Trent Lott Calls it Quits

Trent Lott is resigning from the U.S. Senate.

He says he leaves with no "anger or malice."

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, announced Monday he will retire from the Senate before January, ending a 35-year career in Congress in which he rose to his party's top Senate job only to lose it over a remark interpreted as support for segregation.

"It's time for us to do something else," Lott said, speaking for himself and his wife Tricia at a news conference.

..."There are no problems. I feel fine," Lott said.

...Lott described his 16 years in the House and 19 in the Senate "a wild ride — and one that I'm proud of."

Lott says he leaves with no "anger or malice," so AP provides the anger for him.

AP has decided that Lott is angry with President Bush. He felt betrayed and frustrated.

[T]he smooth-spoken Mississippian found himself in hot water in December 2002 after going too far in his praise of Thurmond at the South Carolinian's 100th birthday party. Lott said Mississippi voters were proud to have supported Thurmond when he ran for president on a segregationist platform in 1948, and added: "If the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years either."

A few days later, Lott issued a statement saying he had made "a poor choice of words" that "conveyed to some the impression that I embraced the discarded policies of the past. Nothing could be further from the truth."

But the damage was done and Bush distanced himself from Lott's remarks, telling an audience the comments "do not reflect the spirit of our country."

Lott then made a round of public appearances, saying he regretted "reopening old wounds and hurting so many Americans." He told Black Entertainment Television he would use his position to help push through initiatives that would benefit minorities.

Lott later wrote in a book — "Herding Cats: A Life in Politics" — that President Bush hurt his feelings by disavowing the comments in a tone that was "devastating ... booming and nasty."

Another event during Lott's exile changed his relationship with the White House: Hurricane Katrina. The massive storm devastated Lott's home state, not to mention his oceanside home in Pascagoula. For him, the administration's bungled response was personal. He considered retiring.

That's how AP sums up Lott's sixteen years in the House and 19 in the Senate. No accomplishments are cited.

Pretty sad.

I know that Lott said it's time for him and wife Tricia to do something else, but Tricia Lott has so much experience in Washington. It would be a shame if she didn't put it to use.

As Lott's wife, she's qualified to be president of the United States. She has significantly more experience than Hillary Clinton.

At the very least, Tricia Lott could run to be a senator from New York.

Is she a Mets or a Yankees fan?