Roll Call broke the story Monday morning about a supposed deal being etched out by Trent Lott, the Republican former Senate Majority Leader, and Democratic Senator Ben Nelson on the judicial filibuster issue.

Via National Review's The Corner:

A bipartisan coalition of Senators believe it is close to a deal that would avert the looming showdown between Republicans and Democrats over judicial filibusters.

The potential deal, spearheaded by Sens. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), would involve at least a half-dozen Senators from each party signing a letter or memorandum of understanding that signals how they would proceed to vote on all matters related to judicial nominations.

The six Senate Republicans would commit to opposing the so-called nuclear option to end judicial filibusters, which would leave GOP leaders short of the 50 votes they need to execute the parliamentary move to abolish the procedure.

In exchange, the six Senate Democrats would pledge to allow votes on four of the seven circuit court nominees who were already filibustered in the 108th Congress and have been renominated.

In a press statement, Lott acknowledges he has been working on a deal, but he hasn't agreed to this one. Regardless, it is the perfect example of why Trent Lott should never be trusted with any kind of Senate leadership position ever again. Make no mistake; Lott is trying to undermine his Republican colleagues in the Senate, not help. Going behind the back of Senator Frist and the the conservative majority - who have already stated they have the 50 votes needed to kill judicial filibusters - in order to give himself some face time and enact a bit of revenge for his screwup at Strom Thurmond's birthday party.

He hasn't forgiven President Bush for leaving him out to dry in that incident, and there's no doubt that he wants his old job back.  For Trent Lott, it was always about power and prestige.  Whatever he had to say to get into someone's good graces, he'll say it.  Lott has multiple faces; much more than two.

That's why he was able to go onto BET and sing the praises of affirmative action and "regretting" making MLK's birthday a holiday, right after praising Strom Thurmond's presidential run.  Words don't matter; elections do.

Brokering compromises that emasculates the Republicans in the Senate is a Trent Lott trademark.  It's probably what he's truly known for while being Senate Majority Leader.  Conservatives have criticized Bill Frist, and for the most part it is legitimate, but we can all thank the stars that the Senate Leader isn't Trent Lott.  If Lott continued serving as Majority Leader, there wouldn't be a filibuster controversy, because the Republicans would have lost it long ago.

After all, it was Lott's genius idea to split the senate leadership in half after Election 2000.  After 9/ll, Lott caved in to federalized airport security, something that is still causing headaches and problems to this day.  And one of the biggest reasons why Daschle was successful in obstructing the Republican agenda, like military voting bills, for example, was due to Lott's appeasing nature with the Democrats.

If Lott continues to engage in this sort of behavior, RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman should cut any funding for his reelection campaign, which is next year.  You would think Lott's embarrassing debacle a could of years ago would cause him to stay quiet.  But he is a liability to the party, and I don't see how he could be a positive to the Republican Party in any way, shape, or form in the future.

Previous Posts:

1. Democrats looking to compromise on nuclear option