Lott Is Unfit To Run the Senate

Lott Is Unfit To Run the SenateSo Mr. Lott is a liar as well as a racist. But again, that has been obvious for a long time. To quell the outrage over his remarks at the Thurmond event, his spokesman finally emitted a brief statement ludicrously claiming that the problem was "a poor choice of words." That wasn’t the problem. The problem was the meaning of the words spoken by the Republican leader.

Trent Lott is not fit to lead the United States Senate. His "apology" is unacceptable. The pusillanimous response to his latest misconduct of most Democrats—including their Senate leader, Tom Daschle, but with the admirable exception of former Vice President Al Gore—has been awful. But deposing Mr. Lott is a Republican responsibility. Republican Senators must either vote for him again in January or choose an untainted leader. We will then learn the content of their character.