Trent Lott:

A]sked if people should leave Washington, D.C., during the month of August, Lott replied that “I think it would be good to leave town in August, and it would probably be good to stay out until September the 12th.”

(Hat tip, James Joyner and Spencer Ackerman.)

I’m sure somebody probably thinks I’m being petty or unhelpful for reminding readers that some other high-profile conservative blogger thought we should remember the strengths of Trent Lott when reacting to the news he was returning to the post of minority whip. But I feel there’s an illustrative lesson here.

[I preface that the following comments are not an endorsement of gambling.] During my days at Congessional Quarterly, whenever elderly Strom Thurmond went into the hospital, some other reporter would always say, ”Doesn’t look good for Strom! I bet he doesn’t come out.” I took that bet every time, and won a lot. My sense was, that while Thurmond would die someday, he would survive a lot of false alarms before that day. And he did.

So there are certain bets I’m always up for. For example, when the question is, “Did Bill Clinton sleep with that woman?” I say always bet on “he slept with her.” Even if you lose any particular bet, you’ll win over the long haul. It’s like betting on dry weather in the desert.

And when the question is, “Will Trent Lott say something stupid?”, always – always – bet on him saying something stupid. If it’s not attacking talk radio, it’s comparing illegal aliens to goats on his farm. If it’s not saying electing Thurmond would have taken care of “problems”, it’s urging the evacuation of Washington, D.C. for the five weeks or so.