" The ensuing controversy gathered force slowly, helped along by some of the most inept damage control since the Maginot Line was built. Lott first said, dismissively, that he was “winging it”—until it was discovered that he had said the same thing 22 years earlier. Lott made this and other press “appearances” by phone while holed up with his wife on vacation in Key West, Fla. His aides assured White House officials that he would utter the key words “segregation is immoral” on “Larry King,” but he somehow forgot to do so. Bush went ballistic at this point. He also heard that GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel was about to denounce Lott. The president ordered up a harsh condemnation of Lott’s remarks. “Senator Lott has apologized, and rightly so,” a stern-visaged Bush said. Lott got the message, and scheduled his full-dress press conference—with the proper wording included—for the following day. "
It makes it sound that Lott only condemned segregation because Bush made him do so, and when Lott proved incorrigible, he had to be spanked to do it. That is just ducky. Ya, Fineman is not a "friend," but what if this story is true?
BTW, I just watched Tony Snow live on Fox with Bill Sammon and Juan Williams.
Juan and Sammon both said that there WAS a 90 minute conference call, and that Mitch McConnell was the one who said that Lott had threatened to resign if he was removed.
Yet another story to put in the pot.
I saw Howard Finnman on MSNBC and something else -- maybe Fox -- telling that same story. It sounds plausible to me; Lott is playing for his life now.