Paul Krugman's column today addresses Trent Lott's comments at Strom Thurmond's birthday celebration.

I'd like to take this opportunity to call for Lott's resignation. His association with racist groups in Mississippi and comments like last week's offensive remarks aren't the actions of a man who didn't know what the Council of Conservative Citizens stands for or who didn't understand the single thing Strom Thurmond stood for in 1948. They are the actions of a man who is secretly nostalgic for the Jim Crow South, but who can't admit it for fear of political censure. His true opinions leak out every now and then in ill-advised remarks like last Friday's. I would think the Republican party would be embarrassed by its Majority Leader.