I admit to a visceral dislike of Trent Lott. For years, I have internally thought of him as Trent Little. Physically, he reminds me of Sam Donaldson with his 61-year old jet black hair, most or all of it false, placed just so on an otherwise shiny pate. He is smarmy looking in front of a camera; his cracker accent turns me off completely while Dubya’s does not. I also believe Trent Lott has relentlessly proven his uselessness to conservative causes over the years.

Like his Democrat alter ego, pork-barrel Ku Klux Klan alumnus Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, he of “white nigger” fame, Lott has diligently larded his home town and state with your tax dollars but has put his name on little, if any, legislation. There are no Lott initiatives, few Lott fingerprints on anything. Quick: what’s Lott’s view on vouchers?; On McCain-Feingold? On anything at all? Correct. I can’t think of anything either. But I can point to another good-old-boy-pork-barrel fiasco. The most recent is the shipyard boondoggle in Pascagoula MS, Lott’s hometown. Few of us likely think of shipbuilding in Pascagoula, if we ever think of Pascagoula at all, but Lott does - regularly. At the moment, there is a "ship" sitting on the stays, waiting for the champagne smash to send it on its watery way. Except this “ship” will be sent to the bottom, if it is ever launched at all. This “ship” is even worse than you-know-what. It won’t even float. That’s how they build ships in Pascagoula.

The “ship” is, I think, fittingly emblematic of Trent Lott: useless. And yes, there are hundreds of millions of your tax dollars sitting on those stays as well. Not all of your tax dollars are on those stays though. Some of those dollars line the deep pockets of those who build such monstrosities. Some rest quietly and comfortably in the stuffed campaign coffers of those who ram such legislation through Congress.

This is but prologue to the political contretemps surrounding Lott, the current leader of the Republican Party in the U.S. Senate. Lott has just committed a major political blunder: he let his true feelings come out at a birthday party for retiring centenarian Senator Strom Thurmond. Lott said it was a shame that Ol’ Strom wasn’t elected back in ‘68 because, had Ol Strom been elected President, we’d not have lots of the problems we have today. Well, Sir. Ol’ Strom was an avid segregationist then, as was Trent. It was instantly obvious to virtually all - save Ol’ Trent - that we finally heard Truth from the lips of Trent. It was a day to mark for history on that score alone. Nevertheless, many Americans took instant fury at Lott’s remarks. Some of these were black Americans, rightly angered by Lott’s revealing toast to Ol’ Strom. Among them was no less than Clarence Thomas, he who speaks sparingly. Also in the cast were the usual suspects, such as those alleged Reverends J. Jackson and A. Sharpton, noted men of the cloth indeed. Weighing in too were other voices that you would expect to hear from the left, the liberals and the Democrats.

The loudest voices against Lott though are not the lefties. It is the right which has risen up, almost as if it were a vast conspiracy (Memo to Mrs. Clinton! You missed this one.) Conservative pundits, columnists and bloggers, real and cyber, have said: Lott delenda est.

What about the White House? Damnation by no praise was what the president uttered. Mr. Bush waited a week before commenting on l’affaire Lott, waiting until he was before a largely black audience in The City of Brotherly Love before denouncing Lott, his ideology and his execrable remark. The President said nada in praise of Lott’s long years of work in the Republican Party, the Senate or anything else. That wasn’t a reprimand: Lott has been disowned by the White House. He may be the Senate’s leader but, up here, he’s just a bigot.

But what about the Republican Senators? Mostly they've said nothing much at all. Others, having made the case against Lott, are now faced with the possibility of having Lott stay on as leader if Republican Senators refuse to vote a new leader. That would be an egregious error on the part of the Senators and a real problem for conservatives. It is not easy supporting Lott on anything at all, such is the disrepair of his general reputation. He excites no interest, has no constituency in Washington and is relying on his seniority and Senatorial custom to carry the day.

Former Republican Congressman Robert Livingston, when faced with the dilemma of being weakened via an old adultery, voluntarily chose to exit stage right in lieu of putting his party and colleagues through the difficulty of a Livingston Speakership. Lott, ever self-centered, is unlikely to take the honorable way out. Southerners, Men of Honor all, supposedly take the honorable road, rather like the Japanese generals committing hari-kari after losing a big one for the Emperor. Don’t hold your breath on this one. Lott may be pushed but he’s unlikely to jump.

In his own defense, Lott has said: “I’m not about to resign for an accusation for something I’m not.” Fair enough. How about resigning for some things you are: unappealing; without support; weakened politically; open to the race card tactic forever, bigot or not; a drag on your party; your colleagues; your President. In a word, useless.