White Man's Burden

Who besides Ben Smith of Politicho weeps for stale crackers?

Race is a hard issue for older conservative politicians from the Deep South seeking national office. The roots of Southern Republicanism are in the segregationist split from the Democratic Party, and so there's no presumption of innocence, and no second chance, as Trent Lott learned.

Mr. Smith appears to have forgotten that Trent Lott left the Senate because he wanted to set up shop as a lobbyist before the rules were ever-so-gently tweaked. He could look it up.

Mr. Lott continues to suffer for his sins here:

Patton Boggs LLP's acquisition of The Breaux Lott Leadership Group (BLLG) in July 2010 combines the nation's highest-revenue producing public policy law firm with one of the most recognizable strategic consulting and lobbying firms in public policy.