Trent's Latest Trash Talk

It appears that the much-vaunted “collegiality” of the members of the United States Senate extends only so far. As the Washingtonian Senator Trent Lott – who allegedly has some ties to Mississippi – continues to demonstrate, collegial behavior among members, even among party colleagues, is prone to fly out the window whenever a given member perceives a loss of personal prestige as the result of the actions of another member.

Trent Lott, as many recall, became the Senate’s majority leader in 1996, upon the retirement of Bob Dole as the latter ran for President. His position as the Senate’s most powerful member was one that he obviously relished until his downfall in 2002, following his regrettable choice of words at a birthday party for Strom Thurmond.

I have noted before that, while I believe that the particular incident that resulted in Trent Lott being replaced as Majority Leader was one that was blown way out of proportion, I have never once been sorry that he is no longer in that position. Frankly, even while he remained “in power” I believed him to have performed poorly as the Republican Leader and demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice the interest of the American people whenever it was necessary to protect himself and his fellow-members of the “World’s Most Exclusive Gentlemen’s Club.” Perhaps, then, it shouldn’t be surprising that he was the Leader in power who oversaw the transformation of a 55-45 Republican advantage in the Senate into a 50-50 stalemate.

Ever since his replacement as Majority Leader, Senator Lott has not been bashful about expressing his bitterness over losing his position. I fully believe that the brunt of much of his criticism would have been whoever replaced him. As it turns out, that person happens to be Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee.

Over the weekend, Senator Lott engaged in only his latest episode of “Frist-bashing” at a local gathering in Galveston County, Mississippi. Noting that, among Majority Leaders, he didn’t think Senator Frist would “go down in history as one of the greats, Mr. Lott went on to state that his replacement didn’t have the “political experience” necessary to lead the Senate.

Of course, what Senator Lott means when he refers to Senator Frist’s lack of political experience is the Tennesseean’s inability (Or is it his unwillingness?) to “play the game” of Inside-The-Beltway politics. This calls to mind a criticism that Lott voiced a couple of years ago of Senator Frist’s handling of the unconstitutional judicial filibusters conducted by the minority Senate Democrats. In questioning Frist’s insistence on holding firm to his demand for an up or down vote (as the Constitution calls for) of all of President Bush’s judicial nominees, Lott noted that, were he still in charge, he would have already “cut a deal” with the Democrats and moved on.

Translation: He would have sacrificed principle and several qualified nominees in order to maintain the lethargic peace in the Senate. For, you see, nothing upsets an entrenched Washingtonian Senator like Trent Lott more than having to actually roll up his sleeves work at an unpleasant task when he could be hosting contributors or attending high-brow cocktail parties. In his view, Bill Frist simply hasn’t been in Washington long enough to act like a good Washingtonian Senator.

Of course, to the average American who spends the vast majority of his life in the world that is outside, but very much affected by what goes on inside, the Beltway, a lack of the “Washington mentality” is exactly what makes a Senator like Bill Frist so appealing. And to avoid becoming a Washingtonian like Senator Lott seems to have always been Bill Frist’s intent, as he stated during his first senate run that he would not serve more than two terms, a pledge he is making good on with his retirement from the Senate this year.

I have long had little patience for those who disparage the “qualifications” of someone who meets the constitutional requirements for a given office, but who doesn’t have much experience at “working the system,” as Mr. Lott says about Mr. Frist. Frankly, it is these extra-constitutional “qualifications” that have been imposed that have resulted in the Federal government in becoming the bloated giant it has become. And, if truth be told, “outsiders” like Bill Frist – and, yes, George Bush – who haven’t been brainwashed into believing the Washington way is the only way, and are willing to “buck the system” or “think outside the box” are exactly what the highest levels of the nation’s government could use more of, as opposed to the ongoing antics of “Potomac-Two-Steppers” like Trent Lott.