Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Lott-a Love in the GOP






On December 5, 2002, at the 100th birthday party for Senator Strom Thurmond, who in 1948 had run for president as a segregationist, Repblican Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said,

"I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."

A blog-fueled firestorm ensued. (Credit to Josh Marshall for banging that drum). And Lott resigned as majority leader, though he remained a senator from Mississippi and became chairman of the powerful rules committee. Wikipedia describes the controversy this way:

After President Bush voiced his own harsh criticism of Lott's remarks ("Any suggestion that the segregated past was acceptable or positive is offensive, and it is wrong. Recent comments by Senator Lott do not reflect the spirit of our country. He has apologized and rightly so. Every day that our nation was segregated was a day our nation was unfaithful to our founding ideals"), Lott's position became untenable. It was obvious he would be unable to remain as Senate Republican Leader, although the official White House line was that Lott did not need to resign....

Under pressure from Senate colleagues, and having lost the support of the White House, Lott resigned as Senate Republican Leader on December 20, 2002. Bill Frist of Tennessee was later elected to the leadership position.

Today, nearly four years after Lott's Strom gaffe, the Republican caucus in the Senate rehabilitated Lott, electing him to be the Senate minority whip--the No. 2 Republican position in that body.

Three questions:

* Is what Lott said any less offensive--or insensitive today--than it was four years ago?

* Are the Senate Republicans so devoid of potential leaders that they have to bring back Lott?

* Is this a big kiss-off to the soon-to-be-gone GOP party chief Ken Mehlman's effort to reach out to blacks?

No. Yes. Yes.


Posted by David Corn at November 15, 2006 12:40 PM

17 comments:

capt said...

Mr. David Corn,

No yes yes - no doubt!


Thanks for all of your work



Kirk

David B. Benson said...

Binary: 011 = 3. Three strikes and you're out.

What a horrible move for the GOPhers...

O'Reilly said...

Lott and he's whip. CHILLING!

David B. Benson said...

Crying wolf: A tsunami warning after a magnitude 8.1--8.3 earthquake in the Kuril Islands in Japan, Pacific Islands, etc. But there was only a 16 inch wave.

I suppose all the evacuees in Japan probably thought it better to be safe.

But how can the GOPhers think it is 'safer' with Lott as whip?

O'Reilly said...

Rub a Dub Dub

capt said...

Murtha and the FBI: The Director's Cut



For more than 26 years, Congressman John P. "Jack" Murtha (D-Penn.) has not been truthful about his involvement in Abscam, court records and the complete video of his meeting with the FBI show.

In recent years, only a 13-second video of Murtha's videotaped meeting with the FBI agents was publicly available. TAS has obtained a copy of the full, original video from a source close to the Abscam investigation on the condition of anonymity. The court transcript is publicly available at the National Archives. (To see the full video, click here. For a transcript of the meeting, click here.)

Murtha has repeatedly maintained his innocence in the Abscam sting operation, even as recently as this year. However, his November 20, 1980 testimony in the trial of Congressmen Frank Thompson (D-N.J.) and John Murphy (D-N.Y.) and the FBI's complete undercover video of his January 7, 1980 meeting with its agent and informant reveal a man showcasing his political influence and apparently tempted to take a $50,000 bribe. On the tape, Murtha appears eager to arrange his own, long-term deal with the supposed representatives of Arab sheiks, and to cut out Thompson and Murphy. His testimony reveals that after his January 7 meeting, he looked into helping the sheiks enter the country, rather than contacting the FBI or the Ethics Committee, of which he was a member. Through the years, Murtha has maintained that he only met with the FBI agents to discuss investments in his district. His testimony, the video, and the cases of other congressmen snared in Abscam suggest that "investments in the district" was a common Abscam defense for those accused of bribery.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

See it for yourself if you're interested. It does not look like a violation of the law. A little sleazy but nothing illegal.



capt

capt said...

DB,

Maybe more (binary) 1010011010?


HA!


capt

David B. Benson said...

capt --- We all hope it is not THAT bad! ;-)

Gerald said...

Ten Reasons to Investigate

Gerald said...

The Nazis can win it all in 2008

David B. Benson said...

Gerald --- Yes, the time to start is NOW!

David B. Benson said...

Investigating, that is...

capt said...

Nanotubes Grow Smaller than a Nanometer



As it is, nanotubes are tiny. But researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have found a way to make these carbon structures even smaller. The size of the tubes, which are used in mass and chemical sensors as well as transistors and oscillators, imparts properties that allow for more exacting performance--for instance, the ability to oscillate at higher frequencies or improved conductivity. "We now have control of an important nanoscale building block, which we can now incorporate into all kinds of devices," says Tom Yuzvinsky, a condensed matter physics graduate student, who is a co-author of the study.

Previous attempts to shrink nanotubes involved irradiating the tiny structures with electrons. This bombardment would cause defects due to mass loss--turning the smooth pipe effectively into Swiss cheese, Yuzvinsky explains. In the new method, the Berkeley researchers wanted to take advantage of this mass loss, so they heated a tube by "pumping tons of current through it," according to Yuzvinsky, while simultaneously irradiating it. The amount of heat going through the nanotube--its temperature rising to thousands of degrees--nearly melts it into a liquid. Although defects are made in the walls of the structure, the atoms, being in a near-liquid state, rearrange to fill the spaces in a process called annealing. "You're getting to a point when it can rearrange into its most stable shape," Yuzvinsky says, "which is its strongest one." The electrical contacts at either end of the nanotube are fixed and unharmed, and the scientists monitor progress using a transmitting electron microscope.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

First, I think nanotechnology will change the world and how we relate to it and interact with it and second, how cool is it that the piece mentions almost in passing that nanotubes are already being used - "the tubes, which are used in mass and chemical sensors as well as transistors and oscillators" - more uses to come.




capt

capt said...

Any doctrine that will not bear investigation is not a fit tenant for the mind of an honest man.
~ Robert Ingersoll (1833 - 1899)

Art is born of the observation and investigation of nature.
~ Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

The first duty of a man is the seeking after and the investigation of truth.
~ Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

capt said...

Gallup: Obama Now Posing Threat to Hillary in 2008 -- Giuliani Leads McCain on GOP Side



NEW YORK After a whirlwind political campaign and press tour riding a bestselling book, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois now trails Sen. Hillary Clinton by only 12% among Democratic voters (and Democratic-leaning independents) as their choice for president in 2008, in a new Gallup poll.

On the GOP side, Sen. John McCain surprisingly trails former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani by 2%.

The poll was conducted Nov. 9-12.

Clinton leads with 31%, and Obama holds 19%. Former Sen. John Edwards comes in third, with 10%, followed by former Vice President Al Gore (9%) and Sen. John Kerry (7%). Sen. Joseph Biden draws 4%, Gen. Wesley Clark 3% and Sen. Evan Bayh and Gov. Bill Richardson just 2% at this point.

Giuliani tops McCain 28% to 26%, with Condoleezza Rice at 13%. Newt Gingrich has 7% and Gov. Mitt Romney 5%.

Gallup makes this interesting observation: "None of the four current front-runners across both parties appears to be resonating with a particular political wing of their party, at least at this point. Giuliani and McCain are about tied among conservative Republicans as well as among moderate/liberal Republicans. Similarly, there is relatively little difference in support for Clinton versus Obama between self-described conservative Democrats and moderate/liberal Democrats."

Clinton's edge over Obama among women is somewhat greater than the overall tally: it's 38% to 18%. But she also leads among men, 23% to 20%.


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

I hope and pray the GOP tries to run McCain or Giuliani as I do not think either will ever be president.

Hillary is not the right person either but Barack and Edwards? Both of them gave me goose-bumps when they perorated. They both have some serious negatives but out of the group so far Obama and Edwards are both interesting puissant prospects. (to me)




capt

capt said...

New thread/post!

(twist - roll - light - smoke - repeat as necessary)



capt

Gerald said...

The Democrats should investigate but not confront the Nazi.