[Ninong]

Yesterday was a truly sad day...

Trent Lott, the last of that great barbershop quartet known as the Singing Senators, announced his retirement.

Their closely knit group started to come undone with the defection of the traitor Sen. Jim Jeffords back in 2001. After Jeffords deserted the Republican party and became an Independent who caucused with the Democrats, it became virtually impossible for them to continue singing together since they were no longer speaking to Jeffords.

Here is a brief 15-second video clip of The Singing Senators at the height of their glory singing their smash hit, Elvira.

That's Sen. Trent Lott on the left, with Sen. Larry Craig next, and then Attorney General John Ashcroft and finally Sen. Jim Jeffords. They let Ashcroft in even though he was not then a U.S. Senator, having lost his reelection bid to a dead man, Mel Carnahan. George Bush named Ashcroft to be Attorney General because he felt sorry for him. It's not every day you lose an election to a dead man. In fact, no other U.S. Senator in history had ever lost reelection to a dead man, so John Ashcroft established a precedent in that respect. (P.S. -- Maybe when Ashcroft was a member of the Singing Senators quartet he was still in the Senate, during his first term??? He didn't have a second term, he lost his reelection to Mel Carnahan, who happened to be dead on election day.)

Sen. Jeffords retired at the end of his term in January 2007 and Sen. Larry "my, what a wide stance you have" Craig announced that he will not seek reelection at the end of his current term in January 2009. Atty. Gen. Ashcroft was replaced by the recently dearly departed Gonzo the Magnificent, who has been replaced by Mike Mukasey.

Now that Trent Lott has announced that he will be leaving the Senate BEFORE the end of 2007, The Singing Senators are all gone, but not forgotten. Trent wants everyone to know that his leaving before the end of this year has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the law changes effective January 1, 2008, requiring a two-year wait before you can enter the lobbying racket and make the big bucks. If you retire before Jan. 1, 2008, the waiting period is only one year.

Former House Speaker Denny Hastert, who resigned yesterday, would also like to reassure everyone that he has no intention (at the moment) of becoming a money-grubbing lobbyist a year from now. Hey, maybe he'll coach high school wrestling in the meantime? Oh, that's right, I almost forgot; he entered politics after being booted out of the high school wrestling profession because of some unfounded rumors.

P.S. -- Speaking of rumors, there are rumors floating around Washington, D.C. that Sen. Trent Lott is involved with a gay male escort named Benjamin Nicholas. (That's his "stage name" just as Jeff Gannon was James Guckert's "stage name.")

[Ninong]

Dude has his own website just like Mike Jones, Pastor Ted Haggard's boyfriend and Jimmy/Jeff Gannon/Guckert. And, unlike Jimmy/Jeff's website, it's not x-rated:

[Ninong]

Reporters have been bugging Larry Flynt, publisher of Hustler magazine, to find out what he knows, if anything, about a possible relationship between Sen. Trent Lott and a gay male escort.

Larry Flynt has posted the following statement on his website:

"HUSTLER RESPONDS: HUSTLER Magazine has received numerous inquiries regarding the involvement of Larry Flynt and HUSTLER in the resignation of Trent Lott. Senator Lott has been the target of an ongoing HUSTLER investigation for some time now, due to confidential information that we have received."

[Ninong]

The blog that originally broke this story yesterday, posted the following statement that they claim they received late yesterday from Benjamin Nicholas:

“Here’s my public comment, on-the-record: Sen. Lott and I have no current affiliation with one another. I’m sure he would appreciate no further scrutiny.”

[Ninong]

Just because Trent Lott was on the Ole Miss football team's cheerleading squad, that doesn't necessarily mean he's gay.



Trent Lott is the second from the right in this photo from the Ole Miss yearbook.

[Ninong]

Just because Trent Lott likes to wear pink socks, that doesn't necessarily mean he's gay, does it?



"Lott has spiced things up recently, adding hot pink socks and matching tie to his outfit, which, according to southern tradition, always includes white bucks." Suckers for Seersucker, Washington Whispers, June 13, 2007. I had no idea U.S. News & World Report had a sense of humor.

P.S. -- Being a Southerner myself, I can confirm that white bucks are traditionally worn with seersucker suits, but I have never heard of wearing pink socks! That must be a Mississippi tradition.

[Ninong]

Statement from Sen. Lott: "I am not gay (right now)."

[Ninong]

Trent Lott's mega-bucks brother-in-law, Dickie Scruggs, and Dickie's son, Zack, along with three others were indicted by a federal grand jury in Mississippi and charged with paying a $40,000 bribe to a federal judge to rule in their favor. The bribe was paid a few weeks ago. (Plus an additional $10,000 bribe to the same judge Nov. 5, 2007 for an unrelated case. See page 7 of the indictment.)

Uh, oh!

Here.

P.S. -- Dickie's Trent's personal lawyer. He's representing Trent in his lawsuit against State Farm Insurance Company concerning damage to Trent's home in Pascagoula during Hurricane Katrina. State Farm said the house was destroyed by rising water and therefore not covered by homeowners' insurance, just the $250,000 max federal flood insurance, and Trent says it was damaged by wind, too. Trent wants State Farm to pay him the $600,000 in value that was not covered by the federal flood insurance.

Dickie made the big bucks with class action lawsuits against asbestos manufacturers and then he made even bigger bucks as the lead attorney in the states' lawsuit against the tobacco companies in the 1990's that was settled for $368 billion.

[Ninong]

Wow! Trent's "pals" are thrilled that he's leaving the Senate!

Typical comments from fellow Republicans and assorted right-wing types:


Our Lady of the Concentration Camps says Lott "won't be missed."

"Inveterate Beltway creatures who love the pomp and power of their office do not just decide they are 'ready to move on.' Is there another GOP Maalox moment in the works?" Michelle has a way with words.


"Lott will most likely be remembered for his arrogance and his inability to adapt to the paradigms of open government in the Internet/blogosphere era. He staunchly defended an old tradition of trading power and influence at a time when America finally started to see the costs inherent in those mechanisms. Lott could have led the Republicans to adapt to the new reality and become the vanguard of ethics reform and smaller government, but instead remained entrenched in the trappings of a vanishing era. When challenged, he lashed out instead of listened, and now he walks away with little credibility left." Ed Morrissey, Captain's Quarters.


"Trent Lott will resign. He will not be missed." Glen Reynolds, Instapundit.


"Good riddance." Calif. Conservative.


P.S. -- Speaking of good riddance, uber-hypocrite Henry Hyde has left the building.

[Ninong]

I found a much better clip of the Singing Senators

Check out this YouTube video clip from Chris Matthews' Hardball program back around the time when Larry Craig was having a problem with his "wide stance." It includes a longer version of the Singing Senators' rendition of their smash hit, Elvira.

[Ninong]

A couple more rumors floating around concerning Trent Lott

Some people are saying that it wasn't a problem with red-haired rent boys that got Lott in trouble but his involvement with his brother-in-law Dickie's ongoing bribery problem. According to this latest rumor, Trent tried to throw his weight around to derail the federal investigation into his nephew and brother-in-law's bribery of a federal judge. If that turns out to be true, that would be embarrassing. I find this one hard to believe because I don't see how Trent could have influenced an ongoing FBI investigation.

The other rumor is that Haley Barbour intends to appoint Chip Pickering to Trent's Senate seat. Chip's in the House right now and he had already expressed his intention to not run for reelection next year. He's been wanting to be a U.S. Senator for ages but he was beginning to dispair that neither Lott nor Thad Cochran would ever retire or be forced out due to some scandal. Lott's sudden resignation was really unexpected. He wasn't up for reelection until 2012. He was just reelected last November.

Chip even has a bit part in Borat the Movie. He spoke before a convention of right-wing Christian fundamentalist lunatics that was featured hilariously in the Borat movie. Check out this brief video clip, it's hilarious. These people are truly insane!

P.S. -- Whatever happened to Trent Lott's porch?

[schrocat]

The message at trentlottporch moved me to tears.
Moving my mouse around searching hopelessly for a link to donate money, never to find it...made me appreciate what Trent must have gone through looking for his porch.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by schrocat

The message at trentlottporch moved me to tears.
Moving my mouse around searching hopelessly for a link to donate money, never to find it...made me appreciate what Trent must have gone through looking for his porch.

Yes, it's a sad, sad story. How can Trent and Dubya sip mint juleps on the front porch if there is no front porch?


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"Al-Qaida has tried to kill Pakistan's leaders several times, so we have a common goal." -- George W. Bush, November 10, 2007.