The Nigh Seen Creeder

I can't say that I'm very happy that Trent Lott was chosen as Senate Minority Whip yesterday. Bob Dole, Trent Lott, and Bill Frist, as post-1994 Senate Majority Leaders, often ran things as if they were in the minority. Indeed, time and again all three - but especially Lott because he served longer than Dole or Frist - allowed Democrats to determine the direction of the U.S. Senate with endless talk of filibusters and the use of parliamentary stunts. Lott did his hitch in the Republican leadership, and more often than not he failed miserably. Let's hope he learned something during his time in the political wilderness.

That said, I guess we should have expected every news story about Trent Lott's victory to include details of his infamous comments at Senator Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday bash. I thought Lott was done wrong when he was forced from his leadership post in 2002. Every time you turned around Lott was behind a microphone apologizing, but the media seemed determined - no matter how many times he apologized - to run him out on a rail. To say that the vultures in the media succeeded is an understatement.

My biggest beef during the whole Lott imbroglio was the selective outrage displayed by the mainstream media. I said as much at the time (my comments are just as relevant today as they were when I penned them four years ago):

Personal and political opportunism often underlies cries of racism. This has certainly been the case during the fallout following Senator Lott's comments at Strom Thurmond's birthday celebration. Indeed, the most disgusting aspect of the Lott imbroglio has been the selective indignation displayed by liberals and members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Consider:

In October [2001], Bill Clinton journeyed to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to attend the dedication of a statue of Senator William Fulbright. Not only did Fulbright vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, he affixed his signature to the racist Southern Manifesto in the 1950s. When will liberals take Bill Clinton to task for claiming as his "mentor" a man who was a segregationist?

Last year, Senator Robert Byrd used the N-word on a broadcast of Fox News Sunday. Far from being a slip of the tongue, the word tripped rather easily from his lips. It was readily apparent to all who witnessed Byrd's interview that he was "speaking from his heart." I don't recall any efforts to censure Senator Byrd or any calls for him to relinquish his seat.

In August 2000, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters refused to condemn an anti-Semitic attack by the Amsterdam News, a leading black newspaper in New York City, on Jewish vice presidential nominee Joseph Lieberman. In November of this year, recently-ousted U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney blamed her defeat on "Jews" who had supported her opponent. Her father, a Georgia state representative, joined in, saying: "Jews have bought everybody." The Congressional Black Caucus has been quick to condemn what it perceives to be verbal attacks against blacks; however, the Caucus has said nothing about well-documented anti-Semitism within its own ranks.

I'll make no excuses for Trent Lott. He should have apologized for his insensitive comments, and he did. I will say, however, that there is no excuse for the selective moral outrage displayed by leftists and their fellow travelers. Hypocrisy has a peculiar stench; and right now, left-wingers stink to high heaven.