THERE GOES OUR SHOT AT RE-INSTATING PLESSY:

A New GOP: Why conservatives are the most eager to dump Trent Lott as Senate majority leader. (Noemie Emery, 12/18/2002, Weekly Standard)

ANY DAY NOW, the Democrats may come to regret deeply the moment the Trent Lott disturbance caught media fire. It is now a great mess for the Republican party, but one that has the potential to turn into a great opportunity, and one the party should eagerly seize. It is a chance for the GOP to clean up its act and its household, haul tons of old rubbish out of the attic, and banish some shopworn old ghosts. Having begun by delighting the Democrats by seeming to highlight the links they believed existed between racism and the conservative agenda, the furor may end by finally snapping those links, along with a number of sinister theories. And that will be all to the good.

Though I'd reject the premise of Ms Emery's column, that there is a unique racist demon within the GOP that must be purged in order for it to be as pure as the rest of America, her point seems correct: this is a net benefit to the Party. In effect they've been given a freebie. They don't have to reject one policy or idea that they actually care about. They're being hailed for punishing Trent Lott's seeming endorsement of Jim Crow. It's not like there's a pro-Jim Crow wing of the Party that's being rejected here, is it? In fact, this could nearly be a Saturday Night Live skit:

The Scene: the 2004 Presidential Debate

The Players: George W. Bush, John Kerry, Tim Russert.

Tim Russert: President Bush, despite your general popularity in the polls, you continue to garner just 8% support from black voters and many black leaders say you've done nothing to help blacks. How would you respond to this criticism?

President Bush: Well, Tim, let me just say that I am deeply and profoundly opposed to segregation.

The entire "issue" is a non sequitur. It simply has nothing to do with anything that truly matters. Posted by Orrin Judd at December 18, 2002 9:27 PM