This is kind of fun. The Huffington Post reported today that GOP Senator Gordon Smith defended Trent Lott's 2002 segregationist comments on the floor of the Senate during a send-off for the retiring Lott this morning:

"I was half way around the world when an event befell Trent Lott that shook me deeply," Smith said, referencing Lott's 2002 remarks in praise of Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond's 1948 run for the White House. "I was celebrating my re-election and on vacation. I watched over international news as his words were misconstrued, words which we had heard him utter many times in his big warm-heartedness trying to make one of our colleagues, Strom Thurmond, feel good at 100 years old. We knew what he meant. But the wolfpack of the press circled around him, sensed blood in the water, and the exigencies of politics caused a great injustice..."...

Smith said Lott should never have stepped down from his leadership position. "It was a wrong," Smith said of Lott's 2002 resignation, "but it was a wrong that was righted."

Hmmm -- Smith thinks Lott's words were misconstrued, that he was wronged, and that he should never have resigned?

Turns out that isn't what he said at the time. According an Associated Press article on December 17, 2002, Smith reacted as follows:

"However they were intended, Senator Lott's words were offensive and I was deeply dismayed to hear of them," Smith said in a brief statement. "His statement goes against everything I and the people of Oregon believe in. I look forward to working with my Republican colleagues to arrive at a decision that is best for the U.S. Senate and the country."

Three days later, according to the AP, Smith also said:

"I appreciate that Senator Lott has stepped down, it was a courageous thing for him to do..."Senator Lott's decision is best for the Senate and best for the country."

Classic Gordon Smith -- condemns Lott when the pressure is on, but completely exonerates him when no one's paying any attention.