In the book "Game Change" by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann…..Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) speaking of then Presidential candidate Barak Obama….is quoted as saying that he felt that Americans were “ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama – a 'light-skinned' African American 'with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.’” According to the Halperin and Heilemann, the book is based on interviews with more than 200 people involved in the campaign, including Obama.
On December 5, 2002…..at a 100th birthday party of Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina …Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) said this “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” .
Personally, I think that both comments could be taken as inappropriate. However, Reid’s comment leaves very little, if anything, for the reader to decide as to what he meant. It was an obvious racist remark toward a black person…both on the surface and upon further thought. If it wasn’t meant as racist statement…then how did he mean it? With that said….at least Lott’s comment is open for interpretation and does have some merits. For example, what did “we wouldn’t have had all these problems over all of these years” mean? The last time I checked there have been a few more problems in the country over the last 60 years or so, besides racism. For Pete’s sake…it was a 100th birthday party…and the comment was simply meant as a compliment to an old man who had served in Congress for a thousand years or so. (Give or take a few hundred) Yes…if someone wanted to read racism into Lott’s statement, it could be done…however it would require that person to do research on Thurmond’s career...going all the way back to the 1948, when Thurmond ran for President on the “States’ Rights Democratic Party” ticket…..and then to his stand in favor of segregation in the 50’s and early 60’s. Of course if that same person did their research properly…they would also see that later in Thurmond’s career he supported the “Voting Rights Act” that outlawed voting practices that had allowed for discrimination against African Americans in the United States. The “Voting Rights Act” prohibited states from imposing any "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure ... to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color". Thurmond also supported making the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. a federal holiday. With all of that in mind…..remember the REAL issue here is not one of comparing Harry Reid to Strom Thurmond…Not at all…Instead we are comparing Harry Reid to Trent Lott…someone whose mistake….that ultimately led to his resignation…was in saying something nice about a 100 year-old man, at his 100th birthday party.
Right about now some of you are saying to yourselves….”I didn’t realize that David was so into the whole Civil Rights movement”…(or you could be saying to yourself…”I wish I had trusted the expiration date on that milk carton before I used it on my cereal this morning”) …Here’s the problem…..as far as I’m concerned, it’s not so much what was said by Trent Lott OR Harry Reid….it’s all the nonsense that was said AFTER both situations by the Democrats, “race pimps” and the “liberal media”. …..Here are a few quotes….
First of all…here’s a quote from (of all people) Harry Reid, following Trent Lott’s comments in 2002, as he called for Lott to resign….."If you tell ethnic jokes in the backroom, it's that much easier to say ethnic things publicly. I've always practiced how I play."…..It was good to hear Harry basically say …”That ain’t how I roll”....Of course, based on his comments on Obama…obviously it IS how he rolls…
Here is a comment by then Senator Obama, regarding Trent Lott’s “racist” comments ….Keep in mind that these comments are AFTER Trent Lott apologized…“It seems to be that we can forgive a 100-year-old senator (Thurmond) for some of the indiscretion of his youth, but, what is more difficult to forgive is the current president of the U.S. Senate… suggesting we had been better off if we had followed a segregationist path in this country after all of the battles and fights for civil rights and all the work that we still have to do……The Republican Party itself has to drive out Trent Lott. If they have to stand for something, they have to stand up and say this is not the person we want representing our party.”
Then of course...here are Barak Obama’s comments after Harry Reid’s apology…“Harry Reid called me today and apologized for an unfortunate comment reported today. 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……As far as I am concerned, the book is closed.”
So let me get this straight…Obama knows what’s in Harry Reid’s “heart”?….Well of course he does…after all, what “Messiah” wouldn’t be able to see into someone’s “heart”. I guess he didn’t know what was in Trent Lott’s heart in 2002 because, at the time, he had not yet been anointed as “Messiah”…I guess the timing really sucked for Trent. While Reid’s comment was only “unfortunate”…it seemed to Obama, that the only acceptable option for Trent Lott was to be driven out of office….And while Obama could easily accept Reid’s apology “without question”….he found it “difficult to forgive” Trent Lott.
I have saved the best for last (“best” of course, being in reference to the biggest idiot)….and that would be none other than the “Race Pimp” himself…Al Sharpton….Following Trent Lott’s comments in 2002, here is what Bro. Al had to say…. “This is not just an off-color remark. We're talking about somebody in power ... he can't say he didn't say it. You have the tape that shows that he said it. …..You can go to any local penitentiary, and any crook will say, "I didn't mean it, I'm sorry." But you still pay for what you do…….For the interest of the country and the party, Mr. Lott should step aside since he either has very segregationist views or he at least has a repeated problem of being misunderstood when he endorses segregationists”
However, after Harry Reid’s comments….here is what Al had to say…”I have learned of certain unfortunate comments made by Senator Reid regarding President Barack Obama and have spoken with Senator Reid about those comments. While there is no question that Senator Reid did not select the best word choice in this instance, these comments should not distract America from its continued focus on securing healthcare or creating jobs for its people. Nor should they detract from the unquestionable leadership role Senator Reid has played on these issues or in the area of civil rights. Senator Reid’s door has always been open on hearing from the civil rights community on these issues and I look forward to continue to work with Senator Reid wherever possible to improve the lives of Americans everywhere”.
My point is this….I don’t really give a rodent’s butt about either Harry Reid’s statement or Trent Lott’s statement…..but I do care about the double standard that exists with liberals and obvious racist like Al Sharpton. It seems that Democrats can say and do anything…and if they apologize…all is forgiven. However if a Republican does the same thing…the only acceptable action is to have them publicly executed. (or something close to that). If we as a society really care about racial injustice and blatant racist remarks….then care about it when it comes from a Democrat or a Republican…when it comes from a liberal or a conservative….and yes, when it comes from a white person, like Trent Lott or Harry Reid…OR a black person like Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. And when it comes to judgment….it needs to be handed out equally on all sides…not just to whom the liberals and race pimps decide to deem guilty. Somehow I thought I would feel better after this….and I don’t. I guess it’s because in my heart (and yes I DO know what’s in MY heart)…I know that this will never change, because the race pimps, the liberal media and the Democrat Party will never allow it to change. Then Again….That’s Just Me.
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