Why has the MSM been so easy on OVERT RACIST Trent Lott?

[RiverStone]

It is just amazing that the MSM has ignored the fact the rethugs chose to elect Trent Lott, an overt racist and pro-segregationist, as their Senate leader. With all the attention George Allen got for his closet racism (exposed); I find it incredulous that Trent Lott hides in plain site. Here are just a few of many startling actions exemplifying Mr. Lott's racist views:

x(

In 1982, Lott voted against the extension of the Voting Rights Act, which authorizes the Justice
Department to review election law changes in Mississippi and other Deep South states and to monitor elections.

In 1983, he was one of 90 House members who voted against creating a national holiday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Six years later, Lott was one of seven senators who voted to abolish the King holiday commission, and in 1994, he was one of 28 who favored scrapping its federal funding.

Lott was one of 34 senators who voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1990, which reversed five Supreme Court rulings that had limited the ability of minorities to win job discrimination lawsuits and damages. After President George H. W. Bush vetoed the bill, Lott voted for a different version in 1991.

And in 2001, Lott was the only senator who opposed President George W. Bush's nomination of Roger Gregory, an African-American from Virginia, to the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

For full article and comprehensive list of his racist talking points go here:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200611160006

Senator Lott was known as a wheeler and dealer when he was last in a position of leadership in the Senate. Guess the rethugs liked his style but ignore his bigotry? Of course, he stepped down in 2002 after cheering then-Sen. Strom Thurmond's 1948 pro-segregation presidential campaign at Thurmond's 100th birthday party. His re-election is more example of rethug arrogance, stupidity, and insensitivity; even after getting their ass kicked on election day.

Just don't get why Lott has been given a "get out of jail free card" by the MSM??? :grr:

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Because he's a goddam Republican.

Why'd ja think?

[EST]

4. And that pretty much says it all.

This is all public (limited) knowledge.
What can we do to get this published more widely, especially among black republicans?

[Beelzebud]

2. Because they think the American sheep have a 1 week memory.

And unfortunately, they're mostly right.

[tcfrogs]

3. Because he didn't go on stage at a comedy club in LA and call someone the N word n/t

[Karenina]

6. Jesse Jackson mentions Trent's "accomplishments"

in his interview with Michael Richards, then said "...and MICHAEL is on the hot seat!?!" :rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Captain Hilts]

5. He's iron fisted and will freeze them out. nt

[malaise]

7. They're too busy trying to diss

Nancy.

[NewJeffCT]

8. They don't want to be accused of liberal bias

If they bring up Trent Lott, they will get bombarded with calls & letters about how Robert Byrd was once in the KKK

Heck, it was front page news in CT when Chris Dodd praised Byrd as a senator and then RWers much such a racket over Dodd's praise of the former KKK member that the Courant put the story on the front page.

[Red Zelda]

9. The MSM is...

1. full of shit
2. stupid as hell
3. ignorant of anything resembling real news
4. all of the above

[jobycom]

10. Not to defend him, but all of those examples are professional, not personal

examples of bigotry, and that bigotry comes as much from his voters as from him. Maybe more so. Lott votes the way his state wants him to vote, and if he didn't take those positions, he would lose the job to someone who would take those positions.

His comments on Thurmond were more personal, so it reflected badly on him as a person. Even so, he was playing politics, appeasing his audience, so he was given a sort of pass on them. The comments would have gone unnoticed if the Repubs had not conspired to boot Lott from power. THEY are the ones that brought him down.

George Allen's comments were personal, and direct biogotry of the in-your-face name-calling variety. Those make better television, and are harder to hide behind subtle arguments.

The bigger issue to me is not Lott's bigotry, nor even the bigotry of Mississippi (the state where I was raised), but the bigotry of the Republican Party. THEY put him in office. THEY are the ones rewarding the votes Lott made. THEY are the ones sending a signal about what they believe. They didn't elevate him in spite of his public image, they elevated him because of it. They were appeasing their voters, winking at them, reassuring them that they were still the same party, irregardless of what they had to say to try win elections.

That's the story, to me. And no way will the media report it. It goes against their pro-Republican message, and might hurt their chances to win in 08.

[RiverStone]

15. personal or professional = racist heart anyway

I was raised in Georgia and can tell you as a kid in the 60's, I saw and sadly experienced many examples of "good ol boy" bigotry first hand. Racism is not a head thing, its a heart thing. He was born and bred a racist; I believe Trent's mea culpas have only to do with what is politically expedient. I don't have proof, but I'd bet a bowl of grits that Trent still harbors the same racist views that were bred into him. I don't separate personal from professional; they both reflect upon the character of the man. I do agree; the fact the rethugs condone (the view) by voting for him as Minority Whip is part of the story. But who is paying attention...???

[SoCalDem]

11. Here's why.. He "took his lumps" like a true southern gentleman

he did not howl about the indignity of it all. He was quiet, went on with his "work", and blended into the background. he did not shout recriminations at his accusers (he KNEW he was wrong, and he accepted it)

he was patient, and then of course he did step up to the plate and railed against the insurance companies when HIS house was destroyed in Katrina (that earned back some support for him)

and of course his core supporters are the same people he always had, and we know there they stand on the "race-thing"..:eyes:

He outlasted some of his detractors, and he's baaaaack.

[TomClash]

12. They'd rather pick on comedians

They'd rather address the petty problems of the haute bourgeoisie than the real problems ordinary people face.

[MADem]

13. Maybe because BET gave him a platform to beg forgiveness?

FOUR whole years ago??????

Why drag out this dead horse and beat it yet again? Should he have just shot himself in 2002? Say, why not mention Clinton's blowjobs every time HE goes on TV....we don't go for that crap, do we? Tsunami relief? BLOWJOB! Katrina help? BLOWJOB!!!

This story WAS covered, ad nauseum, when the event happened. Check Google--it was done to DEATH.

It's worth a sentence, but it's been done. Just like those blowjobs....

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/16/lott.controversy/index.html

MOBILE, Alabama (CNN) -- A contrite and apologetic Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott, appearing on a black-oriented cable channel Monday, denounced his recent comments about the 1948 segregationist presidential campaign of Strom Thurmond, calling them "insensitive," "repugnant" and "inexcusable."

"I'm now trying to find a way to deal with the understandable hurt that I have caused," he said in an interview telecast on Black Entertainment Television.

"I obviously made a mistake, and I'm going to do everything I can to admit that and deal with it and correct it. And that's what I hope the people will give me a chance to do."

Calling the segregated society of his Mississippi youth "wicked," he conceded he was a part of it, although he said he has never considered himself superior to black people. ...

Ed Gordon's interview/TRANSCRIPT HERE (worth reading in its entirety): http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/17/lott.bet.transcript/

There are some here who like to hold a grudge close, and hold one forever. You can't stop people who have that sort of attitude. But let me tell you something--one of the BEST friends the Democratic Party can have is Trent. Why? He's pragmatic, he knows how to work with others, he was NEVER rude to the Democrats when he was Majority Leader, and he is so goddamned PISSED at the White House that he sees RED every time he hears the names "Rove" or "Cheney" or "Bush." He's like a SEPARATE wing of the GOP, one who will fuck the Executive Branch if he can get away with it.

That whole Strom situation was dying down, Lott did more mea culpas than a thousand novices, but every time it seemed as though the situation had played out, someone from the "WHITE" House fanned the flames. That whole story was played and replayed up to get RID of Trent, because he believed in separation of powers/advise and consent, while Bill Frist was willing to play Patsy the Rubberstamp for Rove, Cheney and Bush. Trent, you see, was an OBSTRUCTIONIST Majority Leader, who demanded fair hearings from the White House, and wanted DIALOGUE. BushCo preferred to issue EDICTS, and thus, Trent had to GO.

The pork and jobs Trent brings home to MS don't discriminate, which is why most folks in the state of any and every color, and who abhor racist attitudes, take a pragmatic approach to the old bewigged cracker. Sure, he's a holdover from the Old South, trying to make his way in an evolving society, and they make allowances for him because first, they KNOW what he is, and second, he's constrained by prevailing attitudes of the modern age. And besides, if he's bringing home the bacon, that's just fine--Black citizens don't particularly want to socialize with him any more than he might want to socialize with them, but if his clout means a bigger paycheck, a better job, better roads and schools for all, better services, nicer federal buildings, well, then he's doing his job.

[peacetalksforall]

14. He's a great actor. Gets away with bigotry behind a big smile. nt

[symbolman]

16. Yeah

the media crucifies Michael Richards all day long, but let's not MENTION the ASSHOLE who thought that Strom Thurmon was a GENIUS..

How soon we forget when our brains are being whipped, rode hard and put away wet by the media :)

[Karenina]

17. Why are the American people

so easy on Trent Lott?