Thank you Stephen for making this silly business as silly as it is.
On one hand we have Trent Lott making a racist statement while on the other we have Harry Reid being politically incorrect.
Especially silly are the Republicans comparing this instance of PC to Senator Trent Lott who in 2002 was forced to resign his position as Senate Majority Leader for saying:
"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 the years, either." Trent Lott
That is Racism. Full bore capital "R" Racism. Strom Thurmond was a Dixiecrat at the time and the loudest voice in America for retaining racist Southern Apartheid which we soften by calling it Jim Crow. Kick! Racism Pages
The quote is clear – Trent Lott, Senator from our historically most racist state – was saying that had America retained Jim Crow we would not have the Negro problems we have now. Clear as a bell from Hell. No mistaking it. Impossible to argue any other meaning.
On the other hand Senator Reid was advocating FOR an African American as President using politically incorrect words.
Political Correctness – What created a generation of conservative Hegemony.