# Trent Lott is an idiot **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 7, 2002, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083 "2002-12-07T04:00:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/161 "2002-12-14T00:05:00Z")
—It took him a lot of tries to get to that point.— That works as much for him as against him. If he didn’t think his comment meant what people are demanding it must have meant, then its no wonder he didn’t realize that it could blow up into a major issue. —Certainly, if it is fair to measure a group of people in a democratic society by the leaders they select, keeping Trent Lott in his majority leader position would send a fairly clear signal about what is important to Senate Republicans and what they are willing to ignore— Sure, if you buy the spin. Obviously, many important people in high places feel the need to deal with the fallout of the spin. I don’t. I’ve never voted Republican in my life, and I can’t stand Lott, but I think this issue is typical “soundbite gotcha” media: and the loser is any sort of sane debate about POLICY. Are Lott’s politics in practice discriminatory? The fact that a major political figure could be knocked from power because of people’s speculation about what a single utterance means, in contradiction to the one who uttered it, is simply repulisive to me. It’s repulsive not necessarily because I think it’s always a bad thing, but rather that such intense discussions or effects rarely come up in policy debates. And policy, not soundbytes, is what matters. Soundbytes have come to dominate. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/162 "2002-12-14T00:10:09Z")
Until he gives a reasonably plausible non-racist explanation of what those problems are that would have avoided by electing Strom, he’s never going to have this albatross off his neck. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/163 "2002-12-14T01:05:19Z")
[Editorial cartoonists](http://cagle.slate.msn.com/news/TrentLott/1.asp) having a field day with this. Some of the best and funniest I’ve seen in a while (even with such an ugly subject). ---
**Author:** ![Skid\_Row](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/779978/32.png) [@Skid\_Row](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skid_Row)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/164 "2002-12-14T01:07:44Z")
“I am not a crook.” - Richard Nixon “We did not trade arms for hostages.” - Ronald Reagan “Read my lips, no new taxes.” - George H. W. Bush “I did not have sex with that woman.” - Bill Clinton “Segregation is immoral.” - Trent Lott Senator…buh bye. You must go now. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/165 "2002-12-14T01:29:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SpoilerVirgin \* > \*\*[Editorial cartoonists](http://cagle.slate.msn.com/news/TrentLott/1.asp) having a field day with this. Some of the best and funniest I’ve seen in a while (even with such an ugly subject). \*\* Man, I agree. I haven’t seen this much great political comedic material since Lewinski. ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/166 "2002-12-14T01:37:29Z")
It’s been a while since I used my sig, but it sure as hell applies to this case. ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/167 "2002-12-14T01:38:39Z")
Frikkin’ A, here it is… ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/168 "2002-12-20T15:34:40Z")
Me, posting this for posterity: The “Dump Lott” movement appears to be in full swing. [http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/20/lott.controversy/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/20/lott.controversy/index.html) > [@](#): > > Frist picking up support to challenge Lott > ‘I will likely step forward for that role’ > Friday, December 20, 2002 Posted: 10:02 AM EST (1502 GMT) > > WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sen. Bill Frist is picking up support in his “likely” bid to challenge fellow Republican Trent Lott for the job of Senate majority leader in the next term of Congress. > > \< snip \> > > A physician from Tennessee who is a favorite of the White House, Frist issued a statement late Thursday saying several senators had approached him and asked him to seek the job. > > “I indicated to them that if it is clear that a majority of the Republican caucus believes a change in leadership would benefit the institution of the United States Senate, I will likely step forward for that role,” Frist said. Six senators have publicly committed to supporting Frist for the leadership post. > > \< snip \> > > Momentum appeared to be on the side of Frist, whose candidacy became public Thursday night. > > “I’m pleased to join the Bill Frist team, and I can assure you the team is growing in numbers very quickly,” Warner told an impromptu news conference in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building. > > \< snip \> > > “If Bill Frist is a candidate for majority leader, I’m for him,” Alexander said in a statement. “He’s my neighbor, my friend, my senior senator and one of our best national leaders.” ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/169 "2002-12-20T16:16:00Z")
Trent Lott has now ruined a perfectly good thread by announcing that he will not continue as majority leader, although he will remain in the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![Moon-Watcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/49beb7/32.png) [@Moon-Watcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moon-Watcher)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/170 "2002-12-20T16:38:55Z")
[clicky clicky](http://story.news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=34&tmpl=fc&in=US&cat=US_Congress) ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/171 "2002-12-20T20:16:21Z")
Jeepers, is that some kind of record or what? At 9 a.m. he’s like, “I have not yet begun to fight!” and an hour and fifteen minutes later he’s like, “Which way is the exit?” ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/172 "2002-12-20T20:22:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\*Jeepers, is that some kind of record or what? At 9 a.m. he’s like, “I have not yet begun to fight!” and an hour and fifteen minutes later he’s like, “Which way is the exit?” \*\* [The Cat Is On The Roof](http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Castle/5352/animal/animal26.html) ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/173 "2002-12-20T20:36:05Z")
And I will take this moment, with my rabidly Democratic self, to say that I think this whole thing was incredibly stupid. As much as I cannot abide what Trent Lott stands for as a big fat right wing Republican butthead, this was ludicrous. I cannot bring myself to believe for a second that his words were any kind of wink-wink-nudge-nudge to the racists, because there’s absolutely no benefit in it and it would be a deeply, deeply moronoic move on his part, as we’ve seen. I am certain it was an utterly mindless and careless attempt to be very nice to an ancient comrade in his last days. And even if it DID signify Lott’s truest heart, which I do not argue against, so what? I’m afraid I’m going to have to agree with Larry Elder on this one: however racist he may be in his heart, it is political suicide to behave, vote and legislate as a racist in 2002. So what is in his heart is utterly beside the point, and destroying him over careless words is pathetic and paranoid and small and self-serving of the Pubs. And thus spake Stoid The Rabid Liberal. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/174 "2002-12-21T21:12:21Z")
Okay, who took the real **Stoid** and replaced her witht his pod person. Or is it just another way to disagree with **december**? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/175 "2002-12-21T21:43:44Z")
Speaking from the Conservative Wing of the Extreme Left, I quite agree with **Comrade Stoid**. I don’t see anything the Lottster said as being anything more than a maudlin tribute to an ancient sack of shit. Tiresome, surely, ill deserved, no doubt, but racist? Not hardly. My beef with the “Southern strategy” is not that I think the Forces of Darkness are racists, in this day and age, thats your political suicide note. That fight is largely over, the Good Guys won. In this instance, hypocrisy _is_ victory. No, what cramps my stones about it is the willingness of the Pubbies to sidle up to racism, right next to it and _imply_ a receptiveness to the racist agenda they have no intention of committing to. That’s not racism, that’s cynicism. The knife in Lott’s back has Karl Rove’s fingerprints all over it, the luke warm support from the White House was as clear a signal as the fish wrapped in Luca Brasi’s bullet proof vest. Couldn’t happen to a more worthy person, but it still stinks. ---
**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:** [December 23, 2002, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/176 "2002-12-23T00:25:56Z")
More confirmation Lott is a BIG TIME moron: [“I fell into their trap.”](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=514&e=4&cid=514&u=/ap/20021222/ap_on_go_co/lott_interview) Yes, his enemies set a trap into which he stumbled. What a maroon. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/177 "2002-12-23T00:43:23Z")
Well, yes, its true. But he’s following the party line, saying it was the people who hate Christians and conservatives (i.e., me) who brought him down. Would that it were so, but it ain’t. Karl Rove’s fingerprints are all over this, and the delicacy of White House “support” was a clear message: Fuck Trent. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Still stinks. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/178 "2002-12-23T03:37:27Z")
Well, I have to say that I’m not surprised that the Republican’s aren’t taking Stoids and elucidator’s advice on whether to keep Lott. I understand, you think the republican party is a party of racists, so what’s the big deal about having a racist majority leader? Yep, the Republlicans were just being small minded, petty backstabbers to get rid of Lott. No sense of loyalty, those Republicans! By caving in and failing to stand up for their racist principles, the Republicans have finally lost any hope of support you guys. The Republicans have finally blown it for good. Right? ---
**Author:** ![SmileyDeath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@SmileyDeath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmileyDeath)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/179 "2002-12-23T03:42:21Z")
Who is Trent Lott? Theirs alot of threads about him on the SDMB…😕 ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083/180 "2002-12-23T04:00:19Z")
Eleven Pub Senators said they would vote Lott ML despite the comments, just days before he said he would not seek to become ML. I can see the DNC mailers now: Eleven Senators for Segregation. Make it look like a wanted poster. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trent-lott-is-an-idiot/141083.md?page=10)