November 27, 2007

Another one bites the dust: Trent Lott

Today's look at another crook

and it's not about the SEX,
and more than that it's what about David Vitter

It's the HYPOCRASY.
Having no feelings for others's living a good life,
but thinking your life is something that should
remain secretive while remaining
ARROGANT

Was Trent Lott Involved With a Gay Male Escort?

Posted by GottaLaff , Brave New Films at 4:56 AM on November 27, 2007.


GottaLaff: Could this be true? The escort in question denies it but how does that explain "the email and other records?"

This post, written by GottaLaff, originally appeared on Cliff Schecter's Brave New Films Blog

I've always been called fair-minded, so I'll post the update first:

It looks like a Washington DC-based blog called BigHeadDC is making claim that there was (or, is) a working relationship between myself and Senator Trent Lott. There are falsely pieced-together quotes that serve no purpose other than to sensationalize a completely fabricated scoop.
I will continue to offer a great sense of confidentiality to the people I see. I have not, nor have I ever seen or had contact with Senator Trent Lott. It's as simple as that. It never happened.
Benjamin Nicholas

What's up with that, Benjamin?

Now here's the allegation, via Daily Kos' lost (the BigHeadDC site is down due to traffic):

According to the post:
Once upon a time, there was a twentysomething boy-next-door type with reddish blond hair and a brilliantly white smile. Not one to shy away from attention, he wrote a blog called "Fifteen Minutes," and also became a freelance writer for various publications, including The Stranger in Seattle. He'd often focus on his non-traditional lifestyle as a gay male escort -- a topic that often fascinated his readers, which, in turn, helped him to garner a substantial amount of powerful business acquaintances through the years.
The boy happens to be real, and his "stage name" is Benjamin Nicholas. One of the politicos Big Head DC has learned he's alleged to have been involved with is the married Sen. Trent Lott, 66, who unexpectedly announced his retirement on Monday. Lott is well-known to have been against a plethora of gay rights issues throughout his terms in Congress. He was also good friends with Sen. Larry Craig throughout his time in Congress.
Nicholas told Big Head DC today via e-mail that he didn't want to go on the record to talk about his dealings with Lott, because, said Nicholas, "Trent is going through his fair share of scrutiny right now and I don't want to add to it." However, e-mail and other records confirm that the two have met on at least two occasions.
"All I can say at this point is no comment," Nicholas told us. "It's the professional thing for me to do."
It's speculated that Larry Flynt is working on the story. But Flynt will not comment on it.

Paddy posted on some Trent Lott/Larry Flynt speculation earlier, and I posted the original Larry Flynt story as well.

Could this be it? Not according to Nicholas. But how does that explain the email and other records.... ?


Now for the political picture .. from the Center for American
Progress

CONGRESS

A Lott Of Baggage

Yesterday, Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-MS) announced he would resign from the Senate before the end of the year. Lott's departure was "stunning" for its timing, observed the Washington Post. Currently occupying the number two position in the Senate GOP leadership -- after enjoying a "political rehabilitation from allegations of racial insensitivity" -- Lott "cruis[ed] to his re-election" just last year. With this sudden resignation, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) said yesterday that he would "call a Special Election for United States Senator to be held on November 4, 2008," an election which may violate Mississippi state law. The resignation has sparked a "round of maneuvering inside the Republican conference," with Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) announcing he will run for the leadership position. While Lott has not yet clarified a specific motive for his retirement, the "decision will complete a two-year roller coaster ride for Lott and his emotional investment in the Senate."

THE LOBBYIST'S SENATOR:
Lott has warmly embraced the entreaties of lobbyists while in the Senate. For example, he "tops the list" of "lawmakers who have most frequently been jetted around the country aboard the luxurious private jets of Corporate America." In 2006, he voted against establishing a Senate Office of Public Integrity. Lott, whose son is a lobbyist, was part of a small bloc of conservatives who voted against the ethics reform bill in August that included a two-year revolving door ban, reflecting his longtime opposition to lobbying reform. It is speculated that Lott is retiring so that he can avoid these new restrictions on former members entering the lobbying world, which kick in after 2008. Lott said yesterday that "he was going to move into the private sector after 35 years in Congress." NBC News reported that Lott may join the "lucrative world of lobbying Congress." He maintains the ethics restrictions "didn't have a big role" in his resignation.

HISTORY OF INTOLERANCE: Lott was forced out of his Majority Leader seat in disgrace in late 2002, after heralding the segregationist platform of former South Carolina senator Strom Thurmond. Speaking at a Thurmond's 100th birthday bash, Lott said, "When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either." Lott's history of intolerance is well-documented. In 1981, Lott declared, "Racial discrimination does not always violate public policy." In 1998, he likened homosexuality to "personal problems as alcoholism, kleptomania and 'sex addiction.'" He maintains an affiliation with the Council of Conservative Citizens, described as a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League. In June 2007, Lott likened securing America's borders to an "electrified goat fence," stating that "there's an analogy there" for immigration reform.

EARMARKING FRENZY: Lott has acquired a reputation for his zeal in pork spending. In his book, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) quoted Lott as stating, "Balancing the budget is a nice idea, but I got an election to win." "The way I do it is, I fold them into bills where you can't find it. ... I've been around here long enough to know how to bury it," Lott explained. In 2006, Lott cosponsored a notorious $700 million "Railroad to Nowhere" in the emergency supplemental bill, reportedly the largest earmark ever. "I'll just say this about the so-called porkbusters. I'm getting damn tired of hearing from them. They have been nothing but trouble ever since Katrina," Lott said about the opposition to his railroad. After Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Coburn introduced legislation to create a public database "exposing hundreds of billions in annual spending" in 2006, Lott used Senate rules to "kill it on procedural grounds."



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