The American Spectator

HOUSE HUNTING : br> Re: The Washington Prowler’s Strong-Armed : /p> p>Sounds like Hastert and DeLay are angry at the prospect of having to work with Frist. The implication is that Lott worked well with the House. But did he? When the House Managers presented Lott with the evidence the Senate needed to try Clinton after the House impeached him, his reaction was, “You’re not going to dump this garbage on us.” When the Senate split appeared to be 50-50 and the Republicans had a de facto majority, with Cheney the tie breaker, Lott insisted on engineering a “sharing of power” with Tom Daschle. It’s difficult to believe Daschle would have been so magnanimous. Those elements of the GWB agenda that did well in the House did not seem to fare so well in the Senate, where Lott was responsible for seeing them through. Indeed, Lott, in addition to not being terribly smart, seemed to be a weak leader. I should think Hastert and DeLay would welcome his replacement by Frist, an attractive man with great humanitarian instincts. br> — John G. Hubbell br> Minneapolis, MN /p> p> There are two years, and that’s only if all goes well, to show the country what Republicans can do once they have control of House, Senate, and White House all at once. Perhaps a once-in-our-lifetimes opportunity nearly lost until Lott stepped down. If W. had to “interferingly” prod in order help to accomplish that, so be it: he was merely being smart and uncomplacent . He has helped keep Republicans from shooting themselves in the foot again. He has a real war to prosecute, and needs a cooperative Congress. He as much as anybody is aware of what can happen in particular to foreign policy achievements left to the mercies of a subsequent irresponsible Democrat president. He doubtless wants to get as much done in an irreversible way as possible. But, because of the turf issues raised by his apparent involvement in Lott’s stepping down, The American Prowler