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Politics : Right Wing Extremist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sandintoes who wrote (31172)	12/16/2002 10:01:08 PM
From: calgal	Respond to of 59480

Lott Apologizes to Black America in BET Interview URL:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,73112,00.html Monday, December 16, 2002 NEW YORK — Senate Republican leader Trent Lott gave a 30-minute interview to Black Entertainment Television Monday in his latest effort to tamp the maelstrom arising from remarks the Mississippi senator made implying warm feelings for the segregation era. "I accept the fact that I made a terrible mistake, used horrible words, caused hurt," Lott told BET interviewer Ed Gordon. Lott defended his standing as incoming Senate majority leader and insisted he did not need to be replaced. "I've asked for forgiveness and I'm going to continue to do that ... But it is about actions more than words. As majority leader I can move an agenda that would hopefully be helpful to African Americans and minorities of all kinds and all Americans." The senator also denied he is a racist: "To be a racist, you have to feel superior. I don't feel superior to you at all," he told Gordon. Lott, sitting alone with Gordon in a Mobile, Ala., television studio, continued to insist that he didn't mean anything racist when he toasted Sen. Strom Thurmond and said, "If the rest of the country had [voted for Thurmond for president], we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either." When asked what he'd meant by "those problems," Lott answered: "I was talking about the problems of defense, of communism, and budget, of a government that sometimes didn't do its job. But again I understand that was interpreted by people the way it was and I should have been sensitive to that. I obviously made a mistake and I'm doing everything I can to admit that and deal with it and correct it. And I hope that people will give me a chance to do so." Lott also announced that he changed his mind about making Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a federal holiday — having voted against it when it was on the Senate floor — and said he supports affirmative action. "I'm for that," Lott said when asked by Gordon again. "I'm for affirmative action and I've practiced it. I've had African Americans on my staff and other minorities, but particularly African Americans, since the mid-1970s." Lott said he had reached out to several lawmakers to push forward an agenda he said would help minorities, including talking with Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., about setting up a task force on reconciliation and with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, about setting up an African-American summit. Lewis, a veteran civil rights leader, said Lott was "sincere" in their Monday conversation and he suggested that the Mississippi senator join him in an annual civil rights tour in March through places like Selma, Ala., where police had badly beaten him during the 1960s civil rights struggle. "I'd like to come down on his side, giving him a chance," Lewis said. "I'm not one of those calling for him to step down and give up his leadership post. We all make mistakes, we all make blunders. It's very much keeping with the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence to forgive and move on." The controversy surrounding the embattled Senate leader began earlier this month at the 100th birthday party for Thurmond, at which Lott said Mississippians were proud to have supported Thurmond for president when he ran in 1948 as a segregationist. Criticism from members of the Congressional Black Caucus and black leaders including Jesse Jackson quickly followed, but it wasn't until last Friday that Lott made his first televised appearance. Since then, members of Lott's own party have publicly voiced concern over his leadership, most notably Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., Lott's longtime rival for GOP leadership. Nickles was the first Republican to break ranks and call for new leadership elections, where he would be a likely contender. Senate Republicans have called a January meeting to consider the issue. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

To: sandintoes who wrote (31172)	12/16/2002 10:51:06 PM
From: calgal	Respond to of 59480

I thought there were some funny lines! Gore Plays SNL in Monthlong Media Blitz URL:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,73052,00.html Sunday, December 15, 2002 NEW YORK — Al and Tipper Gore may have logged TV's longest screen embrace during their opening bit on Saturday Night Live. Reunited in an NBC corridor after a few painful moments apart, the Gore lovebirds went into a clench while cast member Jimmy Fallon and executive producer Lorne Michaels looked on uneasily. "Maybe we should get them to stop," Fallon said, moments before someone zapped the former vice president with a stun gun. Total smooch time: 2 1/2 minutes. Gore included the Saturday Night Live host gig in his monthlong television blitz to promote a pair of new books and, perhaps, promote himself for a possible 2004 presidential bid. During a busy 90 minutes, during which he was seldom absent from sight, the Democrat made sporting fun of his unsuccessful White House run in 2000. With wife Tipper, he had a session with positive-thinking guru Stuart Smalley (played by Al Franken), who counseled him not to be sad about his election loss. "All I have to do is be the best Al I can be," said Gore, reciting in a mirror the famous Smalley affirmation, "because I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and, doggone it, people like me." Earlier, Gore told the audience how he went about choosing his vice presidential running mate: Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and other hopefuls had to vie for his favor on a TV series similar to The Bachelor. (Lieberman, of course, got the proposal and the rose.) In another skit, Gore portrayed Senate Republican leader Trent Lott, who in recent days has repeatedly apologized for remarks he made that seemed to support racial segregation. "I meant no disrespect to any white people," insisted Gore-as-Lott. "As long as I am in office, we will leave no white person behind." Then, in a spot taped while visiting the Oval Office set of The West Wing, Gore took his seat behind fictional President Bartlet's desk and began fantasizing it was his. With production wrapped for the day, Martin Sheen, who stars on The West Wing as Bartlet, invited Gore out for dinner. "Can't I just stay here?" Gore asked.