Was Lott being stubborn, or was it too painful for him to state those words until forced at the point of a sword by the president? It's a bit long... but let me paste a snippet from the NY Times article today.
After graduating from Ole Miss in 1963, Mr. Lott worked for the university as a recruiter and then enrolled in its law school. He spent a year as the acting law school alumni secretary, making a host of valuable contacts. Among them was the state treasurer, William Winter, then the president of the law school alumni association.
In 1967, Mr. Winter ran for governor of Mississippi as the leading moderate in a field of Democrats that included Jimmy Swan, a white supremacist, and former Governor Barnett, who was by then discredited. But, a former aide says, Mr. Winter was shocked to learn that Mr. Lott, after graduating from law school, had signed up as a campaign worker for Representative John Bell Williams, a defender of the state's racial past.
"It shocked him," the former aide recalled. "He said, `I thought Trent was for me.' "
As it happened, Mr. Lott picked a winner. Mr. Winter led all voters in the primary but was defeated by Mr. Williams in a brutal runoff. In November, Mr. Williams beat, by more than two to one, a moderate Republican who called for racial change.
"It was a very racist campaign," said Mr. Winter, who came back to win the governor's office in 1979. "The thrust of it was who could best be entrusted to maintain total segregation in the state."
One typical Williams campaign circular showed a photograph of Mr. Winter speaking at a rally with some blacks in the crowd. "Awake, white Mississippi!" the flier warned. "Are these front row sitters going to determine the destiny of Mississippi?" Mr. Winter's election, the circular said, "will insure Negro domination of Mississippi elections for generations to come."
I don't know what is in Trent Lott's head now, but for him to "forget" to mention "segregation is immoral" on LKL after Bush told him to do it, might have been the nail in his coffin.
Lott no more "forgot" to mention what the White House wanted him to say than he "forgot" what Strom Thurmond ran on. As I have said, I have personally talked to two people who were at the birthday party and they told me that when he said it, there was a GASP in the room because, even if Lott didn't "get it" with regard to just what a "tactical" error he had made, everybody else did. (Leaving aside, of course, the ones who actually BELIVED what he said was right.....LOL)
I'll admit I've been one of those who haven't schooled myself on Lott's past, and have based most of me feelings on his recent unproductivity, to put it kindly, representing the GOP.
Honestly, after reading what you posted about his MOTHER, I would say Lott hasn't fallen far from the tree; at the very least, he's disengenous.
And considering how well he seems to "play the game," how would we EVER tell when he was telling the truth -- from his heart -- and when he was saying something politically expedient for his sorry butt.
Personally, I am NOT looking forward to the pandering on BET tomorrow night. It could well be the low point of this year for the GOP.
Looking back, it seems it would have been much better for Lott to have gotten off his sorry butt and driven to Miami, gone on TV, and just admitted that he, in fact, use to believe those things but doesn't anymore.
And as I have said continually, if WE knew it was the wrong thing to say, why didn't the leader of the GOP party in the United States Senate know it?