According to AMERICAblog, Oregon Republican Senator Gordon Smith has finally signed on to the Lynching Apology Resolution. Therefore, as of today, there is no Pacific Northwest Pro-Lynching Lobby. Wow, it only took one week of massive negative publicity and a blogswarm to convince two out of six PacNW senators that it was OK to apologize for inaction in the face of nearly 5,000 lynchings in the 20th Century.
Of course, there are still ELEVEN senators who can’t be bothered to apologize for the past. Give them a call and let them know that they can still sign on as a co-sponsor even after the resolution has passed. Remind them they don’t want to be the last member of a shrinking minority to do the right thing. Just call the Senate Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for one of these senators’ offices:
Alexander (R-TN) [Didn’t you run for president once?]
Bennett (R-UT) [Ah, those fine Mormon values!]
Cochran (R-MS) {Ah, those fine Southern values!]
Cornyn (R-TX) [He’s always had an enlightened understanding of the justification of violence.]
Enzi (R-WY) [Lynching’s not such ancient history in Laramie.]
Gregg (R-NH) [Just because you don’t have many black people in NH doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apologize.]
Kyl (R-AZ) [“By the time I get to Arizona…” State didn’t support MLK Day originally, either.]
Lott (R-MS) [What’s with Mississippi?]
Shelby (R-AL) [More fine Southern values]
Sununu (R-NH) [What’s with New Hampshire?]
Thomas (R-WY) [And what’s with Wyoming?]
Isn’t that stunning to see unanimous support for lynching in Wyoming, Mississippi, and New Hampshire? At least Oregon and Idaho originally split 50/50 on the issue.
