White Trash Trent
The Washington Post blasts Trent Lott’s feeble apology for backing segregation.
“The majority leader’s tone – “poor choice of words” and all that – doesn’t go to the heart of why many people were upset about his seeming embrace of Thurmond’s 1948 segregationist candidacy for president. He talked about the “discarded” policies of segregation, like a reference to the old horse-and-buggy days, without repudiating them. How about “morally reprehensible”?
And lest you think Lott really has changed, well, he sure has been cosy with the Council of Conservative Citizens..
“Is it possible that a major modern political figure has sympathy for such views? After all, the Bush administration includes figures like Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice; some of Mr. Lott’s best friends. . . . Yet during the 1990’s he was extensively involved with the Council of Conservative Citizens – a descendant of the White Citizens Council – telling them at one point that they ‘stand for the right principles and the right philosophy.’
“When this came to light in 1998, Mr. Lott declared himself ignorant of the group’s aims. Was he also ignorant of the aims of the 1948 Thurmond campaign. Or was he just, in the excitement of the moment, blurting out his real views?”