The fake Republican outrage over the stupid, private remarks by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, is sickening.
Reid referred to President Obama, then a fellow senator from Illinois, in private talks as “light-skinned” and speaking “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one,” in a new book on the campaign by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Reid has both apologized to the public and personally to the President. “I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words,” Reid said in a statement. “I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African-Americans, for my improper comments.”
Obama has accepted the apology, as did African-American leaders. But that’s not enough for the Republicans, and they are calling for his resignation. The are trying to tie it to the racist remarks of former Republican Senate Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. Lott spoke at the 100th birthday party for former Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-South Carolina, and the 1948 presidential candidate of the segregationist party.
Lott said that if Thurmond had won, “we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years.” In other words, if Thurmond had won and maintained segregation, the country would be better off, and he said we needed a segregationist as president.
Lott eventually apologized, but he resigned nearly two weeks later. However, it was not because of the remarks, it was because he was ineffective as a leader.
7 comments:
Thurmond broke from the Democrat Party and ran as a States Right Democrat Party nominee. After he lost, he stayed on as a Democrat until 1964. He has the record for longest filibuster of 24 hours 18 minutes, in 1957 as a Democrat against the Civil Rights bill.
You can run from the Democrats being the racists all you like, but the facts show that the Democrats are indeed the ones with the racist tendencies.
Harry Reid's comments are just the latest in a long line of foot in mouth disease.
But then, there is also Bill Clinton's comments to Ted Kennedy that from all accounts caused Kennedy to go ballistic when Clinton said to Kennedy that a few years ago this guy (speaking of Obama) would be getting us coffee.
Then there were the events in S. Carolina, again Bill CLinton during the campaign, that led to racist charges.
Your comments about Lott are also untrue. After his comments, which may or may not have been meant about segregation since the quote is very unclear about what he was speaking, Lott was told by the Republican in the Senate that he should resign and President Bush said he should resign. He didn't resign for being an ineffective leader. He resigned at the behest of the Repulicans and President Bush for his comments.
If Harry Reid were truly sorry, he would have apologized immediately after saying them. Not over a year later when his remarks came out in a book.
You are correct about Thurmond, but on September 16, 1964, he switched his party affiliation to Republican where he found a comfortable home until his tenure in the Senate ended in 2003.
Of course many southern Democrats were racist, and I don’t ever recall denying that. But the fact is they put that behind them, and the Republicans have lived on the “southern strategy” beginning with Goldwater.
Clinton’s remarks could also be interpreted as Obama’s lack of experience. But, Kennedy is not around to say otherwise, but at least he never said the country would be better off with segregation like Trent Lott did. Too bad Lott was forced to resign because he was ineffective, and his racist remarks just gave the GOP an excuse to can him.
“If Harry Reid were truly sorry, he would have apologized immediately after saying them?” Wow, how do you reach that stellar conclusion? Why would Harry Reid apologize if it didn’t offend anyone? The remarks were made in private, and although they were a poor choice of words, accurate. Until it made know, how could it offend anyone?
“I accepted Harry’s apology without question because I’ve known him for years, I’ve seen the passionate leadership he’s shown on issues of social justice and I know what’s in his heart,” President Obama said in a written statement. “As far as I am concerned, the book is closed.”
Of course, the book is not closed for Republicans.
What he said was very condescending and in poor taste, and if he were a Republican he would be being hauled over the coals by CNN etc.
That said, it's overblown, as it was when Thurmond, Lott, Clinton etc made their various comments. Just sad that race still remains such a hot-button topic that relatively innocuously meant comments can be blown up like that.
“If he were a Republican he would be being hauled over the coals by CNN etc.” Gee, I wonder where I heard about this? Oh yea, the mainstream media. You can’t really believe that statement?
I disagree. Thurmond was a segragatio8nst, and Lott endorsed him. How do you overblow that?
I have to admit I do enjoy fake right wing outrage over Reid's comment. If anyone takes take to look at Harry Reid's comment he just state what many black people (including me) thought at the time.
To Bill Clinton's comments again context is something not anonymous and his fellow right wingers don't get. He was referring to the notion he didn't think Obama was ready for being president because of what he had accomplished at the time.
But nice try tho, I wish in the future when right wingers try to play the game "see you guys are racist too" you better make sure your argument holds some water.
To the idea things have been overblown you had a elected United States official say he wished the rest of the country elected a president who had segregationist views, even tho he raped and father a child with one of his family black maids.
here is what i say, MLK is/was a republican.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_e9lCE3q6U feel free to watch it and dont be scared. it begins with the i have a dream speech, then after a few minutes it gets into the meat of it.
Then you would be wrong again.
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