Lott’s spite: A New York Times article yesterday covered former Senate Majority Leade Trent Lott’s mouthing off against his enemies inside the GOP as if they had significance beyond a petty need to exact revenge:
The senator has also thrown darts in the direction of Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief political adviser. With Mr. Bush’s poll ratings dropping, Mr. Lott has said the White House might consider “bringing in some new people” – a jab at Mr. Rove, who helped engineer Mr. Lott’s departure as Republican leader.
The current majority leader, Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, also seems to be in Mr. Lott’s sights. In his book, “Herding Cats: A Life in Politics,” published in August, Mr. Lott wrote that he considered Mr. Frist’s leadership bid in 2002 “a personal betrayal.”
When Mr. Frist pushed for a Congressional inquiry to determine the source of a Washington Post article about secret prisons run by the C.I.A., Mr. Lott complicated matters by suggesting the leak might have come from a Republican.
Some wonder if Mr. Lott’s recent barbs are a preretirement parting shot. Others say he remains deeply bruised from his fall in 2002 and is exacting payback. His close friends, who expect Mr. Lott to make a decision about his future by year’s end, try to dismiss the notion of revenge.
“I wouldn’t say it’s revenge,” said Robert L. Livingston, a Republican from Louisiana who was due to become House speaker in 1998 but left Congress amid revelations of an extramarital affair. “But he has a long memory.”
We suppose it depends on what the definition of “revenge” is.
Ah, the GOP monolith tumbles over and shatters into tiny, ineffectual pieces. At last.