The Growing Fire Around Trent Lott

It's called "Crow with Rotten Egg Sauce."

D'artagnan
You would imagine if the man had any pride or integrity at all he would just stop crying and groveling and give up the post gracefully. I am sure that there is a lesson to be learned in all this, that there are no friends and allies in the political world. Only a nest of vipers ready to pounce at the first opportunity. That my friends are the people who lead us and make our laws. Comforting thought is it not.

If anything, politics is worse now that it was when I was young. At least it seems so. Then there were at least some politicians who stood for something. Now it's all about what will (or won't) make it more likely that I'll be re-elected next time around. If Lott's a liability to the GOP cause, then he's gotta go. The irony, of course, is that he's expendable for expressing the nastiness that's characterized the GOP in the South for decades.

And I'm not excluding the Democrats from the crime of doing whatever the voters may be willing to swallow. Here in Washington (state), the Democratic governor has proposed a horrendous budget, full of nasty cuts, just to avoid a tax increase. Schools, health care for the poor--the hell with it, as my late father would say.

D'artagnan
I doubt that politicians are any better or worse than in the past. They continue to be corrupt and self serving. The means of communication has improved and with the proliferation of news media on the airways and the need for ratings no story is left unreported. {over and over again]

Or, in the words of Mr. Clemens:

"No man's life or property are safe while the legislature is in session.

He's now for affirmative action? Get out the airsick bags.

As on the 'other' forum, I kept/keep away from political questions or comments. I feel Lott had an acute case of 'foot in mouth' disease, but also believe the 'gotchas' are blowing it way out of proportion. Who among us has not opened our mouth before our brain was in gear? A friend emailed this piece to me: (Hope I do it right. If not, I'm sure Phoenix will let me know where I goofed up! She's good. )

http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/fitz12182002.htm

Agreed: A person in the public eye as visible as Lott should very carefully choose his words, but I don't believe the party mood of the event should have brought down such wrath on an off-the-cuff remark.

Personally, I don't care if Lott stays, steps down, leaves, etc. Our country has survived real crises in the past, and will in the future. To me, this is just an annoying pebble in a shoe--you simply put another shoe on.

Mustang, I felt the same way about Lott's "foot in mouth," until I learned that's his soul. You need to look into his voting record. Makes a big differnce to me. c.i.

I think c.i.'s comment about his soul is really pertinent. If he made a gaffe in the sense of saying something he didn't mean that could be taken the wrong way, that's one thing. But this was a case of shining a spotlight on what he really thinks, and that ("wouldn't have these problems" et al) is what he really thinks. That's not surprising to many, but it's been covert -- when it becomes overt, nobody wants to go on record as agreeing with or supporting that way of thinking.

Disqualified!
Trent Lott’s mistake was much more than one gaffe.


Senator Trent Lott told Black Entertainment Television Monday night that his current troubles offer "an opportunity for me to do something about years of misbehavior." The Mississippi Republican inadvertently pinpointed why he cannot remain Senate GOP leader. He has pushed racial buttons over five decades.

http://www.nationalreview.com/murdock/murdock121802.asp

au, Lott's following statement is in many other media coverage, but also in your link, which convinced me about his 'soul.'

[quote]Lott crowed in May 1998: "Sometimes I feel closer to Jefferson Davis than any other man in America."[/quote]


He's not going to be able to convince me he's not a bigot no matter how many times he refutes it.

c.i.

Welcome aboard Mustang - hope you enjoy your stay!

(Will try again--got the "Page cannot be displayed" message just a moment ago)

Thanks for the welcome, Bill W. I'm still larnin' my way around. Perhaps some day I'll no longer be a 'Newbie.' One of the great things about A2K is if this subject were a thread on the other forum, it would be filled with $#@%, or @#$, etc. Now I'm by no means a prude. But there's a time and place for such language--and it's not here.

Oh, you mean you didn't care for the tacky dive, barrom brawl language at Abuzz? That's from the theory that one man's Corvette is bigger than the other man's Corvette.

:wink:

Mustang, I see you also found out how to express yourself real well!

Mustang
Don't you miss zinger?

au1929--Oh, yeah! Sure do miss zinger. Had a headache last week. Don't have it today. Miss it just as much as I miss zinger.

Now, where's the damn valuable button? Oh, I know.

Sorry. I forgot myself.