Kurtz -- Why So Late on Lott? (washingtonpost.com)

Trent Lott must go!

That, at least, is the consensus of online pundits.

What, you weren't aware that the Senate majority leader was in hot water for appearing to embrace the segregationist cause?

Perhaps that's because, until this morning, most major newspapers hadn't done squat on the story.

Which is hard to understand for this reason: There were cameras rolling. It's on tape. It was on C-SPAN, for crying out loud.

If a Democrat had made this kind of inflammatory comment, it would be the buzz of talk radio and the Wall Street Journal editorial page would be calling for tarring and feathering. But Lott seems to be getting something of a pass.

When Lott finally apologized yesterday, the big papers jumped on the story. But why did they wait so long?