To come to that conclusion requires you to take Lott's remarks grossly out of context, which is supposedly quite abhorrent. Lott spoke how proud Mississippi was to have voted for Thurmond in 1948, when he was running on an explicitly segregationist platform, and how the rest of the country should have done as Mississippi did.
Now, that's either endorsing segregation (assuming Lott has a minimal understanding of 20th-century American political history), or it's being a complete fool.
Well there you go, Poohbah. You have to assume that, you have to assume he meant what he said to Strom Thurmond and wasn't just shmoozing an old man, you have to assume he thought it out, you have to assume he has political savvy.
Isn't it a little bit hypocritical of his detractors here to say "he has to go because he's stupid and weak" and turn around and say "he had to know what his words would mean politically". He's a chump! Dump him on our terms not the lefts terms. Sheesh!