New topic: I wish to talk about [insert evil giggle of glee] Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.

[grin] I'm sorry - I can't seem to stop smiling at this whole thing. I can't seem to stop laughing, either. And I'd like to apologize, but frankly, I don't give a damn. For once in the past couple of weeks, I'm happy with all the media attention on the Republicans.

Now let's get to the facts of the matter, shall we? This is buhxactly what he said (according to TIME magazine):

Lott has been under fire since last week, when he declared that his state was proud to have voted for Strom Thurmond's segregationist ticket in 1948. "And if the rest of the country had followed our lead," Lott added in remarks at Thurmond's 100th birthday party, "we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years either." Lott has since apologized, and on Thursday, President Bush said the apology was deserved. "Any suggestion that the segregated past was acceptable or positive is offensive and it is wrong," Bush declared.

Let me just amplify: "And if the rest of the country had followed our lead," Lott added in remarks at Thurmond's 100th birthday party, "we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years either."

I don't care if the man was turning 1,000 or if he was happy 'cause his viagra was working - the comments were unnecessary.

Okay, maybe he was just kidding - and he figured it was safe to say it in the company of other politicos. Maybe he felt like he was in a "safe zone" where he could say bullshit like that.

Or maybe he really meant it.

Hmmm.

Let's see - let's take a look at his record:

1. He tried to block the integration of African-Americans into his college fraternity at Ole Miss. It has now since been integrated, but he was a leading force against it.

2. In his 1981 friend-of-the-court filing with the Supreme Court, Lott cited court rulings upholding affirmative action programs at colleges and compared them to the dating ban between black and white students at Bob Jones University. Bob Jones University is a fundamentalist Christian school in Greenville, South Carolina, and its ban on interracial dating among students has long stirred controversy. It has dogged judicial nominees who were involved in the school's various legal fights, and presidential candidates, including Bush, who have been criticized for visiting the campus. The school recently lifted the ban. The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 to strip the school of its tax exemption about two years after Lott filed his brief. "To hold that this religious institution is subject to tax because of its interracial dating policies would clearly raise grave First Amendment questions," he argued. (from CNN)

3. In a 1997 interview with Time magazine, Lott said he once favored segregation as a college student watching armed U.S. marshals help a black student gain entry to a Mississippi university. "Yes, you could say that I favored segregation then. I don't now," Lott was quoted as saying. "The main thing was, I felt the federal government had no business sending in troops to tell the state what to do." (from CNN)

4. And he's done it before. As CNN reports: That line initially drew little fire, but the criticism grew this week and intensified with a report of a similar comment he made at a 1980 campaign rally for Ronald Reagan in Mississippi. His comments followed a speech by Thurmond, who praised the platform that would soon put Reagan in the White House. "You know, if we had elected this man 30 years ago, we wouldn't be in the mess we are today," Lott was quoted as saying of Thurmond in a November 3, 1980, article in The Clarion-Ledger, a Jackson newspaper.

That's just a few of the things that he's done that follow the same line as his remarks. If you ask me, it ain't just a kwinky-dink. (Er, that would be coincidence, in Monkey-speak)

You know what? I'm not even going to editorialize this one. I'm just presenting the facts. But as this is my blogger, I might as well personalize it, no?

Hell, you twisted my arm.

I think it just slipped out. Really. I think he just said it, he meant it to be funny or he meant it to be sincere, either way, it was a dumb-ass thing to say. I think his apology should be enough and there really isn't enough happening out there in our big wide world - which is the same reason that Mariah Carey's mental breakdown dominated the news for weeks.

But as I debate with myself back and forth as to whether or not the man should resign, I keep coming back to one thing: he's the Majority Leader. He's in charge of the party that just won a historical mid-term election and a party that's seeking to re-shape its image as friendly to minorities. And though I would have debated it in the thesis I wanted to write (instead of one on critical elections), his party is Lincoln's party - in name, not so much in policy anymore - and either way you look at it, he's the guy that they look to - he's the leader.

He shouldn't be so damn stupid. He's in charge, for chrissakes.

He should watch his damn mouth. He's the damn spokesperson for his party, for the love of pete.

See, this is the type of stuff that gives me hope for my party. My poor, disjointed, losing party (I can admit it, okay?). When a Republican makes stupid ass remarks like this that are just plain stupid and insensitive - well, I gotta hang onto something, right? Right. But you know what? NOTHING he says can take back the remark. He's apologized how many times now - four? It doesn't matter. You said it and nothing you can say or do can take it back. Know why? 'Cause your record says something different.

This, my dear friends, can be chalked up to something my good friend and sister whom I affectionately call Porkchop once told me: People may not believe what you say, but they'll always believe what you do. So sorry, Trent Lott. No amount of your, "Oh, P.S., I was just kidding" bullshit is going to save you.

Hey all you Dems out there - write this down in your notebooks: watch what you say. Not that it matters, 'cause the past forty years have spoken to our beliefs, and they haven't changed. But mark down this day as this:

DAY ONE OF CRITICAL ELECTION 2004. That's right, kids. A Watershed Election. Don't know what it is? Look it up. That's what I'm talkin' about.

Oh, and by the PPS: 24 and a half hours counting until us New Yorkers find out whether or not the TWA workers will strike. At the time of this writing, there has been no further action on the negotiations and the TWA representative has said that the talks have gone from "good faith to no faith". That doesn't sound so damn good. WHERE THE HELL IS GEORGE PATAKI? DIDN'T I FREAKIN' TELL PEOPLE NOT TO VOTE FOR HIS DAMN ASS? Now look. Here's where we are. I was specific, I even gave people a candidate to vote for - and I didn't waiver in that. You know what? It's out of my hands. But you know what? It never was in my hands...damnhellass. The end.