December 17, 2012

Tim Scott "will become the only African-American currently serving in the Senate and the first black Republican to serve in the upper chamber since the 1970s."

Appointed by Nikki Haley to replace Jim DeMint.
Scott was first elected to the House in 2010, winning an open seat after defeating the son of longtime Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), the former segregationist who held the state’s other Senate seat for nearly 50 years until 2003.

He will become just the seventh African-American to serve in the Senate and the first black senator from the South since the 1880s.

Only three black senators have been voted into office by their constituents: Sen. Edward Brooke (R-Mass.), Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.) and now-President Barack Obama (D-Ill.). The others were elected by their state legislatures (before direct election of U.S. senators began) or appointed.
DeMint's term runs until 2016, but there will be a special election in 2014, so it remains to be seen whether this black Republican from the South can win a state-wide election.

ADDED: The linked WaPo article identifies Thurmond — "the former segregationist" — as a Republican, but when he was a big-time segregationist, he was a Democrat:
Thurmond represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 until 2003, at first as a Democrat and, after 1964, as a Republican....

In opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957, he conducted the longest filibuster ever by a lone senator, at 24 hours and 18 minutes in length, nonstop. In the 1960s, he opposed the civil rights legislation of 1964 and 1965 to end segregation and enforce the voting rights of African-American citizens. He always insisted he had never been a racist, but was opposed to excessive federal authority.

73 comments:

Nathan Alexander said...

A female, Indian GOP Governor appoints a black man to the Senate.

Do you really need any more evidence to believe that the GOP is engaged in a racist, sexist war on minorities and women?

Known Unknown said...

Nathan-

Scott's probably a 'cornball brother' and not down with the cause.

His political views invalidate his blackness.

edutcher said...

That last sentence seems a bit much. If Scott can take his district, he probably stands a good chance state-wide.

Michael Haz said...

Care to bet on the ethnicity of John Kerry's replacement?

holdfast said...

"Republicans callously remove last remaining black GOP Member from the House of Representatives".

Nathan Alexander said...

...where, of course, he will join the GOP Hispanic Senators that outnumber Democrat Hispanic Senators 2:1.

Will this GOP hatred of minorities never stop?

shiloh said...

Scott will probably be primaried by many Reps w/more $$$.

Do the math. And SC is becoming less of a solid Rep stronghold ...

Democrats eye hobbled Nikki Haley in 2014

Indeed, as Haley has become quite the train wreck, much like Willard.

Shouting Thomas said...

shiloh,

Is Jake Diamond your pissed off, demented twin?

He's got some of your verbal tics!

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

They're going to have to dust off the water fountain reserved for black Republicans

machine said...

Wow...this fixes everything!

YoungHegelian said...

@shiloh,

Do the math. And SC is becoming less of a solid Rep stronghold

How old are you -- 12? How many times in our lifetimes have we heard the "The Dems/Repubs are dead now." only to find out that, lo & behold, the obituary was premature?

If you think the Repubs are dead, then why their success at the state level?

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Known Unknown said...

Wow...this fixes everything!

Comment of the day!

Shouting Thomas said...

Indeed, as Haley has become quite the train wreck, much like Willard.

Romney is not a "train wreck."

He lost an election. That's all, shiloh.

The Giants lost a ball game yesterday. They will win a ball game again in the future.

Same with the Republicans.

shiloh said...

"demented twin?"

ST, Jake doesn't mince words as he flat out calls Althouse flock idiots!

I "try" to be a little more nuanced er playful w/her lemmings. :-P

ie nothing is black and white ;) except Althouse ((( wishin'/hopin'/prayin' ))) Willard would become king er president. :)

btw, glad you asked ...

shiloh said...

"If you think the Repubs are dead"

No, but they are on life support ...

Shouting Thomas said...

No, but they are on life support ...

No.

Just wishful thinking on your part.

Or else, you're too young and stupid to know better.

shiloh said...

btw YH, I was talkin' about the SC Rep primary re: math. Not Dems vs. Reps per se.

shiloh said...

After reading many laughable, con 2012 presidential predictions at Althouse, interesting that an Althouse lemming would call anyone stupid!

Shouting Thomas said...

After reading many laughable, con 2012 presidential predictions at Althouse, interesting that an Althouse lemming would call anyone stupid!

I didn't make any predictions.

My stated preference was that the end result produce divided government.

Shouting Thomas said...

You'd be a lot more interesting commenter, shiloh, if you'd drop the bullshit.

This blog has one of the most interesting mixes of commenters on the web. Every type of political viewpoint shows up here

That schtick of yours is juvenile. Reeks of a lack of confidence. Why don't you get over it?

Known Unknown said...

I do often wonder why Shiloh does comment here.

He's obviously so superior to every other one of us here, you would think he would have something better to do with his time.

Something more intrinsically valuable to mankind.

Michael said...

ST and EMD: I have come to think of the commenters Shiloh, Ritmo, Inga and Jake Diamond as a sort of Greek Chorus without content. They chirp. They snark. But only rarely do they offer comments of any length or proceed with a willingness to debate in good faith. I suspect that ST's comment about a lack of confidence is on the mark. Like most lefties their ideas are received and not particularly well understood. Further they appear to have a decided lack of worldly experience of the sort that naturally quells outrageousness and leads to a more human and sympathetic view of others.

sakredkow said...

Well my friend Shiloh does have her right-wing equivalents here, in spades.

Alex said...

Cue calls of "uncle tom" and "oreo" from Shiloh.

Alex said...

ST - their goal is to demoralize you. If you ignore them then we can have a substantive debate among those who aren't batshit crazy.

Alex said...

Wow...this fixes everything!

Translation - GOP once racist, always racist no matter what. Racist boo!

traditionalguy said...

Is this SC Senator a cornball black? I suspect Haley did not care.

The southern voters don't care either. All of the sturm und drang is by northern myth purveyors.

Known Unknown said...

cornball black

Cornball black is not the preferred nomenclature. Cornball brother, please.


Known Unknown said...

Some of my best friends are cornball brothers.

shiloh said...

"I do often wonder why Shiloh does comment here."

As mentioned previously, this blog is somewhat entertaining as regards to Althouse and her con flock's daily self-righteousness.

As they stumble over themselves trying to appease Althouse and convince themselves all issues are black and white, no pun intended.

Again, it's interesting how a small group of libs tend to dominate the discussion here. And Althouse #1 doting, trained seal mentions my name many times in threads I haven't made a single post.

Such affection is hard to resist lol.

Badger Pundit said...

The racial component of this story, properly viewed, is NOT that the Republicans are somehow engaging in affirmative action in the selection of Scott (none is needed to justify selecting him). Rather, it’s the absence of any Democrat U.S. Senator.

That says something about the polarization and tokenism of the Democrat party, which is focused in maximizing the number of minorities in Congress, which it does by steering its minority stars into gerrymandered, leftist congressional districts in which they compile records that make them almost always unelectable on a state-wide basis.

Various people have addressed this in detail, of course. For example Jamelle Bouie in the American Prospect:
http://prospect.org/article/other-glass-ceiling.

And James Joyner on the “clownish legislators” produced by this system, in which primary campaigns sometimes devolve into a debate about which candidate is blackest, not who’s best (with Harvard Law grad Artur Davis recently losing that competition):
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/racial-gerrymandering-and-idiots.

YoungHegelian said...

@phx,

Well my friend Shiloh does have her right-wing equivalents here, in spades.

No, not really. There are right wing wingnuts here, that's for sure, but NONE of them are addicted to the drive-by snarky comment that we're all supposed to recognize as just a brilliant gem of thought without any further supporting argument.

Most of the wingnuts, on the contrary, will be only to happy to go on at length in their exposition.

I exempt Inga from that list. While we don't agree, I think she comes in for too much gratuitous abuse here.

Sam L. said...

Scott is clearly an inauthentic "Uncle Tom" served up by an illegitemate governor trying to stir up racial trouble. Yup. Mmmmm hmmm.

Known Unknown said...

I exempt Inga from that list. While we don't agree, I think she comes in for too much gratuitous abuse here.

I agree. She makes arguments, and we debate.

Same with phx.

I was once able to get Jeremy to stop slinging names around, and actually discuss the topic at hand.

David said...

Scott is my Congresscritter. Solid guy, good politician. Beating Strom Thrumond's son was no fluke, nor was it a piece of cake. But Scott was a better organizer and better campaigner.

Scott should have no trouble winning a state wide campaign in 2014. It would be a surprise if he even gets a primary challenge, and certainly it won't be from someone better financed, as was predicted above.

Of course the lefty demonization will start. People like Scott are an existential threat to their lock on the black vote.

test said...

EMD said...
I agree. She makes arguments, and we debate.


She spreads whatever lies she read on Kos and leaves the thread when asked for evidence. She's a propogandist.

Paco Wové said...

"I do often wonder why Shiloh does comment here"

Why do trolls troll anywhere? For the attention, obviously.

Steve Koch said...

shiloh said...
"After reading many laughable, con 2012 presidential predictions at Althouse, interesting that an Althouse lemming would call anyone stupid!"

What is an Althouse lemming? Maybe it is somebody who would follow Althouse's lead in politics. That is ridiculous to anybody who pays attention to this blog. Most people who comment here are either party line hack dems or conservatives and Althouse does not belong to either group. Althouse is mostly liberal but recognizes some of the horrible stuff the dems do. She certainly is not close to being a conservative. The idea that conservatives who comment here follow the political philosophy of Althouse is completely out of touch with reality.

Shiloh's point seems to be that all conservative commentors here must be stupid since some conservatives did not predict an Obama win. That, of course, is a completely irrational and preposterous deduction. Why would an inaccurate election prediction by one commentor imply that another commentor is stupid? For that matter, why would a single inaccurate election prediction imply that that predictor is stupid?

I just wanted to point out that that particular sentence written by Shiloh was quite stupid and out of touch with reality.

YoungHegelian said...

@Steve Koch,

Admit it! You're just saying that because your relatives, the evil Koch brothers, paid you to say it!

Paco Wové said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Methadras said...

I'll be sure to send him a batch of corn bread in the shape of balls with a note that says, "For the cause, if you so choose to join it..."

traditionalguy said...

Inga is fun. She pulls our leg mostly in good humor. And she seems to me to be be very real.

When Inga turns serious she gives us the gift of hearing another mainstream point of view from the world so we can consider it and accept some of it or sharpen our response against it.

All the INTJs here need Inga. She is our Washington Generals.

David said...

What percentage on Americans are even aware that the Democrats based their regional and national power on segregation and disenfranchisement of blacks for over 100 years? What percentage of younger WAPO reporters know that?

edutcher said...

Shouting Thomas said...

shiloh,

Is Jake Diamond your pissed off, demented twin?

He's got some of your verbal tics!


Not some, all.

machine said...

Wow...this fixes everything!

You mean all the slavery, secession, and segregation the democrats practiced for 130 years?

shiloh said...

Indeed, as Haley has become quite the train wreck, much like Willard.

No, the train wreck was Choomie, who couldn't win re-election without stealing it.

"demented twin?"

ST, Jake doesn't mince words as he flat out calls Althouse flock idiots


He's the expert, all he has to do is look in the mirror.

If you think the Repubs are dead

No, but they are on life support .


Tell it to the unions in MI or the WA state legislature.

After reading many laughable, con 2012 presidential predictions at Althouse, interesting that an Althouse lemming would call anyone stupid!

All she has to do is read the little asshole's drivel and it's real easy.

If it weren't for Politico and Ned Silver, he'd be Diamond, the man made of dumbshit.

As mentioned previously, this blog is somewhat entertaining as regards to Althouse and her con flock's daily self-righteousness.

the only self-righteousness on display comes from the Lefties, especially the little asshole's need to feel superior to his intellectual, cultural, economic, and social betters.

As they stumble over themselves trying to appease Althouse and convince themselves all issues are black and white, no pun intended.

Most issues are.

Again, it's interesting how a small group of libs tend to dominate the discussion here. And Althouse #1 doting, trained seal mentions my name many times in threads I haven't made a single post.

No, the Lefties don't dominate. they get their asses kicked until they run and hide. That's the way it is with small, annoying children, but you have the little asshole's raison d'etre in his own words.

Rather sad, actually.

phx said...

Well my friend Shiloh does have her right-wing equivalents here, in spades.

You can tell a man by his friends.

And we didn't know the little asshole had his (uh, her) plumbing yanked.

Explains a lot.

shiloh said...

hmm, a discussion about a few liberal posters "appears" to be more interesting than a discussion about SC politics. Go figure!

shiloh said...

As Althouse #1 doting, trained pet seal chimes in ...

The prosecution rests!

Joe Schmoe said...

Scott's probably a 'cornball brother' and not down with the cause.

My first thought as well upon hearing the news. I'm waiting for the 'authentic' black community to disown him like they did with Clarence Thomas, J.C. Watts, Condi Rice, pre-2004 Colin Powell, and Allen West.

YoungHegelian said...

@David,

What percentage of Democrats are even aware of just how fucking weird the New Deal Democratic coalition was?

I mean, talk about a bunch of folks who really didn't like each other!

I think what the liberals see as the evil Nixonian "Southern Strategy" can be explained as well by the internal contradictions (to use a Marxist term) of the New Deal coalition working its way through the system. It was a coalition that had reached its sell-by date.

Known Unknown said...

I thought about starting up the NAACB --The National Association for Advancement of Cornball Brothers, but then I realized they don't need my help.

They're a pretty self-sustaining lot.

Steve Koch said...

YoungHegelian,

I don't know if I am related to them (I never checked it out) but I do know they aren't giving me any money (sigh).

test said...

traditionalguy said...
Inga is fun. She pulls our leg mostly in good humor. And she seems to me to be be very real.

When Inga turns serious she gives us the gift of hearing another mainstream point of view from the world so we can consider it and accept some of it or sharpen our response against it.


She thinks the religious right wants to turn America into the Handmaid's Tale. Mainstream isn't the word you're looking for.

Michael said...

TraditionalGuy: I view Inga more as a reflector of the Barbara Streisand school of political thought. That and a mixture of morning TV and The View and a rather confused outlook on blogs versus the chat rooms of old.

David said...

When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was being debated, Democrats had a 67-33 majority in the United States Senate. However a large group of the Democrats opposed the bill and joined in the filibuster. It wasn't just Thurmond. It was a considerable percentage of the Democratic party.

When the cloture vote came to override the filibuster and pass the bill, 27 of the 33 Republican senators voted for cloture.

Had it been left to the Democrats the Civil Rights acts never would have made it out of committee.

Known Unknown said...

On second thought, was Sammy Davis Jr. a latke brother?

Known Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Steve Koch said...

What happens when an irresistible force meets an unmovable object? If the irresistible force is a logical and informed argument and the unmovable object is a stupid person, then the answer is that the unmovable object does not get moved, i.e. the stupid person not only does not learn but revels in their stupidity and ignorance.

The moral of the story is that there is no point in trying to teach a person who is too stupid to learn because you can't fix stupid.





Roger J. said...

Pig wrestling--not a good idea

Michael said...

Steve Koch: But those of us who are lucky enough to be surrounded by smart people day in and day out are often surprised by stupid people. It does not occur to us, at first at least, that the person with whom we are having difficulty communicating is indeed dim. Dumb.

Mutaman said...

I guess it was expecting too much for the Altmouse commentators to let this appointment go by without going ballistic over the color of this guy's skin.

Scott said...

When is the Democratic National Committee going to make a formal apology to black people for Jim Crow?

edutcher said...

shiloh said...

hmm, a discussion about a few liberal posters "appears" to be more interesting than a discussion about SC politics. Go figure!

Take a look at the first comments and there's very little about SC internal politics. The little asshole has delusions of adequacy.

As Althouse #1 doting, trained pet seal chimes in ...

The prosecution rests!


With no rebuttal, as usual.

Wassamatta, sweet cheeks, isn't it lady-like to say anything in response when you've just had your ass kicked?

Known Unknown said...

I guess it was expecting too much for the Altmouse commentators to let this appointment go by without going ballistic over the color of this guy's skin.

ballistic — extremely and usually suddenly excited, upset, or angry

Latin ballista
First Known Use: circa 1775


Yes, a lot of these commenters are upset and angry about the color of Tim Scott's skin. Indeed.

Big Mike said...

it remains to be seen whether this black Republican from the South.

He won't get any Black votes; Democrats fear successful Black Republicans for the same reason plantation owners in the antebellum South hated free Blacks. They'll pull out all the stops to make sure his term is short.

But then again he may not need them.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I got an honorable mention, thanks guys!

As for Marshal, I happen to have a life, I was babysitting my three year old granddaughter and decided she deserved my undivided attention. I didn't leave the thread you speak of to avoid anything. I see now going back there that Jake Diamond provided two examples and there were more from the last two days. And hell no I'm not going to waste my precious time looking for them. The two comments Jake provided were plenty to prove my point.

Also Marshal, have you not noticed that even conservative commenters no longer engage you in debate or discussion? Hmmm, I wonder why?

furious_a said...

Had it been left to the Democrats the Civil Rights acts never would have made it out of committee.

Speaking of stone racists, Al Gore's father voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Steve Koch said...

He may not get many black votes but some black voters will be less motivated to take the trouble to go vote against him.

Presumably Demint resigned now to give the edge in the 2014 senatorial election to his replacement. It would be really hilarious (and awesome) if Demint came back in 2014 to challenge Graham.

Mutaman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mutaman said...

"ballistic — extremely and usually suddenly excited, upset, or angry
"Latin ballista
First Known Use: circa 1775
Yes, a lot of these commenters are upset and angry about the color of Tim Scott's skin. Indeed. "

Semantics, a favorite refuge for my reactionary friends. Would the word "obsessed" make you happier?

test said...

Inga said... didn't leave the thread you speak of to avoid anything. I see now going back there that Jake Diamond provided two examples and there were more from the last two days.

On the threads I speak of you were asked why you repeated the lies that the Romneys' took a 77k tax credit for their horse and there are tax credits for offshoring jobs. But it's quite revealing you consider Jack your dear ally: vile is apparently quite welcome in your book. We already know from your lapses of calling religious folk Jeebus Freaks and claiming they intend to institute The Handmaid's Tale that you're quite vile yourself. Others might not care you're a nut trying to pass, but they know.

test said...

Mutaman said...
Semantics, a favorite refuge for my reactionary friends. Would the word "obsessed" make you happier?


Funny, the nutty left is obsessed with race, but if you dispute their obsession they conclude you're obsessed rather than they. Let's face it, they're not strong thinkers.

Anonymous said...

Marshal, Marshal, Marshal !

Known Unknown said...

I could give two shits if Tim Scott were purple. And RGIII for that matter, too. I don't check skin color for authenticity ... other people do that.


ken in tx said...

Hush puppies are essentially deep-fried cornbread balls. In Greenville Tennessee, some claim they were invented there. It is said that slaves carried them to hand out to dogs and keep them from barking when the slaves were sneaking around places they weren't supposed to be.

So, instead of calling Scott a cornball brother, they can call him a hush puppy. He is handed out by the Republicans to the barking media. After all he is someplace he is not supposed to be.