Trent Lott retiring after three decades in Congress

They just can't stand knowing they will be in the minority. It was much more fun when they could rubber stamp everything and do important work like giving a fortune in tax payers money for things like a bridge to nowhere.

Talk about rats leaving a sinking ship!

Another Rat jumps ship just a year and a half into his term... Even if the Republicans hold onto some of these seats they will be held by a bunch of "Junior" Senators who will be lucky to find their desks let alone form any sort of significant voting block.

It looks like Karl Rove and King George have paved the way for a permanent DEMOCRATIC majority.

Lott was a complete waste as a senator, figures he was the GOP majority leader.

His state was devastated by hurricane Katrina and he is mute until the insurance companies refuse to pay for his beach house, then he finds his conscience. What a crook!

Lott's probably going to team up with Denny Hastert and wash Tom Delay's car. The three stooges (along with "W") have destroyed the republican party.

Good riddance

Bridge to nowhere? Has this guy been reading the news? Aside from passing pet pork projects, this congress has done absolutely nothing in office. It's difficult to do, but they've one-upped the bridge to nowhere.

Being in the minority has been the best thing that ever happened to the congressional GOP's approval ratings.

While it'll be tough for them to replace a floor leader like Lott his seat will remain firmly in Republican hands and the GOP's prospects for retaking the majority in the Senate aren't affected at all by his retirement.

Then again, I guess you could also say all those democrats (George Mitchell, Butler Derrick) who retired in 1996 after the GOP took both houses "just couldn't stand knowing they would be in the minority" and wouldn't be able to rubber stamp their corruption and pork projects. They didn't have Rosty to pay them in stamps anymore, either.

GOOD RIDDANCE!

The Democrats are actually pretty lucky that Bush decided to put his weight behind Frist as majority leader.

Frist was a bumbler as Majority Leader and any success he had was strictly due to superior numbers of Republicans.

Lott would have been much more successful at passing Bush's agenda.

I can see good ol boy trent easing back into a comfortable Mississippi life, growing a beard, and letting his hair grow down to his shoulders, and being real, after a long career of looking plastic.

"He said he doesn't have a new job lined up and that new restrictions on lobbying that take effect after Dec. 31, 2007 "didn't have a big role" in his decision to retire. The regulations extend the "cooling off" period for lobbying by former members of Congress from one to two years."

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=116&sid=1298464

Great move. Presumably this will allow Republican Gov. Hayley Barbour to appoint a successor who will be a more effective leader than Lott and also set up an incumbent for the next election. Thanks, Trent Lott.

"Lott said he knows that the words he spoke at Thurmond’s birthday party will never be completely erased"

We all know this doesn't bother him, nor does it bother the Republican Party. We all know the Republican Party appeals to racists and other members of the lowest common denominator. Yes there are racist Democrats but as a Party, the Democrats don't use racist codewords when they speak to rural white crowds.

Good riddance to another obstructionist Republican who put party loyalty ahead of his country.

"The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail...and so far it's working for us. Democrats are taking the blame for not getting anything done."
(R) Trent Lott
Roll Call - April 18, 2007

Being in the minority has been the best thing that ever happened to the congressional GOP's approval ratings.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 26, 2007 12:55 PM

Well you're half right. Them being in the minority has been the best thing. You must be another one of those who can't figure out that the approval of congress "includes" republicans. You can spin it anyway you wish, but thats just the way it is. I know you don't give Americans enough credit to figure that out but hey they did vote for Bush twice although they now wish they hadn't.

Trent Lott is a perfect example of how conservatives really think & believe. He just happened to break their secret code of silence to Americans about what he praised were Strom's "accomplishments".
And of all the states in the Union, Mississippi is still dead last in a lost of catagories, from education, poverty, literacy, etc.. Go figure.

Another Republican CHICKEN, yellow-striped back, sans vertebre, running away from the mess the Republicans have made of America. Run chicken run.

I love all these big-time Republicans who beg for the poor and idealistic to 'stay the course' and 'fight to the end' in support of Republicans like Lott twisted ideas and goals, who then turn tail and leave when the 'course' seems to be running too long.

Another scuzz leaves the building. Someone help him out with some well-placed boots.

Yea what a loser, can you imagine that this guy was a Senator and the Grand Pooh Bah of the KKK and used the N word on national TV a few years ago.

No wait that was Robert Byrd. Pride of the Democrat party.

It would be nice if the people of Mississippi could now get a Senator who puts their most basic needs above corporate interests.

Mississippi needs a Senator who will fight the twisted priorities of the Republicans in that state who want to use funding made available for rebuilding housing destroyed by Katrina to enlarge the Port of Gulfport, and create a "tourist village" instead to help those people who lived in the 9 out of 10 housing units which still have not been rebuilt in that state.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/16/us/16mississippi.html?em&ex=1195362000&en=c32ec05d00432b34&ei=5087%0A

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/24/AR2007112400616.html?hpid=sec-nation

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gulfport22oct22,1,5850307.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&track=crosspromo

The Republicans show their true colors in hailing the so-called "Mississippi Miracle". Taking money detined for the poor to help Casino's and corporations. Shameful.

"While Gov. Haley Barbour (R) has hailed the casino openings as a harbinger of Mississippi's resurgence and developers have proposed more than $1 billion in beachfront condos and hotels for tourists, fewer than one in 10 of the thousands of single-family houses destroyed in Biloxi are being rebuilt, according to city permit records. More than 10,000 displaced families still live in trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Now, long-standing resentment over the way the state has treated displaced residents has deepened over a proposal by the Barbour administration to divert $600 million in federal housing aid to fund an expansion plan at the Port of Gulfport. The port's recently approved master plan calls for increasing maritime capacity and creating an "upscale tourist village" with hotel rooms, condos, restaurants and gambling."

"The plan, which has yet to be submitted to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, would create 1,300 direct jobs in the next 10 years -- 528 more than the port had before the hurricane. The Mississippi Development Authority is requesting a waiver from the requirement that one full-time, permanent job is created for every $35,000 of HUD funds used. Critics estimate that only one job would be created for each $460,000 spent."

For the dismissive reaction of the average conservative to Lott's resignation, see (for example) redstate.com:

"Trent Lott long ago stopped being useful and started being bitter. He hates the Porkbusters. He hates conservatives. He hates most anything other than establishment Republican ideals of entrenched power and earmarks."

You'll never see this in the Tribune, but conservatives are GLAD to see Lott depart.

The rules for becoming a lobbyist have changed. Senators will have to wait more time (2yrs) between working in public office and personally taking advantage of the networks made while in office. Lott may want to get out now to beat a deadline so he can lobby sooner-or be grandfathered into something. The amounts one can make, initially, and the projects senators will be allowed to push will be restricted soon. Gifts, meals, and free or reduced travel is going to go way down too, when the new rules kick in.

Bush was not loyal to Lott after the sen. made statements at the Thurmond dinner-- where Lott lost his majority leader post as a result. I have wondered why Bush was so eager to help kick Lott down, but hung on so fervently to Gonzales, and to all who took part in outing a CIA operative.

Lott was a cheerleader in college. Booya.

You demented Loons on the Left are quite the hoot. Disturbing, but quite the hoot.
Hey, you Lefties that requested proof of the hate coming from the Left, just look at these posts.

I enjoy the fact that you guys still get riled up over a dumb comment at Strom Thurmond's birthday, but are OK with a KKK leader as a Dem senator. Then we have the Queen B who makes racial comments about Pakistanis and gas stations and Dunkin Donuts.

Oh and Roman B, Lott and Haley Barbour have lead Mississippi following the Katrina hurricane, something that Blanco and Landreau have not done in Lousiana. Thanks heavens the folks from Louisiana know the truth and forced Blanco out as governor and elected a can-do, clean (not corrupt), intelligent Republican to be governor.

Hmmm, can-do spirit, clean and not corrupt, and intelligence. Geez those are three qualities no one could ever use in regard to a Demoncrat and the Loons on the Left who support them.

He's finally hanging the Big Hair up.

One wag said Larry Flint must have found out something about him.

Well, old Trent won't suffer. With all the connections he's made, he's undoubtedly in for a well-paid, soft job.

And he'll have that small fortune in pension and other benefits.

Isn't it ironic that members of the Right are always ready to take those government benefits despite years of blubbering about the evils of government doing this or that?

And now presumably he can wear his KKK robes securely without worrying about the politics.

Being in the minority has been the best thing that ever happened to the congressional GOP's approval ratings.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 26, 2007 12:55 PM

The American people aren't buying the Republic Party spin that low Congressional approval ratings are the Democrats fault, they know better:

To prove this point, check out the poll just put out by Gallup:

The Nov. 2-4, 2007, poll finds 54% of Americans saying they have a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, while 37% have an unfavorable opinion. Ratings of the Republican Party are much more negative, with 40% favorable and 50% unfavorable.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

YAY! Another bite the dust! Who says there's no such thing as Santa Claus!

I had the opportunity to meet Trent Lott a couple of times when he was a young congressman from Mississppi. I found to be sharp and intelligent, and I thought at the time that he was going to move up in his career. He later become U.S. Senator and Majority Leader. He served Mississippi and and nation very well. His departure will be a great loss for the senate. He was good at compromise and bring sides together. After reading the hatrid and ignorance in some of the previous comments this is going to be a big loss. It looks like the highly partisan politics will continue and few things will get accomplished in Washington. And all of us will lose because of this.

For the dismissive reaction of the average conservative to Lott's resignation, see (for example) redstate.com:

"Trent Lott long ago stopped being useful and started being bitter. He hates the Porkbusters. He hates conservatives. He hates most anything other than establishment Republican ideals of entrenched power and earmarks."

You'll never see this in the Tribune, but conservatives are GLAD to see Lott depart.

Posted by: Bruce | November 26, 2007 2:09 PM

Hey Brucie,

Most normal people don't get their news coverage from the "fair and balanced" redstate.clown like you do.

I expect to hear you and Johnny D'weeb crying about the so-called liberal media coverage of Lott's quiting the Senate before the day is over, afterall Bruce your VERY FIRST post to the Swamp was the same as the thousands of other ones of yours to come in the future.

This is from 'Fear and Loathing'; Literally the first entry in The Swamp by Frank James.

"In the interests of full disclosure, will the Tribune contributors to "the Swamp" (Frank James, Mark Silva et al.) reveal their political biases by disclosing who they voted for in 2000 and 2004 (and other years) for president? How can the readers fully or accurately assess their postings, the "take" they have on current events, or even what they consider "newsworthy", without this information?

Posted by: Bruce | January 5, 2006 9:55 AM"

Good riddance corrupt old man. Rats are jumping off the sinking, stinking ship.

Take the 24% with you Trent. The republicans have lost control of their own party.

Lott is quitting the Senate to become a Lobbyist. That tells us where his real loyalty is held. Not with the people of Miss. but to special interest group!
My goodness, would you people in Miss. clean the gutter once in awhile?

Bruce,
John D. didnt' get the memo. Maybe you could send it to him. He's defending Lott. You are making our side look confused and disorganized. Try using an alter-ego. I think they are on to Sierra, Damen, BOB so pick a new one. Maybe something ethnic would help our cause. See you at the picknick on Saturday.

Thank you,
J. Walter Goodrich
Vice Chairmen of Propaganda and Dark Overlord of Republican Enterprise

Bruce is absolutely correct
about the hate the far-right R's have of Lott. There are probably many moderate R's that hate him , too.
Most of the hatred for Lott stems from his support of Bush's immigration bill.
Deport them or get out of Dodge.
Lott's leaving Dodge.

Lott's a Republican. You can hardly blame him for jumping ship now to maximize his future income. How's he going to profit if he stays?

According to Mississippi state law, it looks like Governor Barbour will have to schedule a special election within 100 days if Lott leaves office this year (before the start of the new 2 year lobbying restriction). Barbour doesn't have the option of appointing a replacement until the next election unless the opening occurs in an election year.

"TRENT LOTT FOR VICE PRESIDENT"

We all know now that Former Press Secretary McClellan has come out and shot straight that not only did the Vice President commit treason, but "BUSH KNEW."

ARCHIVES DON'T LIE, I'VE BEEN SAYING THIS FOREVER.

SO WILL TRENT LOTT BE THE NEXT FORMER PRESIDENT FORD SO CHENEY AND THE REST OF HIS CONSTITUTIONAL HIJACKERS RECEIVE A PARDON.

UNLESS THERE IS GOING TO BE ANOTHER TERRY SCHIAVO CALL TO SENATE FLOOR.

HE IS PISSED THAT HIS STATE GOT SCREWED AND HE WOULDN'T WIN IF HE RAN AGAIN ANYWAYS, BECAUSE HE DIDN'T BE A STATESMAN AND HOLD HIS GOP CONSTITUTIONAL LAWBREAKERS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE INABILITY TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE THAT PUT HIM IN OFFICE.

BYE BYE.

Welcome home Sen.Helmut Head,the KKK awaits you with open arms.

I for one think that the Swamps most under appreciated must be those who bring to us its photos, cOloR . Having said that, that photo of Lott looks a lot like a wax figure.

"Eager to strike a deal, check something off a list, and get home in time for dinner. "

What's wrong with that? Our do nothings in Congress should have had this as their motto; both sides. AND much much more apropos- the Iraqi government during 100 degree heat waves.

"Lott and Haley Barbour have lead Mississippi following the Katrina hurricane, something that Blanco and Landreau have not done in Lousiana."

Hmmm... I guess the "can do spirit" means Lott can afford the best attorneys to sue the insurance company that denied coverage of his summer home that got wrecked during Katrina.

I suppose New Orleans should follow his "can do" spirit & hire attorneys from the same firm.

Later dude!!! Give my regards to God Inc.

"It looks like Karl Rove and King George have paved the way for a permanent DEMOCRATIC majority.

Posted by: Carl L | November 26, 2007 12:33 PM"

Carl, a permanent majority by any party just isn't going to happen, and thank god for it in either case. Our government works best when there's some tension -- some sense of give and take -- between the parties, with both of them needing to worry about the public breathing down their necks, watching their every move.

"Hey, you Lefties that requested proof of the hate coming from the Left, just look at these posts.

Posted by: John D | November 26, 2007 2:09 PM"

John D., you ought to know (or WOULD know, if you were anywhere near as logical as you claim to be -- and I still hold that claim to be false) that this is no proof whatsoever of anything, and ESPECIALLY no proof of relative value, Dems vs. Republicans. You want to show that Dems hate America more than Republicans? You have to prove it overall, and quantifiedly. You yourself have said that your vicious, venemous comments have nothing whatsoever to do with hate or love -- so how are you judging that all these comments aren't given in the most loving, kind, thoughtful manner possible -- just simple facts like YOUR comments? And how do ALL the comments you'd call hateful stack up against ALL the comments WE'D call hateful?

You're still bursting at the seams, full of "it".