Peggy Noonan: Counsel for Trent

Opinion Journal ^ | 12/13/2002 | Peggy Noonan

[Pokey78]

What Lott told us last week, and what he should do now.

People approach the Trent Lott story in political terms. Does it hurt the Republican Party? Do the Democrats get more out of the scandal if they successfully campaign for Mr. Lott's departure, or do they gain more if he continues as GOP leader, functioning as a handy daily symbol of the racism that resides in the secret heart of all conservatives? What did President Bush's comments mean? And by the way, why isn't the New York Times flooding the zone?

[John Lenin]

If Lott steps down as leader it should be because he lost the race for the leadership position to another Republican, not because Maxine Waters tells him to.

[Polybius]

Does anyone really think that Trent Lott will step down and stay in the Senate? Anyone with a brain knows that he is very unlikely to do that. He will of course resign his senate seat

The Democratic governor of Mississippi will undoubtedly replace Trent with a Democrat.

Knowing whether Lott would stay in the Senate or not if he could not be Majority Leader is not a matter of "brains". It is a matter of having more inside knowledge of the personality of this man than somebody else may have.

If what you are saying is true, then think about what this means.

It means that we are dealing with a man that is so self-centered that he would put his ego above what is best for his country.

If that is the case, and you may be right, then Trent Lott is a man with as little integrity as William Jefferson Clinton and is therefore a man that should never have been elected as the GOP Majority Leader.

[BlueAngel]

Thanks for the ping, Pokey.

[John Lenin]

Look at it this way, Lott was smart enough not to Martyr Clinton and almost assure Gore of winning the election.

[Polybius]

Yep. He's likely to become a lobbyist with those RACISTS he hangs around with in Mississippi and make millions while those who rode him out on a rail are wringing their hands, one Lincoln-Chaffee-hissy-fit away from a Democrat Majority.

In such a scenario, it would be pretty hard to be an effective lobbyist on Capitol Hill when the Democrats consider you a David Duke and the Republicans consider you a Benedict Arnold.