Now that the Democrats have been cast into the underworld of political irrelevance, it is intriguing to watch the Republicans begin to devour their young. Case in point, Trent Lott. Lott’s racist remarks have caused such a furor among conservatives that the hapless senator is expected to amble off the nearest cliff.
It would be a mistake to think that Lott’s crime was simply a matter of overt bigotry, a tradition safeguarded in both parties with a wink and a nod. His real failing is that he is basically a clunker, a Confederate dunce that Republicans don’t want leading the ticket in 2004. And so, we all get a lesson in political theatre as Trent is cajoled to fall on his sword for the greater cause. Exit Lott.
It’s all vaguely reminiscent of that seminal polemic of Republican ethics, The Godfather, when Abe Vigoda is caught in a plot to kill Michael. And as the two thugs usher Vigoda off to the trunk of the nearest black sedan, Vigoda turns and says sympathetically “It was never personal, it was just business.”
It is with Lott, nothing personal, just business; the business of politics.
Snohomish
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