So when do we get to talk about that other prominent Republican official who's done a lot of cozying up to racists -- John Ashcroft?

This is old news for a lot of people, but if you're new to the subject, here's a brief rundown:

When he was in the Senate, Ashcroft gave an interview to the racist magazine Southern Partisan in which he praised the periodical for "defending Southern patriots like [Genral Robert E.] Lee, [General Stonewall] Jackson and [Confederate president Jefferson] Davis." He went on to say, "We've all got to stand up and speak in this respect or else we'll be taught that these people were giving their lives, subscribing their sacred fortunes and their honor to some perverted agenda.'' He told his interviewer, "Your magazine also helps set the record straight.''

(A list of some of the appalling sentiments published in the magazine -- for instance, "Slave owners . . . did not have a practice of breaking up slave families. If anything, they encouraged strong slave families to further the slaves' peace and happiness" -- appears here. And here are photos of a shirt acquired from the Southern Partisan catalog; it depicts Abraham Lincoln and features the words uttered by John Wilkes Booth as he shot Lincoln, "Sic semper tyrannis." Timothy McVeigh was wearing the same shirt when he was arrested.)

As a senator, Ashcroft also met with Thomas Bugel, a member of the racist Council of Conservative Citizens, to find out what he could do to help Dr. Charles T. Sell, a CofCC member charged with plotting to murder an FBI agent.

Gordon Baum, head of the CofCC, praised Ashcroft in a 1999 appearance on CNN's Both Sides with Jesse Jackson:

JACKSON: ...Which national politician could you support today for president?

BAUM: Are you talking about me personally? The organization doesn't support candidates, Jesse.

JACKSON: All right, you.

BAUM: Me personally? I haven't heard him declare, but I think Pat Buchanan probably comes fairly close to us on some of the social and cultural issues. I think...

JACKSON: Who else would be in that circle for you? Pat Buchanan and who else?

BAUM: Probably, he's acknowledged he's not going to run, is our senator, junior senator from here in Missouri, John Ashcroft.

(At the end of last Sunday's Washington Post story on the Strom Thurmond birthday celebration -- when Lott had spoken but hadn't yet apologized -- Baum was quoted as saying, "God bless Trent Lott.")

I know it's the likely outcome, but it will be a shame if Lott goes down (or is permanently disgraced) while Ashcroft's Confederate-symp tendencies are utterly ignored.

Oh, and by the way...

If right-wing bloggers were really as far ahead of us lefties on racial issues as they claim, if their true motive really were purging our politics of bigotry rather than covering their party's collective ass, if they really did care about this stuff even before one of their own got caught, they'd be initiating a campaign to force John Ashcroft into private life. Please notice that they're doing no such thing.