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CounterPunch
December
16, 2002
Dispatch
from Washington
Free Trent Lott!
by ANDREW COCKBURN
Acoss Washington, Democrats are trembling at the
awful possibility that Chester Trent Lott may get so pissed off
at the prevailing torrent of abuse that he will actually resign
the majority leadership, thus fulfilling the dearest wish of
White House supreme Karl Rove and opening the way for the ascent
of Rove's chosen candidate for Senate Republican leadership:
the odious Senator Sawbones from Tennessee, Dr Bill Frist. M.D.
Initial Democratic expressions of shock
and dismay when Lott uttered his infamous remarks at Strom Thurmond's
birthday bash were of course muted. They were hoping to keep
them in reserve to wound Lott and the rest of the Party of Lincoln
when it would do the most good. After all, who better to have
as Republican leader (in Democratic eyes) than an avowed racist
-- especially as Mary Landrieu's victory has reminded the Dem
 that black voters in the south can be
quite useful, after all. But Karl Rove understands this just
as well or better than the likes of Daschle. Hence his campaign
to send Lott packing, an event which would lead to his speedy
replacement by Frist, who will ushur all legislation demanded
by business through Congress with less fuss than the old clenched-haired
segregationist.
Why Frist rather than Lott? The answer
is obvious. While Lott is engaged in inoffensive pursuits such
as eliciting naval pork for Mississippi shipyards, Frist stalks
the halls of congress looking for someone having a heart attack,
or at least a touch of indigeestion, so that he can rush over
and administer CPR while his press aide summons the fawning hacks
to hear the Senator's modest disclaimers of cedit. His score
of lives "saved" in this manner stands at three. While
serving as an ardent toady of business, especialy the health
care and pharmaceutical cartels, Frist projects a "caring"
image, accepted without demur by all except his former interns
at the Vanderbilt Medical Center in Tennessee, where he pursued
the big bucks as a heart/lung transplant surgeon. "He was
a complete asshole," recalls one. "Arrogant and unhelpful."
Frist has subsequently let it be known that as a transplant honcho
he "saw" indigent patients. "The equivocation
is telling," says the former intern, himself now a distinguished
practitioner. "As far as we could see the only indigent
patients Frist 'saw' were the ones he passed on the street on
his way to operate on rich Saudis at the medical center."
If any further particulars are required
to convict him, we need only say that he has been attractiing
the toadying attentions of Bono. The message is clear: Free Trent!
So desperate is he to make amends he will probably sponsor a
giant statue of Malcolm X on the mall.
Andrew Cockburn
is the co-author of Out
of the Ashes: the Resurrection of Saddam Hussein. He can
be reached at andrew.cockburn@counterpunch.org
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2002
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