Republican senators refuse to back anti-lynching bill

[DaShiznit]

These senators are the ones who have refused to back a senate bill which will apologize for congess' refusal to pass anti-lynching legislation sooner. Note that only one of them is a Democrat, whilst fifteen of them are Republicans.

Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Robert Bennett (R-UT)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Kent Conrad (D-ND)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Michael Crapo (R-ID)
Michael Enzi (R-WY)
Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Trent Lott (R-MS)
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Richard Shelby (R-AL)
John Sununu (R-NH)
Craig Thomas (R-WY)
George Voinovich (R-OH)

Shameful, absolutely shameful.

[Baneblade]

Why exactly do we need an 'anti-lynching' bill?

[DeepStrikeck]

No its a bill apologizing for not making an anti-lyncing bill law sooner than it was. Stupid in my opinion. You can't change what happened. Why apologize now, especially since none of the congressmen who delayed the bill are still in office. Why should modern ones apologize if they had nothing to do with it?

[DaShiznit]

Originally Posted by DeepStrikeck

No its a bill apologizing for not making an anti-lyncing bill law sooner than it was. Stupid in my opinion. You can't change what happened. Why apologize now, especially since none of the congressmen who delayed the bill are still in office. Why should modern ones apologize if they had nothing to do with it?

I don't know...because it's the right thing to do and the US Congress owes it to the families of those killed?

[Baneblade]

Originally Posted by DaShiznit

I don't know...because it's the right thing to do and the US Congress owes it to the families of those killed?

...

It's a waste of time, society has advanced beyond it for the most part...why dig it back up.

[DaShiznit]

My question is: what's the harm in passing it? What't the harm in saying to the families of those killed in lynchings that we're sorry we didn't. And what's more, the fact that almost one in four Republican Senators refused to sign this is proof that society hasn't advanced beyond this.

[Baneblade]

So 3 in 4 support it? I would call that advancement.

[Pilgrim]

I wish I could find the list of 40 some odd Democrats who voted no on the Civil Rights amendment.

Shameful

Absolutely Shameful

And here is a list of current senators who filibustered against the Civil Rights act:

Robert Byrd (D)

But back on topic. It may be a stupid and pointless gesture, but any republican who didn't vote for this is a dumb ass.

[DaShiznit]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

I wish I could find the list of 40 some odd Democrats who voted no on the Civil Rights amendment.

Shameful

Absolutely Shameful

And here is a list of current senators who filibustered against the Civil Rights act:

Robert Byrd (D)

But back on topic. It may be a stupid and pointless gesture, but any republican who didn't vote for this is a dumb ass.

These "Democrats", AKA, the Dixiecrats, who filibustered the Civil Rights act were so enraged by the fact that most Democrats supported civil rights they led a walkout at the 1948 Democratic Convention. What's more, after the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, the Republicans nominated Barry Goldwater, who opposed the Civil Rights Act.

In addition, the man who holds the record for longest continuous filibuster, which he set when filibustering the Civil Rights Act remained an influential Republican senator for more than half a century after he lead the walkout at the 1948 Democratic Convention. What's worse is that his 100th birthday party, the man who was the most influential Republican senator at the time condoned his segregationist policies. Now, that's shameful.

So 3 in 4 support it? I would call that advancement.

True, it is, but compare that to 44 out of 45 Democrats who supported it.

[DaShiznit]

Just found this politcal cartoon which seems oddly appropriate:

[MrVicchio]

It's a goofy thing now, appologizing for something that most of the senators today didn't have a say in ANYWAY.

It's political grandstanding at it's worst. Anyonw that does go along with this, is doing so because they know if they don't they'll get demonized unfairly.

Makes me sick.

[DaShiznit]

Originally Posted by MrVicchio

It's political grandstanding at it's worst. Anyonw that does go along with this, is doing so because they know if they don't they'll get demonized unfairly.

Or maybe, just maybe, they're doing it because it's :gasp: the right thing to do.

[Firefly]

I don't know about you, but I ain't apologizing for shit I didn't do.

It's like I and many other say. I"m not racist, I don't own slaves, I didn't own slaves back then, I wasn't alive back then, and neither were you. Don't expect me to feel White Guilt for being white and from the South.

A bill apologizing for something is a waste of taxpayer money. It's a waste of time, time that could be better spent planning a better budget or getting our troops out of Iraq.

[DaShiznit]

Originally Posted by Firefly

I don't know about you, but I ain't apologizing for shit I didn't do.

It's like I and many other say. I"m not racist, I don't own slaves, I didn't own slaves back then, I wasn't alive back then, and neither were you. Don't expect me to feel White Guilt for being white and from the South.

A bill apologizing for something is a waste of taxpayer money. It's a waste of time, time that could be better spent planning a better budget or getting our troops out of Iraq.

So...it's a better time to spend weeks bickering over something which will probably never be agreed upon anyway than to pass something which could comfort the families of victims of desgustingly brutal murders?

[Firefly]

Originally Posted by DaShiznit

So...it's a better time to spend weeks bickering over something which will probably never be agreed upon anyway than to pass something which could comfort the families of victims of desgustingly brutal murders?

When's the last time the Senate passed a bill apologizing for dropping the ball tor families of victims of the Oklahoma bombing? Or for dropping the ball on September the 11th?

When's the last time the Senate drafted a bill apologizing to each and every Indian (screw that PC bullshit) that they dicked over and/or tried to murder, or forced to live on a tiny-ass reservation in poverty and squalor? When's the last time they drafted a bill apologizing for allowing slavery in the first place?

When are they going to pass a bill that apologizes to Iraqi citizens who were beaten, humiliated and abused at Abu Ghraib? When are they going to pass a bill apologizing to Afghan and Iraqi citizens who were killed by US troops? Are we going to apologize to the families of victims who survived Hiroshima and Nagasakanookie? Are we going to apologize to the families of victims of the Holocaust (which we knew about but did nothing about until we arrived on-scene)? I think we should also apologize to the families of victims of the Dresden fire-bombing in WW2 too.

When is Congress going to draft a bill apologizing to the families of victims of mass murderers? What, because they weren't victims of a race crime they thus don't get an apology? When is Congress going to apologize to the families of people who were falsely imprisoned for being accused of being a Communist by one of the government's own senators? What about the people who were just falsely imprisoned?

Token gestures mean jack and shit when they are politically motivated. Have a nice day.