Oregon voters should take note.

Curator · 12-19-2007, 08:50 AM

Gordon Smith, the Repuke running for re-election in what I think is a frequently “blue” state, offered this defense for Lott’s racial bigotry.

Quote:

“I was half way around the world when an event befell Trent Lott that shook me deeply,” Smith said, referencing Lott’s 2002 remarks…. “I was celebrating my re-election and on vacation. I watched over international news as his words were misconstrued, words which we had heard him utter many times in his big warm-heartedness trying to make one of our colleagues, Strom Thurmond, feel good at 100 years old. We knew what he meant. But the wolfpack of the press circled around him, sensed blood in the water, and the exigencies of politics caused a great injustice…”

To revisit what Lott said and too what Strom Thurmond's platform actually was back in the day.

Quote:

Lott, whose comments were broadcast live on C-SPAN, said, “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.” Of course, Thurmond ran on segregationist platform in 1948. (During the campaign, he said, “All the laws of Washington and all the bayonets of the Army cannot force the Negro into our homes, our schools, our churches.”)

Lott called his own words “insensitive,” “repugnant,” and “inexcusable.” Now, Repuke Gordon Smith thinks those same comments were harmless?

Quote:

According an Associated Press article on December 17, 2002, Smith reacted as follows:

“However they were intended, Senator Lott’s words were offensive and I was deeply dismayed to hear of them,” Smith said in a brief statement. “His statement goes against everything I and the people of Oregon believe in. I look forward to working with my Republican colleagues to arrive at a decision that is best for the U.S. Senate and the country.”

Three days later, according to the AP, Smith also said:

“I appreciate that Senator Lott has stepped down, it was a courageous thing for him to do…”Senator Lott’s decision is best for the Senate and best for the country.”

Talk about a serious case of flip flopping on an issue.

Democrats should take this Senate seat in November.

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