Free Speech at a Crossroads (Trent Lott)

NewsMax ^ | Dec. 20, 2002 | Paul Craig Roberts

[gcruse]

The difficulty in which Sen. Trent Lott finds himself
 is not really about him. It is about the ability of racial
minorities to censure the thoughts and words

Oh, pleeze.  Anybody can be censured anywhere anytime
for anything.  It goes with freedom to criticize.  Lott's
difficulty was that his track record of seeming to long for
the good old days of segregation painted him as a racist.
No one did that for him.  Free speech doesn't mean you
can't become a pariah for what you say nor does it mean
the damage you do to your cause and your friends can
be undone with an apology and a promise to do even more
damage to your cause and your friends.  Lott isn't a victim.

[Sans-Culotte]

Lott was an idiot. It is unfortunate that Republicans, like Caesar's wife, are held to a higher standard, but we are. Since the press and most "black leaders" always refer to us as racists right off the bat, we have to start every conversation by explaining that we are not racists. Unfair, yes, but true.

Had Lott merely offered a toast to a long-time colleague, and all-round "helluva guy", all would have been well. But he specifically paid tribute to Thurmond's segregationalist campaign. Hell, if he was gonna pat himself and his state on the back for voting Dixiecrat, he may as well as used the 'n' word (and I don't mean 'niggardly') as well!.

[Yaelle]

Free speech includes the angry reactions of the American people to racist comments from their political leaders. There are an infinite number of things politicians can say, but many of them are not going to win them support.

Trent spoke freely, and so did we.

[ReleaseTheHounds]

Paul Craig Roberts should stick to economic matters, on which he is very good... On virtually all other subjects, he doesn't appear to know what the heck he is talking about.

Trent Lott committed a grievous judgmental error. He displayed unbelievably bad judgment and a classic "tin ear" when responding to his critics. How many different ways do you say "stupid?"

Any conservative commentator who continues to try and defend that behavior should retire (and that includes Pat Buccannan).

[Willie Green]

It is about the ability of racial minorities to censure the thoughts and words – including throwaway lines such as Lott used in his birthday tribute to Sen. Strom Thurmond – of white people even to the point of destroying their careers.

This is NOT a black vs. white race issue.
The Rove/Bush Administration suppresses internal GOP dissension on a variety of a variety of issues, including the right-to-life, 2nd Amendment, trade and immigration.

[gcruse]

Rove/Bush didn't put Lott's words in his mouth. Without them, he'd still be leader.

[muawiyah]

Nonsense. If Lott had said, "Hey Strom, although we in Mississippi voted for you back in 1948, it would have been much better for Tom Dewey to win", he would be in just as much trouble.

Dewey's VP candidate was the odious and evil Earl Warren. If he'd said that, we Conservatives would have skewered him on the way in, and as he backtracked on what he'd said, the Democrats in thrall to Jesse Jackson would have lambasted him for that as well.

The guy could not win no matter what he said about the 1948 campaign!

[Willie Green]

I doubt that Dubya's style of "consensus building" will ever earn him the nickname "The Great Communicator"
Ronald Reagan built coalitions and still had the spine to speak out on issues without tripping over his own tongue.

[muawiyah]

People did not speak freely about the 1948 election however. The first thing the Dems did was respond to any such element of debate with "You are trying to avoid the issue of the racist language Lott used".

Here it is after the guy has resigned and you are in here telling us that free speech reigned, blah, blah, blah, when it did not.

Remember, please, this is NOT 1948 and we were all there and we saw and heard the whole thing.

Here, let me give a suggestion to everyone here - the only people who gained in this whole business were Henry Wallace and his running dog lackies!

[TLBSHOW]

track record of seeming to long for
the good old days of segregation

that is a lie your spreading............

[gcruse]

Were you talkin' ta me? If so, what do Bush's communications skills have to do with Bush/Rove forcing Lott for his spot?

[Voltage]

Yes Lott was pretty dumb..maybe had a little too much under his belt?

But there is something to the article..however I think his conclusion is wrong. All this phony offense taken is making whites mad at the professional complainers (i.e. democrats).

[gcruse]

Your creds are blown, TLB. You're just a empty flapping bladder now.

[TLBSHOW]

Inasmuch as Trent Lott was in kindergarten in 1948, he did not vote for Thurmond. He did not run on a "similar" platform to the Dixiecrats. He did not write a jacket-flap endorsement calling a segregationist an "American Dreamer."

The idea that Lott took the occasion of an old timer's birthday to introduce a new policy initiative to bring back segregation – a Democrat policy – is ludicrous.

Ann Coulter

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/808894/posts?page=64#64

[TLBSHOW]

I guess that means Ann Coulter is just a empty flapping bladder now too. LOL

[gcruse]

And right after that, Ann Coulter said he should step down. You're not fooling anyone.

[puroresu]

Paul Craig Roberts is exactly right. The Lott furor has pushed us much further to the left as a society. I just watched the opening segment of The Capital Gang and Shields, Carlson, and Hunt were in full witch hunt mode, even declaring George Bush's 2000 GOP primary win over McCain in South Carolina to be an example of racism. They noted that Bush campaigned at Bob Jones University and refused to join McCain in denouncing the Confederate flag as "racist" Carlson "hoped" that the Lott episode has established a new standard in which, for all intents and purposes, no one can ever again oppose the demands of African-Americans (i.e., the Jesse Jackson & Maxine Waters crowd).

David Dreier was the guest. I like him, but he played the usual party hack role of saying this cleansing of Lott will be good for the party in the long run. Robert Novak saw the big picture, which was that Lott was attacked as part of a broader 'Rat offensive to make any challenge to the "civil rights" agenda off limits, particularly the upcoming Michgan affirmative action case. He said to watch as see whether the Bush administration files a brief against quotas in that case, as they had planned to do, but now may cut and run out of fear of the racism tag. He also said to watch what they do on Judge Pickering.

Oh, I might add that in a brazen example of projecting, Hunt accused the GOP of playing the race card in election after election.

Lott helped do himself in with his BET performance, but that doesn't change the fact that the assault on him was a 'Rat smear from the beginning, one designed to demonize anyone who crosses the racist "civil rights" demagogues in the 'Rat party.

[TLBSHOW]

no she didn't because that would mean Bush should step down too. Read the story. Instead of flapping bs.

[gcruse]

I've read it. You're seeing what you want to see. I'm not a fan of drugwarrior Annie, anyway. She's your wet dream, not mine.