I Love the Sidestep ...Pivot and Change, Cha, Cha, Cha

In a New York Times piece today regarding the Democrats dilemma on being the minority party and the tactics they may use to block Bush Judicial nominees, Senator Lott was quoted. The excerpt follows:

Senator Trent Lott, the conservative former Republican leader from Mississippi, said that Democrats would face their own backlash if they followed through on their threat to shut down much of the Senate if Republicans changed the rules on filibusters. "When they are blocking bills, it is going to be hard to say we are abusing power," Mr. Lott said.
Still, he added, "I think it is pretty smart for them to say, 'Well, look, we can do to them what Newt Gingrich did to Jim Wright and the House Democrats. And we can do to them on Social Security what they did to us on the health care issue.' " But he indicated that his side had also studied the lessons of 1994, when Mr. Clinton's health care legislation died a very public death in the run-up to the midterm elections and was a major factor in the Democrats' losses.
On Social Security, Mr. Lott said, "At some point, if it is not going to be doable, we are going to pivot and change the subject."
NY Times …04/11/2005

Pivot and change the subject? That speaks volumes for the Senator’s commitment to overhaul Social Security doesn’t it? Well, it seems that the Senator is using the Social Security issue as nothing more than a political issue to gain re-election. I certainly oppose the stand taken by Senator Lott in his two articles supporting the President’s plan for privatizing Social Security through private accounts, but now I’m not sure that he even has a stance. Just because it may not be doable makes it seem like a "flip-flop" issue to me and that his position may not be as strong as he would have us believe. Now, I’m not so naïve to believe that politicians aren’t opportunistic, but Senator, if you don’t believe in the rhetoric you are giving us through your articles, save us from having to guess. At what point do you believe that it is not going to be "doable?" It appears that the Social Security "crisis" is not really a crisis in the Senator’s mind, after all. At least we see a Republican exit strategy on something.