Lottsa Luck

The return to dominance of Trent Lott really puts my mind at ease about this Democratic leadership battle. Sure, the cable nuts are going to squawk about ABSCAM (26 years old, Murtha cleared of wrongdoing) and ethics issues, but Democrats now have a counterpoint: "Didn't you guys just elect the segregationist lover?" The funniest thing I've heard today was that Trent Lott was made Minority Whip because he loves whipping minorities.



But beyond the embarrassment of putting this guy back in the Leadership, this is a major blow to those ideologues who wanted to get the party back to its conservative roots. Because Trent Lott is despised by those people. He's the one who said this gem in response to lobbying and ethics reform:

"Now we're going to say you can't have a meal for more than 20 bucks," said Senator Trent Lott, Republican of Mississippi. "Where are you going, to McDonald's?"

Yes, God forbid you have to dig into your own pocket for something to eat. It's your divine right as a Senator to be fed lobster bisque from a nude lady-servant in return for porkbarrel projects! Trent Lott is the guy who defended building a railroad to nowhere in the middle of Mississippi, nowhere near the recent Gulf Coast hurricanes.

"I'll just say this about the so-called porkbusters. I'm getting damn tired of hearing from them. They have been nothing but trouble ever since Katrina. We in Mississippi have not asked for more than we deserve. We've been very reasonable."

He's the poster boy for pork in Washington, matched only by the Alaska duo of Ted Stevens and Don Young of "Bridge to Nowhere" fame. AND, Bush hates him. When Lott made his comments about Strom Thurmond, the President saw it as an opportunity to install his sock puppet Bill Frist. Reportedly the two can't even stand to be in the same room together. Now you have a situation where the #2 GOP man in the Senate may do nothing but undermine the President and his initiatives at a time when you need as much unity as possible while being in the minority.

For some reason, the story with the cable nuts is Murtha. The real story is that Lott's back, and how this destroys any attempt for conservative ideologues to take back their party, any attempt for the President to find allies in the Senate, and any attempt for Republicans to cleanly decry corruption on the other side (not that they could anyway).