founding Fathers” as omniscient beings whose every intent is to be followed even as our children are murdered in their classrooms. So yeah, when he quotes that particular quote it is still problematic. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/72 "2020-07-29T18:37:36Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 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. It was necessary for large landowners to get stupidly, ridiculously rich. There was simply no other way to get the volume of labor they needed to fully exploit the land they suddenly had access to. And it goes without saying that if you can get filthy, stinking rich and the only obstacle is adopting brutal chattel slavery, well, what can you do? The utter necessity of this action can be seen in the way those areas with all the slavery are now the economic powerhouses of the nation–you know, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama. Packed with thriving metropolises and low rates of poverty and its associated ills. ---
**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 29, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/73 "2020-07-29T19:01:07Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Cotton is obviously in the wrong profession, unless solid communication skills are no longer considered vital in a politician. I don’t think this is necessarily true. Cotton isn’t running for President (for now). He’s running for re-election as a Senator in Arkansas. So the only opinions that matter to him right now are those of 51% of Arkansas voters. He made a statement that shows his support for white power. Then he apologized for it the next day to cover his ass. But now he can talk to racist white voters in Arkansas and say “You know how I feel” as he winks. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/74 "2020-07-29T20:08:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 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. Those attributing this argument to economics have got the wrong end of the stick. The argument that it was “a necessary evil” is based upon the idea that there would never have been a Union at all if the founders had not allowed slaveowners to keep their slaves. Those of us who disagree believe that a dedicated group could have nailed out a compromise turning it into something more like the indentured servitude common for white Europeans, where the servants had some human rights, and an end in sight, however far off. This would have greatly benefited **everyone** concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/75 "2020-07-29T21:10:16Z")
And the UK agreed. They first banned the slave trade, though not ownership, in 1807 (with a few far flung exceptions). And ownership was outright banned a couple decades later. The abolition movement in the UK was very strong at the time. It is a distinct possibility that had the US not declared independence, chattel slavery would not have lasted as long as it did. As it is, the economics weren’t working out. The major slaveowners in the ‘old’, established states like Virginia and the Carolinas were increasingly relying on selling slaves to less established cotton regions and wanted to extend this practice to neighboring countries. The plantation system was already starting to fail. That’s why, despite wanting to keep and sell slaves, they didn’t want any importation of new slaves (something explicitly disallowed in the Confederate constitution) - it was unwanted competition. Slavery was necessary in the same way that it was necessary for COVID relief to mostly go to big companies instead of directly to the people - it’s not, unless one subscribes to a busted philosophy that puts big moneyed interests ahead of nearly all other considerations. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/76 "2020-07-29T22:50:52Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > It wasn’t that long ago that Democrats held most of the positions, so it’s not impossible. You’re not kidding. I remember one of the first times I voted (either 2008 or 2012, but I think the latter), that I was surprised at how many times the choice was only Dem vs. Green or Independent, and that the Dem was very often the incumbent. Granted, that was is more local elections. The tide had already swung for the others. But the remnants of a much more Democratic dominated landscape still remained. I’ve wondered if it was leftover from Clinton’s days as governor. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/77 "2020-08-06T00:06:21Z")
Was that Citizen of the Galaxy, by Heinlein? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/78 "2020-08-06T03:07:09Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Was that Citizen Of The Galaxy, by Heinlein? I’m not **MEBuckner** , but [good eye!](https://books.google.com/books?id=wksN1qnkooAC&pg=PA262&lpg=PA262&dq=%E2%80%9COne+stroke+of+the+lash+would+change+his+slimy+mind!%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=zz7bDNHbBU&sig=ACfU3U20Xq-r9aKs0206saCmkRL07S2jXQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi-ntCCzIXrAhXoIDQIHRWCBh8Q6AEwAXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9COne%20stroke%20of%20the%20lash%20would%20change%20his%20slimy%20mind!%E2%80%9D&f=false) ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486/79 "2020-08-06T15:13:01Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > If we allow that the south was never going to give up its claims to slavery, and there could never be a sustainable union or constitution without the south, then we can say slavery was… maybe not a necessary evil. An unavoidable evil. I think it’s incorrect to say here that “slavery” was an unavoidable evil. What was unavoidable, was the inclusion of slave states to the union. Those states choosing slavery as the cornerstone of their economy was completely avoidable. Those states always had the option of ending slavery. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cotton-you-are-a-worthless-sack-of-shit/916486.md?page=3)