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CounterPunch
December
18, 2002
A Lott of Questions
by WALT BRASCH
It was just an off-the-cuff comment. A throw-away
line, actually. Just something to honor retiring Sen. Strom Thurmond
at his 100th birthday bash.
Senate majority leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.)
said Mississippians were "proud of" voting for the
segregationist Thurmond when he ran as a States Rights presidential
candidate in 1948, largely against the civil rights record of
incumbent Harry Truman. Then, Lott quickly added, "If the
rest of the country had followed our lead we wouldn't have had
all these problems over all these years, either."
For a couple of days, hardly anyone publicly
spoke about the comments. Not the Democrats, who had proven themselves
to be a marginalized blend of Demopublicanism. Not the Republicans
who didn't need a scandal so close after taking control of Congress.
And not the establishment media which have often replaced hard-hitting
investigative journalism with soft features about Britney's latest
navel-baring. Only a few alternative publications even mentioned
Lott's comments.
But it was enough. Soon, Lott's comments
were all over the internet, and the establishment finally realized
there might be a story.
The Democrats, after a few days, sniffed
the wind, suddenly became morally outraged at the Republican
leader's segregationist stand, and demanded his censure. The
Republicans, trying for damage control, had little choice but
to say they didn't think Lott was a segregationist--any more--but
still had to denounce the statements by the man they elected
to lead them in the senate. President Bush, whom no one could
accuse of racism, was justifiably outraged, and sharply rebuked
Lott's statements, saying the statements were not just offensive,
but wrong. However, the President did not call for Lott's resignation.
Some Republicans began a whispering campaign,
giving the media statements of outrage--as long as they weren't
quoted by name or held responsible for their beliefs. After all,
the Republican cowards figured that Lott just might survive a
call for his resignation, and wouldn't be magnanimous in awarding
them political perks. But, if Lott did resign as majority leader,
the whisperers would all move up the corporate political ladder,
gaining better salaries, larger offices, and more power.
But, none of the Republicans were outraged
enough to call for Lott to resign his senate seat-that would
lead to a Democratic governor probably appointing a Democratic
senator, thus reducing the Republican Senate membership to just
50.
Lott-just a good ole country boy- had
managed to stay alive politically by telling his constituents
what he thought they wanted to hear. As a fraternity president
at the University of Mississippi, he not only opposed integrating
his own Ole Miss fraternity, but chapters in all states. As a
senator, he voted against an extension of the Voting Rights Act
and against declaring a national holiday in honor of Martin Luther
King Jr. He voted for a Constitutional amendment that, if it
had passed, would have outlawed busing to achieve racial integration.
He supported federal provisions to allow tax exemptions for segregated
private schools. In a campaign speech, he had told the segregationist
Council of Conservative Citizens that they had "the right
principles and the right philosophy." And now, in mid-December,
a contrite Lott, realizing the political damage and embarrassment
he had caused, orchestrated a series of apologies, stating that
his earlier remarks were "totally unacceptable and insensitive,"
that he was truly sorry to "anybody who was offended,"
and that he supported affirmative action. He told the media that
although he grew up in a segregationist environment, "segregation
and racism are immoral." It's what his 50 fellow Republican
senators and the nation wanted to hear.
A number of questions still remain. Is
Trent Lott a segregationist and racist who used that philosophy
to get elected several times, and is he now apologetic because
he wants to keep a leadership role and his Senate seat?
Why did Americans and their media, for
48 years, tolerate Strom Thurmond as a U.S. senator, although
most of that time he was a segregationist and all of that time
wrote no major legislation?
Why did the American media, which either
didn't know or didn't care about Trent Lott's history of segregationist
and probably racist beliefs, remain relatively silent for the
14 years he was in the senate? More important, why was the establishment
press silent for days after the most-recent comments?
Are the Democrats gleefully morally outraged
because they really are outraged, or because they now have some
political capital against a Republican-dominated Congress? Are
the Republicans justifiably outraged, or are they just doing
damage control to keep their Congressional power and whatever
political capital they received during the mid-term elections?
Four years ago, Trent Lott was more than
willing to use Bill Clinton's sexual escapades as political fodder
for a series of vicious attacks upon the President and the Democratic
party. So, one interesting question remains. Why has no political
leader called for Lott's impeachment? The answer might be that
Congress and Americans are more outraged at sexual conduct than
they are at racism. Apparently, a stain upon a dress that almost
tore apart the Clinton administration is politically far more
damaging to America than a stain upon its soul.
Walt Brasch,
a national award-winning reporter and editor, is professor of
journalism at Bloomsburg University. He is the author of 13 books,
including The Press and the State, and the current book, The
Joy of Sax: America During the Bill Clinton Era. You may contact
him through his web-site www.walterbrasch.com.
He can be reached at: brasch@ptd.net
copyright 2002 Walter M. Brasch.
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