Lott Moment - James Moran,

Lott Moment - James Moran, 14-year congressman from the Virginia Beltway, blamed Jews for the war at a pro-dictatorship rally:Compare this with the remarks that got Trent Lott into career-ending trouble:

"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,"

Practically interchangeable, if you think about it - if it weren't for those damned reformers and Jews and blacks, things'd be a lot smoother, wouldn't they?

So, Democrats - how is Warner's remark any more defensible than Lott? And where is the groundswell of condemnation?

One of the worst things about the Lott debacle was his clumsy attempt at self-defensive spin afterward. It was cringe-inducing - and not as bad as this remark fro Moran:

"One is that some of the most compelling spokesmen against the war happen to be Jewish, and number two, it clearly is the smallest of the three major communities of faith in America," Moran said.

"If among any one of the major communities of faith in this country there was an organized consensus against the war, I don't think we would be going to war," added Moran, who is Catholic. "If she had identified herself as a Catholic, I would have said the same thing."

Moran said he supports Israel's right to exist and security and denied being anti-Semitic.

"I know in my heart that I am anything but anti-Semitic," Moran said, adding that his daughter, Mary Elise, is marrying a Jewish man and converting to Judaism, with her 9-year-old son. "One wishes I could learn to hold my tongue and to express myself in a much larger context so I would be able to communicate what I really want to say ... Nobody could berate me more than I do when I see my words in print compared to what I intended to say."

"Some of my best friends are Jewish!".

I'd love to see a defense.

(Via Reding)

Posted by Mitch at March 11, 2003 06:44 AM