Methinks the party doth protest too much. As I listen to the universal condemnation for Trent Lott, the impression is that Republicans are so scared of being thought racists, that they're making themselves look kind of silly. Where were the calls for Senator Byrd to resign, or any of the Democrats who've made similar gaffes? Or the race baiting charges against Republicans, like the ad in the last campaign paid for by the NAACP which implied that George Bush was somehow complicit in the gruesome murder of James Byrd, Jr.


I can't defend Lott's statement. It's implications are too obvious to be explained away. I guess it just rankles that we should be so quick to jump on the bandwagon of condemning a man for political thoughtcrime. It smacks of a guilty conscience, but I don't think the Republican Party is guilty of racism or anything like it. But in light of the accusations which stream out of Democrats and groups representing African Americans, it has to nip this in the bud. It shouldn't have to, but when you're reaching out to blacks, you can't convince them that you aren't racist when one of you high officials says something like Lott did.