I WILL NOT MAKE A PUN ON 'LOTT'

Well, that solves it . . . or does it? Trent Lott has stepped down as Majority Leader.

No surprise that this took place on a friday. This is the MO of the Bushies, who like to get bad news out of the way every friday (seems really obvious these days huh?). But the problem is, this is just too big.

Lott wont be Majority Leader, but will he remain in the Senate?

Lott, a 30-year congressional veteran, said he would retain his Senate seat, but there was no evidence that he would receive a committee chairmanship or another high-profile job.

He says he's gonna stay, but as recently as earlier this week he said he wasn't going to step down as Majority Leader, so it's certainly up in the air. Certainly, he wont have any big-time leadership positions or chairmanships when the Senate reconvenes, so he wont have much to do outside of possibly delivering large helpings of pork back to Mississippi (and even that wont be as easy now).

My sense is, though, that this will not extinguish the problems that have been uncovered in the GOP. Lott not leaving the Senate means that the Republican still welcomes racists gladly into their body. Including into their leadership; the only reason Lott got into trouble is because he was openly and publicly racist. So as long as Lott retains his Senate seat, a stain remains evident on the Republican party.

Lott will eventually resign, I think. Because if he doesn't, we can go ahead and project the winner of the 2004 presidential race right about now:



Oh, and good for Bill Clinton to nail the Repugs for exactly what they are the other day.