Volume CCXXXIII, Number
29 January, 2003
Could it be that it was all so different then
. . . or has time rewritten every line?
THOSE WERE
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It's not racism, it's just nostalgia.
That was the most plausible argument raised in defense of the vinyl-haired Senator from the Great State of Mississippi, Trent Lott. Lott of course was responding to conservative critics who pronounced themselves shocked, shocked to discover that Lott, a fairly typical Southern Republican, was in fact an unreconstructed, so to speak, racist and advocate of segregation. Those same conservatives of course continued to enjoy the political jackpot of white Southern votes attracted by Republican opposition to civil rights, school busing, affirmative action, etc., etc.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to stop Lott from being lynched. Unlike the kind that Trent and his buddies used to run for fun in Ol' Mississip, no one would take credit for this Nashoba County barbecue. For example, here's what the supposedly moderate Sen. Olympia Snowe had to say:
STATEMENT OF U.S. SENATOR OLYMPIA J. SNOWE RESPONDING TO SENATOR LOTT’S PRESS CONFERENCE
Contact: Dave Lackey [Nice name – Ed.]
Friday, December 13, 2002
"Senator Lott needed to offer a personal, passionate, and sincere renunciation of racism and segregation in all its forms, and he did that tonight. It was critical for Senator Lott to look people in the eye and acknowledge that his words were hurtful and wrong. He asked for forgiveness and forbearance, and his pledge to reach out to the African American community next week is a significant first step," said U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine).
Thanks, Olympia. By the way, you can scour Susan Collins' web-site for similar sentiments, but find only Maine's junior Senator schlepping a kayak somewhere in the frozen wasteland she represents. As Christopher Hitchens noted in Slate, State of Mainers turned the tide for the Union at Gettysburg, but their two Republican Senators are fleeing from battle like the Federals at Bull Run.
Now that Lott has been replaced by Bill Frist, smooth-talking Southern reactionary and Friend of the Negro, the relentless Republican whitewash 'n spin machine can "repair" the "damage," as evidenced by the following press release from the Republican National Committee:
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Paid for by the Republican National Committee
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AND APPARENTLY PLENTY OF SHELLFISH AS WELL . . . With her victory . . . sealed, Judge Bonnie Dumanis . . . will become the first openly gay prosecutor elected in the country, gay advocates say. [Doesn't the Times know? – Ed.]. . . . Judge Dumanis's campaign manager, Kevin Tilden, said it was a mark of social progress that homosexuality was not an issue in the campaign, even in a city with so conservative a reputation. "There was enough meat to chew on without getting into Bonnie's sexual orientation," said Mr. Tilden, . . . -- The New York Times, November 13, 2002 at A16. |
