It is now almost exactly four years since I wrote the first of a number of columns on Sen. Trent Lott and the residue of red in his neck. Over the last four years since I called for his resignation, little has been made of Lott and the things he has said and the people with whom he has associated.
But now, with the piling on so thorough, we can see where we are.
One of the things the Lott affair has proven is there is a double standard in the media, as I observed back in those days when Lott had only to make a curt statement and be assured that no one in the media would push the issue of his association with the pro-white Council of Conservative Citizens.
If he had been black and associated with a racist black group, he would have been harassed out of office, especially if he had said, as Lott did to the citizens council in 1992, that it had the right philosophy and was moving in the right direction and that "our children" would benefit.
It tears at my heart to agree with Crouch — the man can be such an ass sometimes — but, he's entirely on-point regarding the double standard re: L'affaire Lott. Still, I'm waiting for a Democrat to tell off his fellow party members for their duplicitous ravings. All too often Dems are given a free ride when it comes to race and their handling of the hot button issue. From Clinton, to Zell Miller, to Robert Byrd and others that escape my memory right now.
I don't have the energy, nor the willpower to debate that issue though. Maybe another time and another scandal.
Posted by ronn at December 19, 2002 04:52 PM