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I'll say it one more time, no one has removed Lott from the Senate (that's up to the voters in Miss) and he had no right to the speakership. He served at the behest of the majority members and if it was their opinion that he would not be able to effectively fulfill the duties of that office, it would be appropriate to step down.

All conservtives know libs control the media and they salivate at the prospect of taking a pubbie out...look what happened to Newt. Lott himself must have known any misstep would have brought an avalanche of criticism and bad press, and, to comport himself appropriately. Lott painted himself into a media corner with his voting record, no matter how justifiable he believes it is, and when he made the absurd remarks, had absolutely no where to turn for plausible deniability. If Lott didn't have PD, how would any supporters the author demands should have come forward?

The author suggests Lott should have immediately come out and state that in reality he would have preferred another candidate in '48, but was being kind to an old man. Lott didn't do this. He attempted to justify his remarks, his voting record, etc., which left no place for his friends to mount a credible defense without sacrificing their own careers.

Lott, on his own, created this public relations nightmare. It was his goofs and misteps which led to his being removed as majority leader. Attempts to lay the blame at the feet of others for not running into the burning house to save him, is ludicrous. Lotts house is in flames because he was alone playing with matches around a greasy stove, in a clapboard lean to, without an extinguisher in site. As the fire truck pulled up, their was Lott, trying to put it out by throwing water on the flaming grease, which only made it worse. By that time, it was over, their was no hope of rescue, and anyone attempting such would surely have succumbed to the smoke right alongside Lott.

Postscript:
Lotts supporters ask for the kind of loyalty he refused the courageous House Managers. Where was Lott when many of them, like Jim Rogan, were targeted for extinction? Where was Lott when Bob Barr was getting redistricted out of existence? They put their political careers on the line and when they needed Lott, he told them to pound sand...his career and the dignity of the Senate was more important. Well, ex ML Lott, sometimes chickens do come home to roost.

BILL FRIST SALUTES Strom

After the war, Strom returned home to South Carolina. He was elected Governor in 1946 and then ran for President of the United States as the States Rights Democratic candidate. Although Harry Truman prevailed, Strom won four states and 39 electoral votes. That tally still stands as the third largest independent electoral vote in US history.

Despite not winning the presidency, Strom was determined to serve in Washington. He ran for the Senate in 1954 and became the only candidate elected to Congress by a write-in vote in American history. Strom has been re-elected eight times since. Clearly the people of South Carolina value principle, character and courage in their leaders.

Though it has been more difficult in recent years for Strom to make it home to South Carolina, that has not stopped South Carolina from coming to him. And it shouldn't. For decades Strom attended every county fair, handled every constituent request, and sent a congratulatory note to every high school graduate, many of whom came to intern in his office.

It has been said that almost 70 percent of South Carolinians have met Strom Thurmond face-to-face.

Over the course of his long and distinguished career, Strom Thurmond has been a witness to history. As a young man, he knew people who had seen Andrew Jackson, and he campaigned for the votes of men who fought in the Civil War. He and Herbert Hoover won their first elective office in the same year -- 1928.

But Strom has more than seen history; he's written it. Not only is he the oldest and longest-serving Senator, he has served with about one-fifth of the nearly 2,000 people who have been members of the Senate since 1789. And he is nearly one half the age of the United States Constitution itself.

Like the great experiment that is American democracy, Strom Thurmond has certainly faced his trials -- both politically and personally. Yet, through it all, he has always held tight to his principles, always upheld his beliefs, and always defended American values at home and abroad.

Today we say thanks to this giant of a man not only for the history he has witnessed and written, but for the service his life will inspire for generations to come. God bless our friend, our colleague, and the Senate's Icon of Time, the senior Senator from South Carolina, Strom Thurmond.

Mr. President, I thank the chair and yield the floor.

http://frist.senate.gov/press-item.cfm?id=188730