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Someone asked me yesterday how I think Lott must be feeling these days. I replied, "Pretty damned secure." There's no one in Washington who knows his own future so well as Trent Lott right now. He knows exactly what everyone will say about him. He knows exactly what everyone will do about him. They will say the worst. They will do nothing. And if they try to do something to him, he will know why.

In the general opinion, I don't think that Lott is now a racist; his statement is universally held to be racist. The sentiment of the letters I sent to the (com)Post has proven correct. I pointed out that the (com)Post hadn't the guts to call Lott and the Party racist. Their standard was to suggest it, stopping short there. We'll see lots and lots of local-section, sports and style pages columnists complain that Lott is a racist. Few national writers or editors will go that far. Not even EJ Dionne went that far. Today he brought out an old, black Republican! I think it's hilarious for while he uses the man as an example of how the Republicans have supposedly betrayed blacks, the man is... a Republican.

The President has completely shred the principal complaint that the Republican party is racist. Yes, that puts the burden on Lott. It's his problem now. Meanwhile, there is talk that Lott will have to buy his way out of this by sponsoring Black Caucus legislation. That couldn't be more wrong.

Haven't we learned from Tom Daschle's example that the the Senate Majority Leader is practically immune from criticism? It does not have to have any effect upon the way he operates the Senate. A Majority Leader's effectiveness in the Senate is his sole criteria. Here's a test: who can name the Senate Majority leaders of the past hundred years? Anybody care? Anybody remember? Majority Leaders are very different from Speakers. Speakers are far more political, far more subject to immediate sway, and, like the Senate itself, Majority Leaders have nicer offices than Speakers, and with thicker walls.

Lott is in a very unique position. He can choose anything. He never had a better opportunity than now. What? People might get upset with him over something? This little scandal will make everything else look small for the rest of Lott's long career. He's got his bogeyman, and he may as well use it. Oh, he'll keep apologizing alright. But I hope he's laughing back at his office, and smiling the most devious Daschle smile there ever was.

I see there's a Lott conference at 5:30. My prediction is nothing new.