Lott’s Swift Ouster Puts Frist First

I’ve never been a big fan of Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.). But the way the GOP sliced him up and humiliated him caused even me to shrink at the sight. Why the butcher job on Lott by the White House et al? Well, to have to wait some three weeks for the meeting to vote for the Senate leader and have all this public discussion during all that time about the GOP’s Southern strategy was not a good thing for Bush.

On Friday, Lott’s successor as Senate majority leader was unveiled. Sen. Bill Frist, a Southern white politician (from Tennessee). Is Frist a strong proponent for the minorities and the poor? Not at all. He’s much more conservative than Lott, but hopefully will not be caught on tape favoring segregation. Look at his record: an opponent of expanded hate crimes protection; against greater funding for minority-owned businesses; against efforts to end job discrimination based on sexual orientation; opponent to affirmative action in federal hiring. Frist is a poster boy for the American Conservative Union. Hopefully for the GOP he won’t publicly advertise his despicable right-wing feelings. But his record and that of the White House are there for all to see.

Charles S. Hoff

Rancho Palos Verdes

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Well, thanks to the mainstream media, Lott is out and Frist is in as Senate majority leader. This manufactured controversy is a prime example of the media’s perpetual drive to create the news rather than simply report it. Media outlets, in an absolutely blatant attempt at juicing up an otherwise uneventful birthday celebration, embellished their stories with highly subjective interpretations of Lott’s comments. No critics of Lott’s speech were reported until after grossly opinionated media stories went public. Are journalists just a bunch of frustrated fiction writers?

Gary Jellison

Torrance

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I was feeling just a little bit of empathy for Lott until hearing that he blamed his downfall on people who dislike Christians (Dec. 23). So he’s doing like others from the past, looking for a scapegoat to blame for his own ignorance. Now I really believe he got what he deserved. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Arnold Daitch

Northridge