Trent Lott - Da Return

It's interesting to see Trent Lott back in the Republican leadership, elected as the minority Senate whip. It's been four years since he was turned out for the racially insensitive remarks he made at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party. I wonder if that's long enough for people to forgive. I have to think that any ground gained at that time thanks to the Republicans' perceived principles will be more than lost now. Moral convictions that hold only when you have an iron grip on power are not terribly impressive. But I suppose that most people either saw it in 2002 as simple political in-fighting or have by now forgotten.

More amusingly, Lott's competitor, Lamar Alexander, apparently had been lobbying to be the whip for a year and a half and, the night before the vote, predicted he would win by as many as 30 votes. Oops. Way to demonstrate - after the fact - that you aren't the right guy for the job.