[Michael2001]

My memory is fuzzy: which party has the former Klan member again?

[zarf]

Is lott's hairpiece growing inward?

I think he just presented Jesse Jerkson with a large strap - on.

[lelio]

Trent should keep his mouth shut and just let everyone think he's an idiot.

[truth_seeker]

Lott used bad judgement, and someone in his position should not make mistakes, like this.

I predict Lott will be replaced within one year.

[Arthur McGowan]

Note that Lott didn't actually SAY anything about race or race relations, and that he COULD have been referring to a lot of OTHER issues. But never mind. Any stick will do to beat a dog.

[xm177e2]

My memory is fuzzy: which party has the former Klan member again?

You think there's only ONE former Klansman in Congress? You're really just not cynical enough. Byrd might be the only known former Klansman, but I would bet a substantial sum of money that at least one Republican congressman, at one time in his life, was a member of the KKK.

[FreedomFlyer]

Lott should go.

He is a poor leader, with the sort of personal morals that would lead him, not only to speak longingly about Jim Crow, but to brag to the Washington Post about how he suppressed evidence from the public and narrowed the scope in order to shorten Clinton's trial in the Senate.

[jennyp]

Abuse button hit - but only because it's really a Washington Post article & should've been truncated. (Legal problems & all you know...)

[Super Mak90kid]

So what if he did say that. Maybe things would be better now. How do we really know? This whole thing is a non- issue

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Not only is Senator Byrd a former KKK recruiter, but Truman, who was president at the time, also had ties to the KKK. This report backfires so easilly.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Truman was president in '48. Here are some links from another message board. They were top of the google list.

KKK and Harry Truman

http://www.ku.edu/~kansite/WWI-L/1998/10/msg00535.html

KKK and Harry Truman

http://www.ku.edu/~kansite/WWI-L/1998/10/msg00523.html

Truman in the KKK?

http://www.usahistory.com/trivia/wwwboard/archive/messages/1200.html

[A.J.Armitage]

Talking as if the choice were between Truman and Thurmond is bizarre, even for spin.

[rightwing2]

Anyone who thinks these offhand remarks mean that Lott is a racist is a loon. As someone else said we are the party of Lincoln and civil rights. They were the party of segregation and are still the party of former Senate Majority Leader and Ku Kluks Klansman Sen. Robert Byrd. However, this is a troublesome gaffe for the incoming Senate Majority Leader and one more reason that we should replace him with a more conservative and more articulate spokesman for the Party like Don Nickles or John Kyl.

[AppyPappy]

This was clearly an example of people reaching a conclusion based on their own bias. Lott said nothing about segregation.

[Bubba_Leroy]

Which U.S. Senator is a former member of the Ku Klux Klan?

Which U.S. Senator wasn't just a member of the KKK but was a "Kleagle" -- an official recruiter who signed up members for $10 a head?

Which U.S. Senator said he joined because it "offered excitement" and because the Klan was an "effective force" in "promoting traditional American values."

Which U.S. Senator wrote the following, three years after he claims to have ended his ties with the KKK: "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia" and "in every state in the Union."

Which U.S. Senator also wrote that he would never fight "with a Negro by my side. Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds."

Which U.S. Senator later filibustered the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act -- supported by a majority of those "mean-spirited" Republicans -- for more than 14 hours.

Which U.S. Senator opposed the nominations of the Supreme Court's two black justices, liberal Thurgood Marshall and conservative Clarence Thomas.

Which U.S. Senator recently warned on national television: "There are white niggers. I've seen a lot of white niggers in my time. I'm going to use that word. We just need to work together to make our country a better country, and I'd just as soon quit talking about it so much."

I'll give you a hint. It wasn't Strom Thurmond.

[DoughtyOne]

Lott isn't high up on my fan-mail list, believe me. However Lott is not a racist and didn't seek to defend racist policies. I am reminded of a number of idiotic comments the Clintons made over the years, and the downright racial nature of some of them. If Jessie could find it in his mercy to grace them with understanding, I would think he could grant Lott the same. Lott may be 47 cards short of a full deck, but he's no racist or criminal. Now, if we could say the same thing about Jessie, Bill and Hillary.

[Jhoffa_]

I hate to say it, but Tom Daschle made the most gracious apology for Lott that I ever saw tonight.

He said he was sure Lott didn't mean it the way it sounded and brushed it off.

He exhibited more understanding and common sense (whatever his motives for doing so) than Britt Hume's entire panel.

Good job Mr Daschle, thanks for doing the right thing.

(Did I really say that? I can't believe I said that..)