I think William Saletan of Slate must have crashed the wrong Party. He says Lott’s accusers are hypocrites because Lott is really no different from many other Republicans.
But calling Lott a bigot and throwing him overboard is the easy way out. Lott’s apologies tell a truer and more common story. He has forgotten the importance of the civil rights movement. He tries to be nice even to extremists in his own party. He preaches a message of federal non-intervention that coincides neatly with the agenda of white racists. If Lott has to step down for those sins, then so should others.
Really? Let’s take a look.
He has forgotten the importance of the civil rights movement.
Although this is contested terrain and reasonable people disagree, I believe that the core principle of the civil rights movement was that people should be judged “without regard” to race, creed or color, and consequently that no burdens or benefits should be bestowed on the basis of race. Which party has forgotten that?
He tries to be nice even to extremists in his own party.
I thought it was Al Gore and Bill Bradley and Hillary Clinton who made pilgrimages to Al Sharpton, seeking his support. I thought it was Democratic Congressmen who went to Baghdad and made nice with Saddam. I thought it was Democratic Congressmen who supported the re-election of their anti-Semitic Democratic colleagues against appealing (and successful) primary challengers. I thought it was a big city Democratic mayor (Sharpe James of Newark) who accused his young, black primary opponent, Cory Booker, of “collaborating with the Jews to take over Newark” and who referred to Booker as “the faggot white boy,” comments which did not prevent New Jersey’s Democratic candidate for Governor and two Democratic U.S. Senators from supporting him. David Duke, as I recall, was not supported by Republicans. Which party supports its own extremists?
He preaches a message of federal non-intervention that coincides neatly with the agenda of white racists.
I don’t know what Saletan’s been smoking, since these days most of the opposition to federal imposition of anti-discrimination laws on the states comes from Democrats who want the states to be left free to practice discrimination in the form of preferences. Also, I’m pretty sure it was Democrats who objected to the Supreme Court’s subjecting Florida’s election procedures to equal protection review, just as it is Democrats who want the states left free to engage in racial gerrymandering of electoral districts.
If Lott has to step down for those sins, then so should others.
This may be true … but most of those others would be Democrats.
In my opinion, if the Republicans keep Lott as Majority Leader what they’ll really be saying is that they want him to be Minority Leader, because that’s what they’ll be pretty soon.
