Trainwreck Trent

I have posted previously that Trent Lott is the worst of a pretty motley lot of Republicans in Congress. He is the anti-Reagen - big spending, a lover of earmarks and back room deal making, and a hypocrite. He is, in short, a trainwreck, the poster boy for why Republicans got spanked in 2006 - as independents turned to the slightly more principled Harry Reid and conservatives stayed away from the ballot booth, repelled by the stench of a Republican Party that was far more akin to the Democrat Party of early 90's.

It is certainly possible to be conservative and to be pro-immigration. Indeed, one can be strongly in the conservative camp and yet, when all facts are known, disagree strongly on well reasoned principals. It is another thing entirely to be kept in the dark and be told to shut up and blindly support whatever those we have elected present to us as a fait accompli. That is the case with the immigration bill pending before congress. This immigration bill was written in back rooms without hearings that would have allowed it and other schools of thought on the issue to be thoroughly examined and vetted. As George Will said:

. . . [T]he recent immigration legislation had three handicaps. First, it was drafted in secret -- . . . the immigration bill was not the subject of hearings that could have clarified such fundamental matters as whether immigrants are net drains on, or contributors to, the fiscal health of federal, state and local governments. Second, like many comprehensive ``solutions'' to large, intricate problems that are susceptible to incremental ameliorations, the immigration bill, . . . was presented as a package so finely calibrated and exquisitely balanced that any significant change would, as Shakespeare said:

Take but degree away, untune that string,
And, hark! what discord follows.

Third, people skeptical about the legislation were, if not demonized, cast as bigots or, at best, people uninterested in doing ``the right thing for America'' (President Bush).

Enter Trent Lott, who, as reported in the NYT, now takes aim not only at Republicans voting their conscience, but also takes direct aim at conservatives on talk radio, the only medium where conservative thought is easilly accessible and, indeed, dominant:

Comments by Republican senators on Thursday suggested that they were feeling the heat from conservative critics of the bill, who object to provisions offering legal status. The Republican whip, Trent Lott of Mississippi, who supports the bill, said: “Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem.”

At some point, Mr. Lott said, Senate Republican leaders may try to rein in “younger guys who are huffing and puffing against the bill.”

This dual attack by Lott on independant thought and on the one medium that conservatives dominate is arrogant and incredibly foolish. Lott is completely out of touch with the conservative base of the Republican Party. To the Democrats, he is the best man they have in the Republican Party. To the rest of us, he is a trainwreck who needs to be challenged in his state's primaries and stripped of all leadership positions in the Senate.



Don't miss Michelle Malkin's coverage of Trent. And do visit his website at Trentlott.com.