Trent Lott: Do You Believe in Miracles?

Miracles occur so seldom in the minds of today's Americans that most refuse to acknowledge their very existence. The metamorphosis of Trent Lott should be viewed as a miracle by liberals and progressives, the "Miracle in D.C."

After the Washington Post broke the story detailing the existence of secret prisons that the USA have built and used around the world, a furor broke out in Washington. While I have known of the existence, but not the location, of these present day gulags, apparently many members of the House and Senate did not. (astonishing, by the way) The immediate response was one of horror for those that did not know of their existence, and a "cover my arse" reaction hit those that did. What ensued was a typical knee-jerk response from the Republican leadership. Fortunately for us, most of these leaders have yet to learn that there are more important things to consider than who can be the first to reach the television cameras to "break the story." Those in Washington have nearly always lived with the "stay ahead of the story" mentality, regardless of the consequenses, and seek all the face time that they can get in front of television cameras. Sometimes this works to their advantage, and sometimes it becomes an M-80 with too short of a fuse. In this particular instance, the latter rules the day.

The Senate Republicans, still angered over the Libby indictment and angered over last week's Democratic move to force the debate on the lead up to the war onto the front pages of the newspapers, reacted immediately by calling for an investigation into who "leaked" this information to the Washington Post. As you know, leaks are not real popular in Washington these days, especially for Republicans. Many rushed to judgement, believing that a payback to the Democrats was right around the corner. Oops, maybe they should have waited and thought this one through a bit.

It turns out that the source of the leak is not going to be a Democrat after all, but another Republican. Had they forgotten that just prior to the Democratic stunt Vice President Cheney had spoken to them in private session? Seems maybe they did. The Washington Post article mirrored nearly word for word what Cheney had told them about the secret prison network, just last week, in that private session. The session was so private, in fact, that all but a few vital staffers were run out of the room. The sensitive nature of the classified information that was revealed required that the audience be tightly controlled and limited to the Republican Senators themselves, and the few others that have security clearances to hear such vital information. No Democrats were invited to the party, security clearance or not. Although other issues were also discussed, mainly the announcement that Cheney was going to resign, the Post article focused solely on the prison issue. Then the fun began.

As mentioned above, when the Washington Post story broke, some Republican Senators wrongly assumed that the "leak" came from the Democrats, and wanting to get ahead of the story, immediately called for an investigation. They apparently did this without reading the article, rather they just heard about it. Had they taken the time to read it, they would have realized that the very words printed could have come from nowhere but the Republican's only meeting with Cheney. It is closer to an official transcript of the meeting than a journalistic piece. Now they have called for an investigation, and undoubtedly the leaker will be identified as another Republican. On top of the Plame investigation, this is the last thing that the Republican's want or need.

Who out of this story becomes the hero for the Democrats? None other than Senator Trent Lott, their long time nemesis. Lott is proving to be an interesting character, and is in fact exacting revenge on his own party. He has a score to settle, and is doing it in a fashion that is brilliant, if not a bit odd. If you recall, some time ago, Lott found himself in a bit of a jam over defending a racist Senator at a birthday party. He looked at his comments at the time as no big deal, just a guy helping celebrate a man's reaching the ripe old age of 900 years, or surely something close to that age. Lott's remarks were certainly insensitive, showed a total lack of appropriate judgement in today's world, but were for all practical purpose, in his mind anyway, harmless. What the Republican's would do, in Lott's judgement, was deliver a slap on the wrist and allow him to continue carrying on business as usual. It would blow over in a day or two, and all would be well. Sadly, for him, he was in for a little surprise. It seems that some Republicans, a lot of Republicans in fact, saw this as an opportunity to strip him of power. And they took that opportunity, left him hung out to dry, all alone, and his resulting fall from grace was swift and astonishing.

So Lott did something that no one expected. It began with Katrina, and continued with his comments yesterday. During the Katrina disaster, Lott was frequently seen on television subtly slamming George Boosh in a below the belt fashion. He was criticizing the Federal Response in a way that only a good Southerner can do, saying things like, "Well gosh, it seems that they haven't responded quite like we hoped that they would." Or, "Maybe when this is all over we should look at what happened and consider making a few changes." All said in very innocent fashion. A way that portrayed him as a party loyalist, a bit confused at the incompetent response, but very measured and careful not to expose himself as one with an agenda that would put the Republican administration in too bad of a light.

This continued recently, on a different subject. When he was asked whether, under the current circumstances, Karl Rove should remain in his position and maintain a security clearance. Lott responded, "Well, I don't know. It should be probably be looked at some time down the road." Again, very measured, and giving no appearance of being anything but innocent.

Then yesterday, when the "leak" story blew open, Lott was interviewed and delivered a subtle, yet clear message to the Boosh administration, that the gloves are coming off and he has jumped ship. A declaration of war, if you will. Lott said, "We clearly don't know how to keep our mouths shut." Only ten words, but in this comment, substance outweighs volume in great measure. "We" means Republicans, "don't know how to keep our mouths shut" means that every leak you have heard from the Plame case to the present goes directly to the "we." A Conservative Public Senator outing the Boosh Administration for again leaking classified information to a reporter, is nothing to be sneered at. Lott's comments are a part of the grand scheme, but I'll get to that another day. Suffice it to say that the powers that will take this administration down are officially going public, and the drumbeats are beginning to get very loud.

I have been closely watching Senator Lott since his fall from power. Not because I like him, far from it. But because he is a bully who has had his pulpit yanked from him, and yanked by his own people. That makes him a dangerous bully. Let me be clear, I would not trust Trent Lott as far as I could throw him. But, he is on a mission. A mission that no one who hasn't closely observed him of late would have anticipated, given his former status in the Republican Party. Former is the operative word here, and he is pissed. The one game that Republicans are very good at is the game of destruction, and Lott has joined the game. The only difference is, he has switched teams, at least for now.