Lott's All Folks

Raise your hand and doff your hood if you're sad about this:

Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, plans to resign his seat by the end of the year, congressional and Bush administration officials said Monday. Lott, 66, scheduled two news conferences in Pascagoula and Jackson later in the day to reveal his plans. According to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement, Lott intends to resign effective at the end of the year.

Glenn Reynolds gloats: A victory for the Porkbusters (whose site seems to be hibernating)! But they couldn't have predicted this. In 2006, John J. Pitney reviewed Lott's autobio Herding Cats, which had been notoriously delayed (and possibly lightly edited) after Lott decided against naming names and quitting politics and decided instead to run for a fourth term. If you need a refresher on how Lott fell from grace in the first place, back in 2002 Jesse Walker shamed Lott for his "Strom Thurmond shoulda been president" gaffe.

And before anyone starts beaming about the exit of a big government conservative, keep in mind: The Democratic frontrunner for Lott's open seat is Mike Moore, the ex-state attorney general and godfather of the class action lawsuits against Big Tobacco.