Trent Lott, RIP

Trent Lott will never live down the day he got carried away at Strom Thurmond's birthday party. Whether he becomes bitter at the "liberal media establishment" and the lefty ACLU types or makes an effort to get in touch with the America of the 49 states in which's names the letter "S" makes fewer than four appearances. I hope the latter is true, for his sake and for America's. Let's all agree to get over this, seeing as Lott has paid dearly for what would classified as a minor slip for a northern politician. (Actually, if a northern politician said anything good about the Dixiecrat party that would just be weird).

A lot of conservatives have pointed out that Democrats have abundant ties to the Dixiecrats and to segregation in general. That's true, but the non-revised fact is that the Republicans "went hunting where the ducks were" and took the low road on the segregation in order to take over the white South. It has paid off in the electoral college, especially as the Sun Belt grows at the expense of the Rust Belt, but winning elections by appealing to racism is a dangerous game, and the Goppies who remain from the 60's and 70's have an ugly skeleton in the closet. Trent Lott opened his closet door - just a crack was enough for America to be horrified by what it had tolerated for far too long. The Right was right to repudiate Lott's statement and to compel him to step down from his spot as 3rd highest elected official in the country. That's way too high for someone with his history.

Instant Replay would like to thank Lott for stepping aside and allowing the GOP to move forward.