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The Top Ten Conservative Idiots (No. 94)
December 16, 2002
Trent Lott Special
Well, well, well. It should come as no surprise to you that Trent Lott has set a new
record
for conservative idiocy this week. Captain Combover has managed to take up a valuable
eight slots this week, for a variety of different offenses. This doubles the previous
best
record, held by George W. Bush at four appearances in one week. Not only that, but he's
got his hands all over the 9th slot too, which is occupied by People Who Tried To
Cover For
Trent Lott. Finally, in tenth place we've got a round-up of all the idiots who got
pushed
aside by Trent Racist-Foot-In- Mouth Lott, so you won't miss anything this week. One
final
note: we will be taking a break from publishing during the holiday period, so this
will be the
last Top Ten Conservative Idiots of 2002. Have a great holiday and a Happy New Year,
and
we'll see you all again in 2003! (As usual, don't forget the key, although you might
not
actually need it this week...)
Trent Lott
In last week's Idiots we noted that Trent Lott had made a pro-segregation comment at
Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party. And now the Mississippi Hair Helmet may be
wishing that ol' Strom had cashed in his chips before hitting a century. First out of
the
blocks to bash Lott's "if the rest of the country had of followed our lead we wouldn't
have
had all these problems over all these years" comment were the Congressional Black
Caucus
and Al Gore, who last week called the remark "racist" and suggested that the dubiously-
touped Republican leader should be censured by the Senate. Next came House Minority
Leader Nancy Pelosi and a host of commentators from both the left and the right.
Somewhat belatedly, Tom Daschle and George W. Bush stepped up to the plate too.
Trent Lott
But the poop really hit the fan for Lott when it was revealed last week that his
comment
was no "misstatement" or "slip-up" or "throwaway remark." See, it turns out that our
Trent
has been harboring these feelings for some time. Apparently in 1980, as a Mississippi
congressman, he told a political gathering that if the country had elected
segregationist
candidate Strom Thurmond to the presidency "30 years ago, we wouldn't be in the mess
we are today," according to the Washington Post. Sound familiar? The disclosure
prompted
a fresh round of criticism from all and sundry, and Lott's "misstatement" defense fell
flat on
its ass.
Trent Lott
But there was more to come from the bigoted once-and-future-maybe Senate Majority
Leader. Hot on the heels of the 1980 revelation came news that back in the 1960s, Trent
Lott "helped lead a successful battle to prevent his college fraternity from admitting
blacks
to any of its chapters," according to Time magazine. "Sigma Nu's executive secretary
Richard Fletcher, a legendary figure in the fraternity, pleaded with the Sigma Nus to
find
some common ground between those who wanted to integrate and those who didn't ... But
the southerners were unbending about permitting no exceptions to the all-white policy.
With
their chapters threatening a walkout, the fraternity voted overwhelmingly to remain
all-
white." Way to go, Trent! You showed those uppity black folks a thing or too. Former
CNN
President and Sigma Nu member Tom Johnson said of Lott, "Trent was one of the strongest
leaders in resisting the integration of the national fraternity in any of the
chapters."
Trent Lott
Want more? In 1983 Bob Jones University, the university famous for its practice of
segregation, lost a lawsuit against the IRS. The IRS had taken away BJU's tax-exempt
status because the school practiced racial discrimination, but BJU thought that
racists ought
to be tax-exempt too. A judge disagreed. So what's this got to do with the Rugmaster
himself? Well if you take a look at the list of individuals and organizations who
filed briefs
defending Bob Jones University's position... why, could that be Congressman Trent
Lott's
name? Surely not. Lott said in the brief that "racial discrimination does not always
violate
public policy." Nice.
Trent Lott
After it was established that Trent Lott is and always has been a racist, it was left
to the
man himself to throw together a pathetic defense of his so-called commitment to civil
rights. This came to a sum total of three pages covering a 40 year period. According
to the
Washington Post, Lott has "consistently taken positions at odds with those of the
traditional
civil rights community," - for example, voting against establishing Martin Luther King
Day as
a federal holiday (Lott quote to Southern Partisan magazine: "Look at the cost
involved in
the Martin Luther King holiday and the fact that we have not done it for a lot of
other people
that were more deserving,") and voting against extending the Voting Rights Act.
(Interestingly, Strom Thurmond voted in favor of both cases.) After throwing out a
couple
of tired one-liners on Larry King Live ("Look, you put your foot in your mouth, you're
getting
carried away at a ceremony honoring a guy like this, you go too far,") Lott came up
with an
even better excuse: "I was 7 years old when Strom first ran for president. I don't
really
remember anything about the campaign." Ri-i-i-ght. So he had honestly had no idea that
Strom Thurmond ran a purely segregationist presidential campaign. Uh-huh, really. Odd -
he seemed pretty knowledgeable about it when he was waxing lyrical at Strom's birthday
party.
Trent Lott
In fact, it's funny how Trent Lott seems to know very little about the people he
supports.
For example, throughout the 1990s he has had close ties to the Council of Conservative
Citizens, a white supremacist organization. In 1992 he was keynote speaker at the
Council's
national board meeting where he announced that, "the people in this room stand for the
right principles and the right philosophy," in 1997 he hosted a private meeting for the
Council's leaders, and for eight years he wrote a column for the CCC's magazine. And
yet
when he he was challenged, he claimed that he had "no firsthand knowledge" of the CCC's
activities. Perhaps he should have consulted his uncle, who is an executive of the
CCC, and
his cousin, who is a member. Incidentally, the CCC last week announced that Trent Lott
spoke the truth, and should be commended. They also suggested that black people should
be sent back to Africa.
Trent Lott
Unfortunately, Lott's desperate attempt to "clarify" his comments by calling a press
conference in Trent-friendly Mississippi (the press corps applauded before and after
the
conference - how's that for fair and balanced?) seem to have failed. Over the weekend
his
deputy, Sen. Don Nickles, called for a new vote for party leader. Of course Nickles is
the
obvious choice to replace Lott, so it's no wonder he called for a a new vote. But
bearing in
mind that if the Senate Republicans vote for Trent to stay on as leader they will
essentially
be endorsing his comments, the Rugmaster's days could well be numbered.
Trent Lott
And it's also no wonder that Bush was pissed at Trent Lott. By showing the Republican
party
for what it is, Lott's blatant racism has put a big dent in all of Bush and Rove's
efforts to
woo the black community with their so-called "compassionate conservatism." As MSNBC
reported last week, "Lott may hold onto his job as the new Senate majority leader, but
the
damage has already been done." In light of Don Nickles comments, Lott may struggle to
hold onto his job. But if he had one single shred of decency, he would have stepped
down
immediately.
People Who Tried To Cover For Trent Lott
Anyone with half a brain knows that Trent Lott's comments were racist, plain and
simple.
Which is why it was so disturbing when so many politicians and commentators came out in
his defense. Sean Hannity was the number one culprit, spending the whole week on his
show trying to deflect the blame onto other parties - that is, Democrats - arguing
that there
was double- standard. According to Hannity, old-school Democrats got a free pass from
the
media despite their anti-civil rights backgrounds. Unfortunately for Sean, those
Democrats
all renounced their past behavior many, many years ago and have since developed decent
civil rights voting records. The worst offender in the race to blame anyone but Trent
was
newsmax.com, who complained bitterly that the press never said anything when it was
alleged that Roger Clinton, wayward brother of Bill, used the "N" word on a police
surveillance tape in 1984. Perhaps if Roger Clinton were Senate Majority Leader the
story
would have gotten more press coverage, you morons.
Idiots Ad Nauseum
And finally: there was a lot of Lott this week, so here are some links to the other
conservative idiots we didn't have time to cover: Michael Keene, son of one of the
members
of the board of directors of the National Rifle Association was arrested for
committing a
road rage shooting... Henry Kissinger resigned from the 9/11 commission rather than
reveal
his list of clients... Rush Limbaugh was left stumbling and bumbling after a sneak
attack
from a liberal caller... GOP leaders are clamping down to make sure that house members
toe the conservative line... The Secret Service questioned a high school student
because he
was wearing a "not my president" T-shirt... Donald Rumsfeld admitted that he met with
Saddam Hussein twice in the 1980s... George W. Bush wants to speed up logging... The
GAO is widening its enquiry of Janet Rehnquist... Bush's pick to head the SEC, William
Donaldson, is quite the shady character... and, according to the entirely unreliable
WorldNetDaily, Georgia legislators will introduce a bill early next month that refers
to
abortion as an ''execution'' and will require any mother seeking an abortion to go to
court to
obtain a death warrant.
PLEASE NOTE: We are taking a break from publishing articles during the holiday period
(our
message board will still be open, of course) so there will not be a new Top Ten until
January 13, 2003. Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!
� Democratic Underground, LLC
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