Like a junkie looking for another fix, Ashcroft takes time away from putting down gay pride events to beg Congress for increased powers in fighting terrorism. If the death penalty doesn’t even work as a deterrent in “normal” crime, why would it stop terrorists?
Category: GOP Bigotry
Trent Lott’s Boy on the Bench.
Historian Sean Wilentz delves into the segregationist past of Charles Pickering, who is currently Dubya and Senator Cat-killer’s judicial nominee of choice.
They can’t handle the truth.
On his way out the door, JC Watts, the last Black Republican in Congress, reflects on race and the GOP (and compares Tom DeLay to Col. Nathan R. Jessup of A Few Good Men.)
Byrd-Hunting.
Drudge is trying his damnedest today to get a Lott-size stink brewing around Robert Byrd for his Confederate cameo in Gods and Generals. As I mentioned a few months ago, I do think this is a bit strange, but hardly in the league of Lott openly advocating segregation in his capacity as majority leader.
Mississippi Burning.
On the other side of the aisle, the GOP starts thinking harder about dumping their own embarrassing baggage, despite Trent Lott’s BET plea. If only Lott had taken a page from his idol and merely pretended to be remorseful from the get-go. Update: With Dubya on the sidelines, pundits are putting it in the fridge: Lott will be removed from the Senate leadership. Who will replace him is still up in the air.
A Lott of Trouble.
With some lexis-nexis searches establishing a dubious pattern in Trent Lott’s rhetoric, even Dubya’s piling on now. For his part, Lott’s decided to try the contrition route to see if he can save his seniority. I’d say at this point it’s probably better for the Dems to have him around, just as an ever-present reminder of exactly who the GOP likes to cater to.
The Good Old Days.
After a flurry of Internet criticism, GOP Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott is forced to apologize for his paean to segregation at Strom Thurmond’s birthday party, a paean which echoed his prior support for such racialist organizations as the Council of Conservative Citizens. So, were Lott’s remarks really a “poor choice of words” or a brief glimpse of something more sinister in the Majority Leader’s character? You be the judge.
Buh-bye…
and good riddance. There are other virtues in this world besides longevity, and these three spent most if not all their careers fighting them. At least in this corner, they will not be missed.
Dead Man Walking.
Further proof that only the good die young. See ya, Strom, and don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. This piece mentions that he’s both the oldest and longest-serving Senator in American history. It neglects to mention his record for the longest filibuster (24 hours, 18 minutes), when he was trying to bury (and successfully diluted) the 1957 Civil Rights Act.
Run Away!!
Showing their colors once again, Billy Tauzin and a gaggle of GOP lawmakers exhibit an irrational phobia of the HIV-positive muppet.