Posted on 06/27/2003 10:32:07 PM PDT by AJ Insider
No Respect for the Dead
I really wasn't that surprised that many of the national news reports would dwell upon Trent Lott's remarks at Thurmond's retirement party and I was even less surprised that most of the articles written today would include mentions of Thurmond's changing views on race and integration. It is a bit interesting that the NY Times, that running joke of a newspaper in Gotham, chose as its headline: Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100. Of all the things they could mention about Thurmond, the headline writer/editor chose to leave it as just Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration without even mentiong he held office of any kind. The actual obituary in the Times, written by Adam Clymer, is as balanced as you could expect from Clymer and the Times. Best of the Web discusses some of Clymer's bias in the article. Jeffrey Gettleman's piece in the Times Saturday is a stark contrast to Clymer's.
Governor Mark Sanford's written statement praised Thurmond and an interview with Fox News did the same. In the television interview, Sanford threw in a little twist (as if he were concerned about future criticism he might receive for praising Thurmond.) He mentioned the impact of all that Thurmond did, some of it good and some of it bad. This statement surprised me a bit, especially considering the strong written statement issued by Sanford that called Thurmond a "Colossus."
My friend Michael Graham's take on Thurmond's death really isn't that surprising either. Graham ran the campaign of Harold Worley against Thurmond in the GOP Primary in 1996 after Jim Miles backed out of running. Graham's assessments might catch some off guard so soon after Thurmond's passing, but he lacks the vitriol of those on the left and the handful on the right.
Graham: Can't we be honest in our tribute? Strom Thurmond held office a long time. Many South Carolinians liked him. He reflected their values very well. He set many records and will be remembered in many, many rounds of Trivial Pursuit. But that's it. Stop the nonsense of implying that Sen. Thurmond accomplished anything, other than the successful political advancement of Strom Thurmond. He was a basically good guy with very bad fundamental ideas who lived to be so old that people stopped caring what he believed because he could no longer articulate it anyway. That's all. He was no Reagan, no Goldwater, no Moynihan. He wasn't even a Fritz Hollings, whose name actually appears on some significant national legislation. He was just Ol' Strom, and that's all anyone ever asked him to be. have no desire to speak ill of the dead, but go to the Hot Sheet and read the absolute drivel S.C. politicians are putting out about Strom. Sen. Graham's comments about his "legacy" are particularly disturbing. WHAT legacy? Sen. Thurmond's office was legendary in its ability to keep track of birthdays and graduations--I got a couple of these machine-signed letters from Thurmond myself. But handling my Social Security check isn't a "legacy."
Graham's candor is restrained and respectful compared to that of others, including some who claim to be conservatives. Andrew Sullivan, who is known more for being an openly gay conservative/libertarian than he is for any actual substantive thoughts, strikes out at Thurmond in a crude attempt at humor (Thanks to Wrisley.com for being the first place to point it out.)
Sullivan:
SODOMY LEGAL IN SOUTH CAROLINA: Strom Thurmond dead. On the same day. It's a funny old world, isn't it?
Sullivan later linked to a 1997 story from The Onion, a parody news site, discussing Thurmond's change of heart on the gay issue after a sexual encounter with a gay man.
Continuing in this vein, another self-professing conservative and blogger - A Small Victory - trashes Thurmond and in the process gets her link yanked from our list.
ASV: Strom kicks the bucket. I bet even the worms in his coffin find him distasteful. Good riddance to 100 year old racist rubbish.
Best of the Web also summarizes how Thurmond's record on race changed over the years with links to many of the points made today in other places. One of these is one mentioned by Mort Kondracke on Fox News Channel tonight - that Thurmond worked to abolish the poll tax and cracked down on lynchings as Governor before he ran for President as a Dixiecrat.
Other sources have also mentioned Thurmond was one of the first Senators to hire a Black staff member (Tom Moss in the early 1970s) and that he received over 20% of the Black vote in his last election in 1996.
If Thurmond was still as evil as many of these morons are alleging, then why did Congressman Jim Clyburn, head of the Congressional Black Caucus, say, "Senator Thurmond was symbolic of the Old South, but his willingness to change over time set an example for many South Carolinians."
Some of the same liberals online who are taking such delight and glee at the death of Thurmond are the same types of people who tried to insinuate, at the Mondale pep rally disguised as a memorial service for Paul Wellstone, that Norm Coleman was being disrespectful by leaving his name on the ballot after Wellstone's death. Those in attendance in Minnesota even booed Trent Lott as he attempted to eulogize his departed colleague.
Joe Biden, a liberal senator who will be delivering a eulogy to Thurmond at Tuesday's funeral, said the following: "I believe Strom Thurmond was a captive of his era, his age and his geography. I do not believe Strom Thurmond at his core was a racist. But even if he had been, I believe that he changed."
Even Tom Daschle, who didn't see eye to eye with Thurmond on many issues, could separate the personal from the political with his statement, even if Jesse Jackson could not.
Jackson: "While we offer condolences to his family, we cannot revise history."
Most of the criticism comes from those living in liberal enclaves in the northeast and west who feel that they are more enlightened on matters of race than those of who they feel are just dumb rednecks in the South. I guess none of them remembers the Watts riots in 1965, the L.A. riots in 1992 or the busing riots in Boston in 1974.
The trend, especially among leftists, is to totally trash anyone whom they disagree with, especially following their death, in an attempt to rewrite history to paint the person as more horrible than the facts bear out. Had anyone been making wisecracks about Wellstone's death last year or writing biased stories about him, we would have never heard the end of it from the liberals.
It is apparent that none of these people know how to keep their mouths shut until later. Even if you totally dislike everything a person stood for, you should hold your tongue upon their death, for your spewing will do nothing but make the grief of that person's loved ones worse. It won't change any of the things you didn't like about that person and it won't accomplish anything other than inflating your ego while tramping on someone else's grave.
I guess Michael Graham was right in Redneck Nation; the worst qualities of the South in the past have been adopted by liberals all over the country, who didn't take any of the good qualities with them.
I was quite disappointed in the segment on Thurmond on FNC....everyone afraid to honor the man it seems.
He was 40 years old, with a family and a career, and left that all behind to do his duty.
Men like him are the reason that we have a nation.
The official mainstream media will NOT attack Reagan......IMHO.
Of course Dowd, being a sewer dweller will do her thing but really, what credibility does she have these days.
Send your thoughts
Condolences can be sent to The Thurmond Family, P.O. Box 12, Edgefield, S.C. 29824. Memorials can be sent to the following addresses: The Thurmond Foundation, P.O. Box 50214, Columbia, S.C. 29250; Aiken First Baptist, P.O. Box 3157, Aiken, S.C. 29801; Edgefield County Hospital, P.O. Box 590,Edgefield, S.C. 29824
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Senator Strom Thurmond...South Carolina will miss you... He will always be a remembered by me as a great American patriot and a favorite Son of South Carolina...I'm proud to have known him...
 If all of us could dedicate as much to the Nation and to our U.S. Constitution... Katherine Jenerette |
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Everybody needs to examine their conscience here. Whatever sins, grievances, problems any human had have ended with their passing. It is now between them and their maker. Vile words only hurt us now, in our hearts.
RIP Strom Thurmond.
Care to cite a single example of this?
Other than a few sick people (who, by the way, are immediately castigated by most of us), I seriously doubt that you can find one.
Post 'em if you've got 'em.
Katherine (freep: kjenerette) visited the Senator right before his 100th birthday in D.C. last fall. SC politics will have to wait a while to have another one like Strom!
Deo Vindice
"Good riddance, you commie Dog!"
somebody replied to that by criticizing those who disagreed, echoing these sentiments.
"This thread is full of slobbering "horseshit" about wellstone. Montag, I like your eulogy and it's worth repeating:"
A third person chimes in:
My sentiments exactly. I could care less about what a fine and upright man he was. He chose to align himself with the folks who are tearing this country apart. Good riddance.
another compared Wellstone to dicators and tyrants who didn't deserve decent eulogies.
History is full of tyrants, dictators, hypocrites, thieves, and all manner of wretches who "genuinely believed in those principles (they) championed." Sorry, but just being a true believer doesn't pass the Fawning Eulogy Test.
a 5th person chimes in by post 26
Correction:May he rest in pieces He finally made a positive impact on the country, pun intended. Good riddance to the commie.
When somebody pointed out that Wellstone genuinely believed in what he stood for, Freeper 6 noted:
So did Marx, Lenin, Mao, and Stalin, yet I've shed no tears over their deaths.
We are only at post 28 of the thread at this point, by post 30, a freeper did correct these folks for their lack of civility. He was replied to by a 7th nasty comment in post 33 saying:
I'll repeat what I said on a different thread: It's just a shame the plane wasn't larger and filled with more traitorous leftists like this scumbag. Good riddance!
Followed up by #8 at 34
grania...Charley Manson, Bin Laden, Adolph Hitler and Joe Stalin...just to mention a few...also believed in those principles they championed. Judging from your comments, you're another new england "air head". Do the country a big favor...don't vote on Nov 5.
This is followed by a 9th poster who chimes in
I applaud the powers-that-be that caused his plane to go down. I see it almost as divine intervention. I am only crying because Ted Kennedy was not with him at the time.
I am stopping here at post 39 of that thread to not spam this Strom Thurmond thread. There were several freepers on this thread who criticized those who were being vicious in their replies, but a sizable chunk of people were extremely cruel in their comments about Wellstone, who while misguided about economics, politics extremely, was by the accounts of republicans and democrats in Washington, one of the nicest guys around, who was a true friend to those he disagreed with, including the most conservative republicans.
I will add one more quote from the thread to conclude:
Wellstone is in hell with his buddy Osama.
I rest my case. Quotes are from My Eulogy For Paul Wellstone
Nice selective editing job. You managed to leave out just about every one of the responses from the people who told those folks that their comments were inappropriate.
Do you work for the New York Times by chance?
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