The GOP, Party of Cowards

Ever Vigilant ^ | 12/23/2003 | Lee R. Shelton IV

[TLBSHOW]

Lee R. Shelton IV is a graduate of Northwestern College in St. Paul, MN with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. He resides in Minneapolis, MN with his wife, Dawn.

A conservative Christian, he has a passion for politics and strong opinions on issues that affect our everyday lives.


http://conservativetruth.org/opinionet/archives/leeshelton/toc-shelton.shtml

[dirtboy]

But forcing him out for something he said plays right into the hands of the race-baiters.

Hardly. The GOP was attacked nonstop by the racebaiters before the Lott matter, and will be attacked nonstop by the racebaiters afterwards. Lott gave their attacks the chance to stick, but the GOP took that away by forcing Lott to step down as ML. Now, if the libs keep trying this crap, the GOP can simply point to a certain Senator Byrd and ask why the double standard? Hypocrisy is a stench that lingers long in the nostrils of swing voters.

Oh, and BTW, I ain't a neo-con, you really should quit trying to label someone who simply disagrees with you as such.

[sheltonmac]

"Do you believe in separate but equal?"

Not at all. Everyone deserves equal treatment under the law. But look at how "affirmative action" has been manipulated over the years to put a stranglehold on private businesses. The government does not have the authority to tell a private business owner whom he may or may not allow into his establishment. The market would regulate that, and any business owner who discriminated against someone on the basis of race wouldn't stay in business very long in today's society.

[sheltonmac]

"Hypocrisy is a stench that lingers long in the nostrils of swing voters."

Yeah, and the Republicans stink to high heaven.

[TLBSHOW]

Good story that you wrote......

Everyone is in a deep sleep here for some reason.

[Luis Gonzalez]

"But forcing him out for something he said plays right into the hands of the race-baiters."

Lott played into the hands of the race-baiters...and it wasn't the first time either.

"I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."---Trent Lott, December 2002

"You know, if we had elected [Thurmond] 30 years ago, we wouldn't be in the mess we are today."---Trent Lott, November 1980

"You would have been in a much better position had you called for Lott's ousting because of something he did to damage the conservative cause."

So, in light of the fact that the Democrats stood demoralized, and rudderless in the aftermath of the elections, you don't think that Lott giving them a rallying issue demaged the Party?

Is that the sort of leadership that you support in the US Congress?

A Senate Majority Leader that does not think out the consequences of his public statements?

[dirtboy]

Yeah, and the Republicans stink to high heaven.

You just can't back off, can you? Now you have the temerity to say the GOP is being hypocritical on this issue, when it is the Dems who are by not holding Byrd to the same standards as they demand for the GOP, and most people here complaing about that particular hypocrisy, not any by the GOP on this matter. Face it, Lott screwed up, gave opponents of the GOP a hammer to hit us with, and then made matters worse by selling out GOP positions to try and save his position of priviledge. So the GOP forced him out. It's that simple, but you are trying to make it into a much bigger issue - and considering how anti-GOP your postings are, why on earth should the GOP listen to YOU?

[Luis Gonzalez]

"The government does not have the authority to tell a private business owner whom he may or may not allow into his establishment."

The government has no business doing a lot of the things they were doing BEFORE 1948, but it was desegregation that gave birth to the Dixiecrat Party.

[sheltonmac]

My point is that if the GOP really cared about fighting for conservative principles, Lott would have been sent packing a long time ago, not over some breech of the PC speech code. And, yes, I do think Lott shot himself in the foot. After all, he's one of the worst neo-cons in the GOP.

[dirtboy]

But look at how "affirmative action" has been manipulated over the years to put a stranglehold on private businesses.

And what does that have to do with Lott, who BTW was last seen SUPPORTING affirmative action in a sorry effort to save his butt?

You and Trent do have something in common here - you are sandbagging your own positions left and right...

[dirtboy]

My point is that if the GOP really cared about fighting for conservative principles, Lott would have been sent packing a long time ago, not over some breech of the PC speech code.

Your point is noted, especially in the context that you don't acknowledge that it can be very hazardous to one's political health to take on a leader of the party ... and fail to unseat him. Lott has shown more of a desire to play hardball with members of his own party than against Democrats, so he would have been ruthless against any Senator who tried to challenge him. This matter simply weakened him enough to ensure that an effort to unseat him would succeed.

[TLBSHOW]

Is Lott a racist? That is really the bottom line I see over this?

[dirtboy]

Is Lott a racist? That is really the bottom line I see over this?

Give it up. I'm sure you can come up with some new topic to spam the forum with your patented pointless points.

[angkor]

I'm happy to see Lott go. Good riddance.

As for the racist elements of this affair, I believe they are greatly overblown if not entirely constructed from a big nothing. Lott's comments had no direct reference to segregation whatsoever (although its easy to see how they could be inferred in that light).

The amazing thing is that it took this extreme level of controversy to crowbar Lott out of his seat.

[sheltonmac]

"...Lott screwed up, gave opponents of the GOP a hammer to hit us with..."

The neo-cons in the GOP were the ones who blew the issue out of proportion by make apologies for Lott almost immediately after he uttered those fateful words. If they would have kept their mouths shut, Lott could have simply said, "I wasn't talking about segregation. I was just voicing my admiration for my colleague, and I think much of what Strom Thurmond has done over the years has been a credit to this nation." End of story. The left would have had nothing to run with.

[hchutch]

I guess for some, it's okay. They seem to fear fixing the messes. I guess it means that would render their finger-pointing useless and it would prove that it's really quite childish.

[cynicom]

Luis...

We had no leadership when Lott was leader..Does it surprise you to observe that many of us refuse to go along with the method or the reason for his removal? Too many people cannot differentiate between his failure and the the reason and method.

[Nick Danger]

Did you know that Saint Nicholas (the real one, not the jolly fellow in the red suit) was a noted scholar of classical Greek who translated many of Homer's works? Nobody knows that about him, and that's only partly because I just made it up. Mostly it's because Saint Nicholas and gift-giving at Christmastime have become synonymous, and it wouldn't matter if the guy had invented atomic energy in the 11th century.

And so it is with Mr. Thurmond and the Dixiecrats. No amount of arm-waving hoo-hah is going to get past the kind of quotation that Luis Gonzalez has posted here. It makes me squirm to see people trying to sell the idea that Lott was referring to Thurmond's position on states' rights or a strong defense. It's like watching a bad comedian go down in flames on amateur night. It's so horribly embarrassing that one doesn't even want to be in the room with it.

It seems to be a common argument among Lott's defenders that those who wished to dump him as Majority Leader for stepping in a bucket and falling on his face on national television are now ready to embrace the Democrats' race-baiting agenda to atone for Lott's sins. Absolutely not. It was Lott who did that; and for many who were on the fence, that was the final straw.

It is not reasonable to think that we can advocate truly color-blind policies in this area while keeping in leadership positions guys who make jocular comments about a Strom Thurmond presidency. If we are ever going to sell color-blind policies as a better alternative than these race-based preferences, we just cannot have that around.

I am tired of watching bipeds crawl out of the forest to tell me that dumping Lott was an act of cowardice. Never mind what the Democrats said, what is our policy on racism? What do we stand for? It sure as Hell isn't to return to segregation and Jim Crow, and if Lott has any doubts about that, then I don't care which Democrats are after him... I'm after him, too. I don't want him stinking up my house.

[TLBSHOW]

Ann never said to get rid of Lott for being a racist, in fact she never said get rid of him except for playing nice with democrats like Bush does. She calls Bush a liberal Clinton!

[Mustang]

"As everyone knows..." re: your 4th paragraph...you're now know as a full fledged political astute mental midget.

Adios, nit-wit.