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I've never gotten any impression other than Lott was trying to be nice to an old friend who was retiring after long service in the Senate.

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Well, then your impression is seemingly different than everyone else's, save a few right-wingers. Like I said, even President Bush (who you'd expect should support his partisan ally) condemned Trent Lott's comment -- probably not something he'd do if Lott's comments were all that innocuous.

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I have no doubt Democrats will say very nice things about Robert Byrd when he retires depite his former membership in the KKK.

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Had Lott merely been "nice" to Thurmond, no one would have batted an eye.

It's the "when Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either" comment that is clearly quesitonable, if not a barely coded endorsement of segregation.

I'm not even sure how Democrats could say something similar, but if Democrats say something like "Robert Byrd should have never left the KKK and run for President -- if he had done that, we'd have proudly voted for him, and we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years" at Robert Byrd's farewell party, then you may have a point. If they do that, I'll gladly condemn the Democrats with you.