December 17, 2002
After doing some painstaking research (meaning, I read the entire paper instead of just the front page and the comics) it seems like Trent Lott might really be a racist, instead of having a Quayle-esque problem with the English language. The guy's got a pretty long history of trying to keep black people down, and had a similar "mis-speak" at another event for Strom Thurmond. So he should probably do the smart thing and step down as Senate Majority Leader.
The really interesting thing is the people who are complaining the loudest -- conservatives. The first people to take Lott to task were staunchly conservative bloggers; Jesse Jackson and Al Gore didn't get into the act until a few days later. Of couse nobody listens to Jackson or Gore anyway, but I do wonder what took them so long. Then Dubya had to come out and bitch-slap the guy to make up for the fact that only three black people voted for him in 2000.
Well, this thing will probably blow over. White people will decide that either he's a lost cause or just an idiot, and I don't think it's really possible for black people to be any less pleased with the Republicans than they already are.
Why am I even writing about this then? It has to do with my political leanings -- mostly libertarian -- and the fact that on some topics libertarianism sounds like what Republicans say. Basically, these guys make it hard for me to argue the stuff I agree with them on (and it's not just Lott; Herr Ashcroft has a lot to do with it too). Basically I want these guys to shut the hell up so I can carry out a reasoned argument with my borderline-socialist friends.
Although after reading Shields's journal, I wonder if that's an impossibility anyway...
