# Senator Trent Lott announces retirement **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 26, 2007, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845 "2007-11-26T22:41:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/21 "2007-11-27T01:17:33Z")
[QUOTE=Cherrie] According to a few gossip sites he is stepping down because he was caught with a gay male prostitute. A very high-end it would seem. http://bigheaddc.com/2007/11/26/trent-lott-fallout-the-gay-escort-who-knew-too-much/ I am not saying I believe it as of yet, but it’s relevant to the conversation, so there it is. [/QUOTE] A [link](http://bigheaddc.com/) that actually works. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/22 "2007-11-27T01:19:55Z")
[QUOTE=wring] He’s stepping down now to best capitalize on a potential career in lobbying. I see no particular reason to celebrate this event. [/QUOTE] And he got 64% of the vote in the last election. Anyone want to bet he’s going to succeeded by a Democrat? ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/23 "2007-11-27T01:27:16Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] And he got 64% of the vote in the last election. Anyone want to bet he’s going to succeeded by a Democrat? [/QUOTE] A few more outed Republicans and the South may just go Democrat on you John. Those Bible thumpers will only take so much. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/24 "2007-11-27T01:30:34Z")
Trent Lott: takes a thumpin’ and keeps on humpin’. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/25 "2007-11-27T01:42:11Z")
[QUOTE=askeptic] A few more outed Republicans and the South may just go Democrat on you John. Those Bible thumpers will only take so much. [/QUOTE] It may go Democrat (unlikely, though), but it won’t be “on me”. I’m neither a southerner nor a Republican. I’m a Yankee by birth, and a Westerner by choice. And I’m about as Independent as they come. The only way I vote by party is when I want to purposely divide\* the government up so we get as much gridlock as possible. That cuts both ways. \*Take that, HS English teacher who refused to let us split infinitives! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/26 "2007-11-27T01:44:03Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Lott. Delay. McGreevey. Rostenkowski. Republicrats. Demublicans. I can’t keep them straight. [/QUOTE] Ya got me. WTH is McGreevy? Rostenkowski’s real old news – resigned 12 years ago, and for a good old fashioned corruption inditement. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/27 "2007-11-27T01:50:13Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] Ya got me. WTH is McGreevy? [/QUOTE] Dem. Govenor of New Jersey, came out as gay after scandall where he appointed his unqualified boy toy to high paying state jobs. Where have you been, under a rock? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/28 "2007-11-27T01:50:49Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] Ya got me. WTH is McGreevy? Rostenkowski’s real old news – resigned 12 years ago, and for a good old fashioned corruption inditement. [/QUOTE] McGreevy was the Democratic governor of New Jersey for a while. He resigned because he was a “gay American”. Although I think it had a lot more to do with the job he gave his boyfriend than anything else. O.K. The cuckolded wife coulda been part of it too. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/29 "2007-11-27T01:50:59Z")
McGreevey-former governor of NJ, resigned (in, I think, something of a disgrace) after it came out that he gave his boyfriend jobs that he wasn’t qualified for. I believe his ex-wife wrote a book. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/30 "2007-11-27T01:51:21Z")
Beat ya. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/31 "2007-11-27T02:03:41Z")
[QUOTE=wring] He’s stepping down now to best capitalize on a potential career in lobbying. I see no particular reason to celebrate this event. [/QUOTE] Ya gotta figure he can do less damage there – it’s all relative. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/32 "2007-11-27T02:05:46Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] And he got 64% of the vote in the last election. Anyone want to bet he’s going to succeeded by a Democrat? [/QUOTE] I’m thinking he’ll be succeeded by a younger Republican more in tune with the present age – one whose racism and provincialism are more, well, understated. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/33 "2007-11-27T02:09:38Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] Well, he’s a bit late to cash in as a Republican lobbyist. The K street project depended on the Republicans keeping control of congress for the forseeable future. [/QUOTE] Don’t expect the Pubs to go gentle into that good night. Just because they lost Congress doesn’t mean they can’t hold on to K Street. After all, the lobbying firms’ clients would rather be represented by Pubs anyway – they’re more sympathetic to start with. As for the Dems controlling Congress – they’ll still need campaign contributions, just like always. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/34 "2007-11-27T02:25:17Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] It’s refreshing to see a conservative Republican figure step down _before_ getting caught soliciting sex from anonymous men. [/QUOTE] hasn’t been caught yet… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/35 "2007-11-27T02:31:50Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] I’m thinking he’ll be succeeded by a younger Republican more in tune with the present age – one whose racism and provincialism are more, well, understated. [/QUOTE] I’m not fan of Trent Lott (he’s exactly the kind of Republican I wouldn’t vote for), but I don’t buy the “racist” charge. That whole thing was blown out of proportion. Believe what you want, but whoever succeeds him will almost certainly vote exactly as he would. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/36 "2007-11-27T02:35:25Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Believe what you want, but whoever succeeds him will almost certainly vote exactly as he would. [/QUOTE] Yeah, exactly the way the K Street folks tell them to. ---
**Author:** ![Mayo\_Speaks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mayo\_Speaks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayo_Speaks)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/37 "2007-11-27T02:46:47Z")
Fuck Trent Lott. That is my contribution to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/38 "2007-11-27T03:39:25Z")
I could never be sad at the idea of Trent Lott quitting, but for some reason I’m a little surprised at the transparent sleaziness of this move. What’s the rush to get into lobbying all of a sudden? If the gay thing is true, I may die laughing. But it’ll take a lot for me to believe that. ---
**Author:** ![bannerrefugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bannerrefugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bannerrefugee)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/39 "2007-11-27T03:52:34Z")
QUOTE=John Mace]I don’t buy the “racist” charge. That whole thing was blown out of proportion. Believe what you want, but whoever succeeds him will almost certainly vote exactly as he would. [/QUOTE] The south is still very racist. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845/40 "2007-11-27T04:40:48Z")
Lott is caught in an interesting little conundrum. He is resigning now because Congresscritters who leave office after 2007 have to wait two years to cash in as a lobbyist instead of one year like they do now. The problem is that the state GOP would really like to have the election at the same time as the general election, because screwy things happen in low-turnout special elections. But the law says that they can only schedule the special election along with the general election if the senator resigns in the same year as the national election; otherwise it has to be scheduled within 90 days. In other words, if Lott could wait until 2008 to resign, they could have an election to replace him in November along with the Presidential election, but it gives him a whole year without that sweet sweet lobbyist cash. If he resigns in 2007, he can be lobbying by the first day of 2009, but the special election to replace him will have to be in March at the latest. It’s a pickle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senator-trent-lott-announces-retirement/427845.md?page=3)