I think what's irritating some conservatives, most of whom have actually come out solidly against Lott on this if you track such things, is that liberals and Democrats seem to be able to get away with such things with barely a shrug from the media and others. Byrd is the best example. Not much is made of Al Gore's past record either.

The idea is apparently that these politicians have "grown" out of this, and that it is silly to bring it up now. For the record, Strom Thurmond also changed his views on segregation quite early on. But then, since he's retiring and no longer qualifies as a political enemy, nobody's leaning on him.

I don't know why Lott took so long to apologize...if it were me, I would have been thunderstruck that such a vague statement could have been instantly pinpointed by my political enemies as a detailed support of racism. Oh, you don't think that Lott being Republican Senate Majority Leader has ANYTHING to do with this?

I'm tired of seeing conservatives flayed for things that are instantly overlooked in liberals. This is far from the only example. A cynic might think that maybe conservatives are held to a higher standard, but that would be silly, wouldn't it?

I don't know. I still can't figure out why most black people vote Democrat when it's painfully obvious that the Democratic Party sees them mainly as monkeys trained to pull a voting lever on command. "Good monkey. Here's your check." The black vote isn't sought, it's "delivered." Ever notice that? As long as they can keep the dependence dollars coming, and convince them that Republicans are just waiting to throw them back on the plantations, I guess it will work.

Now, if I were a conservative politician, I would have been instantly executed for using the word "black" and "monkey" in the same paragraph, regardless of what I actually said. That's the way it works.