DANIEL DREZNER OFFERS A running translation of Lott’s B.E.T. appearance. Meanwhile, Nick Gillespie offers a link to streaming video of the appearance, and observes “As humorous as it was to see a self-styled conservative chalk up his character failings to root causes (the ‘wicked’ society in which he was raised), it was sobering to see a politician so at sea that he resembled Ted Kennedy at Chappaquidick.”

UPDATE: A reader emails:

From the coverage I saw on CNN, Lott’s performance last night brought to mind the line Shakespeare gave to Julius Caesar:

“Cowards die many times before their deaths, the valiant never taste of death but once.”

Someone make a note: In looking for a new Majority Leader, put “character” and “courage” on the list (along with “intelligence” and “judgment”).

Indeed.