Lott will not step down

Democrats are calling for Lott to step down. Some Republicans are as well. But most Senate Republicans are defending him, and Lott says he's not going anywhere. And, he's making silly comments like this:

We are beyond those policies of the past, Larry [King]. They were bad at the time; we've made huge progress since then. My state has more African American elected officials than any other state. We need to come together; we need to be uniters, not dividers.

Has Bush's "united, not dividers" language ever sounded more hollow, more exposed to the hypocrisy that it represents?

Of those African American elected officials in Mississippi, how many are from majority white districts? How many are Republicans?

And I won't even go into the "uniter" crap, as Bush and the Republicans ran full bore against those very Democrats that most faithfully stood by the president. Lott and his ilk care in being united only if you're a Republicans and white. His history of hanging around with segregationist groups, his consistent praise of Thurmond's '48 campaign, his opposition to just about every Civil Rights and Voting Rights bill to pass his desk, and his strong defense of Bob Jones University all lead to that same conclusion.

And while the conservative/libertarian segment of the blogosphere has been calling for Lott's resignation in almost a united voice, Senate and House Republicans have been generally silent.

Most Republicans on Capitol Hill have withheld comment about Lott's remarks, offering neither condemnation nor support. But yesterday, two senior Republicans, Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), defended Lott and said it was time to end the criticism.

Stevens called the criticism an "overreaction" and said that "it's now time to move on." Specter said he was confident that Lott did not support Thurmond's segregationist platform, adding, "His comment was an inadvertent slip, and his apology should end the discussion."

So, there you have it. Senate Republicans don't see much wrong with Lott and his segregationist past, and don't mind that he's their leader.

It's good to expose the Republican Party for what it really stands for.

Josh Marshall has been leading the charge on this story from Day 1, and he hasn't let up. He now reports:

"In 1989," according to a March 29th, 1999 article in The Washington Post, Trent Lott, "refused to co-sponsor a congressional resolution designating June 21 as Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner Day after the three civil rights workers murdered 25 years earlier in Mississippi."

How charming. Any Congressional Republicans want to weigh in on this one? (Not surprising, however, since Lott also voted against the federal MLK holiday in 1983.) Marshall also exposes Lott's lies on Hannity's show regarding his association with the racist Council of Concertave Citizens.

Posted December 12, 2002 07:05 AM | Comments (68)