# Trent Lott **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 11, 2002, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127 "2002-12-11T22:56:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/41 "2002-12-12T14:52:08Z")
Sorry, I was thinking it was Daschle who called the remarks racist and said the Senate should censure Lott. In fact, it was Al Gore on Monday, the day after the story broke. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/42 "2002-12-12T14:54:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by IzzyR \* > Most of the outrage is not coming from Republican or Democratic leadership. Gore, Kerry, and the chairman of the DNC aren’t “leadership”? And if “most” of the outrage is not coming from the leadership, that’s a simple reflection of the fact that the outrage is widespread and the rank-and-file greatly outnumbers the leaders. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/43 "2002-12-12T16:10:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by chickendoc \* > \*\*Do you guys really think that Trent Lott, being a politician and all, would have said something that alienates a large portion of his constituents on purpose? \*\* Yes I do. I don’t think the people who would be alienated are “his constituents” anyway. By saying something like - _If the rest of the country had done the same thing we wouldn’t have had all these troubles_ - he was telling his real constituents that he still thinks desegregatione made “those people uppity.” At the same time he expected to follow that with the ususal weasel worded apology and the thing would be applauded by his supporters in Mississippi and soon forgotten elsewhere. He doubtless expected it to be a “one day wonder” and soon forgotten by the rest of the country because there are other, and more pressing problems to deal with right now. ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/44 "2002-12-12T16:35:46Z")
I was willing to cut Sen. Lott some slack on his comment at the Thurmond celebration. Then when I found out he’d made almost identical statements about 20 years ago, it sort of shot down his “it just didn’t come out right” argument. Now this news makes Lott lose all benefit of the doubt: > [@](#): > > 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. Lott really shot himself in the foot by emphasizing that things would have been better if Thurmond had been elected president when he ran. Because that was most definitely before Strom ‘saw the light’ on his viewpoints. His presidential campaign was most decidedly about segregration and anti-civil-rights. Look it up. If I were black, I’d be offended by Lott’s comments. The Republican Party should look long and hard at whether this guy is really who they want representing the face of the party in the Senate. As far as whether Lott should be removed from office, that’s a matter for Mississippi voters to decide. And only slightly less offensive is the Democrats’ feigned outrage for attempted political gain. Is anybody actually fooled? Where was Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Maxine Waters, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, et al, when a very similar incident occurred with Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd? [www.politicalusa.com/columnists/Guest%20Columns/sanford\_001.htm](http://www.politicalusa.com/columnists/Guest%20Columns/sanford_001.htm) How’s this for a remarkably prescient comment, from the above-linked column? Keep in mind, this was written in March 2001, in reference to Byrd’s comment on FoxNews Sunday about why he would continue to use the term “niggers” because he knew white niggers, too: > [@](#): > > Still need help on this one? Imagine Trent Lott had made the same comment to Tony Snow on Sunday. Jackson, Sharpton, and Waters would trip over each other on the way to the nearest television studio. “How dare he use that word,” they would yell in unison. All over the country, liberals would demand the resignation of Senator Lott. Hillary Clinton would introduce a Resolution of Censure. Things that make you go hmmmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![JDM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/90db22/32.png) [@JDM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JDM)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/45 "2002-12-12T19:06:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by chickendoc \* > \*\*Thats a little harsh. Dont you think? After all Lincoln was a Republican. \*\* The “GOP is the party of Lincoln” line is obvious bullshit to anyone with eyes and ears, but the clearest exegesis of the change of the GOP from being the “party of Lincoln” to what it is today was given by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss) in an article in the Southern Partisan magazine (thanks to [Josh Marshall](http://talkingpointsmemo.com)): > [@](#): > > I think that a lot of the fundamental principles that Jefferson Davis believed in are very important to people across the country, and they apply to the Republican Party … After the War between the States, a lot of Southerners identified with the Democrat Party because of the radical Republicans we had at that time, particularly in the Senate. The South was wedded to that party for years and years and years. But we have seen the Republican Party become more conservative and more oriented toward the traditional family values, the religious values that we hold dear in the South. And the Democratic party is going in the other direction. As a result, more and more of The South’s sons, Jefferson Davis’ descendants, direct or indirect, are becoming involved with the Republican party. The platform we had in Dallas, the 1984 Republican platform, all the ideas we supported there - from tax policy, to foreign policy; from individual rights, to neighborhood security - are things that Jefferson Davis and his people believed in… So the Republican Party is no longer the party of “radical Republicans” like Lincoln, but has instead become a party which reflects Jefferson Davis’s ideals. And from his voting record, thanks to [People For the American Way](http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=7210) and [Atrios](http://atrios.blogspot.com/) we see that Lott’s voting record, in at least a few votes with racial connotations, appears to be rather different from the “new” Thurmond, and more like the Dixiecrat candidate of 1948 that Lott pines for: > [@](#): > > …several crucial votes in which > Thurmond and Lott were on opposite sides of > issues with important substantive and symbolic > importance: > > In 2001, Lott cast the only vote against the > confirmation of Judge Roger Gregory, the first > African American judge ever seated on the 4th U.S. > Circuit Court of Appeals. Thurmond voted for > Gregory. > > In 1983, Lott voted against creating a federal > holiday for civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. > Thurmond voted for the holiday. > > In 1982, Lott voted against the Voting Rights Act > extension, which Neas called “the most important > civil rights vote in the 1980s.” Thurmond supported > it. > > In 1978, Lott voted against the 1978 District of > Columbia Voting Rights Constitutional > Amendment. Thurmond voted with the two-thirds > majorities in both houses that passed the > amendment, which eventually failed to win > approval in enough states to be ratified. JDM ---
**Author:** ![hansel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@hansel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hansel)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/46 "2002-12-12T19:16:00Z")
[More fuel for the fire.](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dec0202.html#121202110am) I think Lott is an unrepentent racist who’s smart enough to keep his mouth shut most of the time, but he’s shown a continual pattern of implicitly endorsing racist causes. Besides the two slips referring to Thurmond’s presidential campaign, he addressed the [Council of Conservative Citizens](http://www.cofcc.org/) in 1992, a white supremacist group (who were kicked out of the [Conservative Political Action Group](http://www.cpac.org/) for their racist positions), telling them that they had the “right principles and the right philosophy”. There was a brouhaha, Lott made some mea culpas, and it died down. ---
**Author:** ![montag01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@montag01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/montag01)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/47 "2002-12-12T19:24:24Z")
Well, the President has just called Lott’s comments offensive: [http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/12/lott.comment/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/12/lott.comment/index.html) Took him long enough. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/48 "2002-12-12T20:38:06Z")
Jeez, I almost feel sorry for the guy. What a train wreck. > **[MSNBC News - Breaking News and News Today | Latest News](https://www.msnbc.com/)** > > MSNBC breaking news and the latest news for today. Get daily news from local news reporters and world news updates with live audio & video from our team. > [@](#): > > In five short days the Trent Lott controversy has ruined years of effort by George W. Bush and Karl Rove to prove that the new Republican Party — though based in the Old South — could win black votes. Lott may hold onto his job as the new Senate majority leader, but the damage has already been done. I guess the Republicans are really pissed. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/49 "2002-12-12T20:44:55Z")
Politics as usual. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/50 "2002-12-12T20:52:59Z")
Bush and Lott. Happy together. Great campaign slogan. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/51 "2002-12-12T21:51:11Z")
Something sure as hell is going on, but what? I read an opinion that the Pubbies were trying to shed their old school image, look more technocratic, etc. But that doesn’t quite get it. I find Lott’s remarks mildly offensive, but no big deal. And the Republican party’s tacit acceptance the “racist right” support without having to do anything to “deserve” it is old, old news. If a scandal was needed, it would seem like WorldCom’s abiding concern with funding political science would have served better than this puny little fiasco. I can’t believe this is all about reaching out for minority voters, its not like Al Sharpton has them running for cover. And now Our Leader has bailed. Can’t get a much clearer signal that Ol’ Trent will soon be spending more time with his family. This has Karl “The Impaler” Rove’s fingerprints all over it. The tantalizing question remains: why? Is there some scandal just under the radar screens that hasn’t hit yet? Are the Pubbies out to divest themselves of such embarassments as Lott, Helms, and Phil Gramm? If so, on what day did they start to give a shit? Is Tom DeLay next? Is this certain proof of a just and loving God? Just what the hell is going on here? Whatever it is, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. But if anybody has any good ideas as to what this _really_ means, I’d sure like to here it. Now to resume my regularly scheduled gloating and chuckling. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/52 "2002-12-12T22:37:38Z")
Of course I still have a beef with Lott for when he declared that homosexuality was neither a “genetic condition” or a “lifestyle choice”, but an .[addiction](http://www.skeptictank.org/hs/lott-gay.htm) Of course, he does have a BS in Public Administration and a law degree, so he’s clearly studied genetics and psychology very closely. Speaking of beef and Lott, is anybody familiar with Trent’s cousin Clyde, the man who’s trying to breed the that’ll bring on Armageddon?[red heifer](http://www.prophetech.com/people/heifer2.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/53 "2002-12-12T22:38:58Z")
Does anybody else have a mental image of Bush sending Lott on a fishing trip with Al Neri, btw? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/54 "2002-12-12T22:54:55Z")
He will be led to a quiet room. There, on a coffee table, a pistol with a single bullet. ---
**Author:** ![hansel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@hansel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hansel)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/55 "2002-12-12T23:14:31Z")
As Josh Marshall put it, the Pubbies are realizing that the Democrats love a public debate centered on whether or not Lott is really a racist, or just kind of a racist. That’s why Lott is being hung out to dry. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/56 "2002-12-12T23:43:49Z")
> [@](#): > > **Trent Lott’s Segregationist College Days** > At Ole Miss, the Senator helped lead a fight to keep blacks out of his national fraternity [http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,399310,00.html](http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,399310,00.html) Lott is history. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/57 "2002-12-12T23:55:56Z")
From the Time article: " Asked about the fraternity vote, Lott responded through a spokesman, who said: “Those were different times in a different era. Senator Lott believes that segregation is immoral and repudiates it.” That line is to Southerners what “I was only following orders” is for Germans, and about equally as exonerating. Times may have been different, but logic and compassion have been essentially unaltered for thousands of years. Mark Twain was just one southerner (Missouri could be argued to go either way, I know, but I’m basing this on the fact it was a slave state) saw the ridiculousness of racism more than a century before Lott fought against this fraternity being integrated, and colleges are supposedly there to help you refine your thinking skills, so that “times were different” crap just doesn’t wash. (Not bashing southerners, incidentally, just rationalizers- I’m from Alabama and I’ve heard this line 5,000 times in my own family.) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/58 "2002-12-13T01:03:58Z")
> [@](#): > > As Josh Marshall put it, the Pubbies are realizing that the Democrats love a public debate centered on whether or not Lott is really a racist, or just kind of a racist. Kinda slow aren’t they ? It’s not so much the racist remarks, as the perception of institutional racism within the GOP, that’s finally got them moving. **december** called this one correctly days ago. I’m just glad that he, and those who think like him, lack power within the party apparatus. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/59 "2002-12-13T01:33:48Z")
> [@](#): > > Does anybody else have a mental image of Bush sending Lott on a fishing trip with Al Neri, btw? I thought I was the only one thinking that Bush might have to pull a Fredo if this thing gets any worse. Stop reading my thoughts, dude. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127/60 "2002-12-13T01:38:55Z")
> [@](#): > > The conservative Southern Democrat is a rare animal these days. They’re all Republicans now. Um… Zell Miller? John Breux? Bob Graham? There are plenty of conservative Southern Democrats still out there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott/142127.md?page=4)