I’ve resisted commenting on the Trent Lott situation, apart from my initial impression. What he said was ill-considered, but I never thought he intended a racist meaning behind his remarks. Only the stupidest politician would say something like that in a public forum, even if he really believed it, and Trent Lott is not the stupidest politician.
However, the same cannot be said for some Democrats reacting to Lott’s resignation as Senate Majority Leader. Sen. Hillary Clinton last week: “If anyone thinks that one person stepping down from a leadership position cleanses the Republican Party of their constant exploitation of race then I think you’re naive.” Exploitation of race!!! (That’s three exclamation points; I never use three.) If anyone exploits race, it’s the Democrats. Republicans run from anything to do with race like demons are chasing them.
And then you’ve got clueless news anchors parrotting similar, stupid things. From the Media Research Center:
The fact that Senator Bill Frist, the expected new Senate Majority Leader, is white disturbed CNN afternoon anchor Kyra Phillips on Friday as she seemed to not realize the Senate has no black members of either party. “It’s sort of ironic,” she decided just past 2pm EST, “because the possible replacements, once again: white males.” Informed of the Senate’s lack of diversity, Phillips was appalled and, sounding like a Valley Girl, expressed her
disappointment: “Diversity in the Senate, it’s not there. That is a problem. Why is there no diversity in the Senate? And that’s got to change, plain and simple.”
Hmmm, no black people in the Senate. I wonder why. Perhaps because they weren’t elected? Maybe if either party put up a decent black candidate that espoused popular views on important issues, he or she could get elected. See, that’s the way things work in the US, Kyra. We elect our representatives, hopefully based on how well they will represent our views. We don’t select them based on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character. Now where have I heard that before? Oh yes, Martin Luther King.
