Impo-Trent

As a sensible (?) conservative, am I obliged to denounce Trent Lott's latest stupidity?

I mean, I'm obviously no fan of the guy. There are multiple instances on this site of my referring to him as Impo-Trent, in reference to his rather uninspiring leadership of GOP Senators.

But the sad thing is, I don't really think Impo-Trent is a racist. I think he just has an unfortunate tendency to say and do really stupid things. (Jonah Goldberg notes the same tendency here and here. The Caddyshack reference is especially funny, because it's so easy to imagine. That, or Impo-Trent announcing to the frat the he's tapped the keg *shrug*).

But yes, he makes all Republicans look bad, and I've long thought he should be booted from the Senate leadership. When you put a frat-boy cheerleader type in an important position, you should not be surprised when really stupid things come flying out of his pie hole. Or worse, the comments he made when they were honoring that dead guy (it's all a hoax you see -- Strom's been dead for a while, but damnit, we need that vote). Inexcusable morally and politically.

Impo-Trent needs to go away now.

(10-12-02 Update) It seems Impo-Trent has quite a romantic view indeed of the Old South (which, as part of the package, includes some abhorrent thoughts on race). The GOP needs to ditch him.

[Posted at 20:43 CST on 12/09/02] [Link]