There Something Happening Here...

What is ain't exactly clear.

No Red Dog isn't invoking the Buffalo Springfield in an anti-war protest song, but I am using it to describe our two Senators. As Wolf Blitzer would say "Watch this."
From RiMo's Diary at DailyKos

Sen. Thad Cochran made a surprise announcement this morning in Biloxi, MS: He proposed a buyout of Federal drilling leases within 12 miles of MS barrier islands and a moratorium on drilling in Federal waters within that limit. He also announced that, if state officials make a request, he will work for a Federal buyout of state mineral rights near Gulf Islands National Seashore. This places Cochran out in front of the MS congressional delegation on an important conservation matter. Governor Barbour had refused to rule out drilling, choosing to call for a suspension of activities pending a coastal zone study. This announcement comes three days after 3000 people attended a rally in the Biloxi coliseum to preserve the barrier islands. Is what happens here a national issue?

Stories this spring in the LA Times and Manchester (UK) Guardian saw it this way, MS being a strong Red State, and an easier entry point that would be precedent to pry open other state waters where the environmental ethic is stronger. This is a remarkable turnaround, since Senator Cochran was responsible for inserting into a War and Tsunami Relief statute a provision opening up these barrier islands to drilling. Reports indicated that Sen. Cochran did this at the request of Governor Barbour, and neither seemed to be aware of the controversy that would follow. Although not widely known, these islands are gaining increasing national press. Horn Island was identified as one of America's ten best beaches in Men's Journal this summer and another publication identified the MS coast as among the best areas for recreational boating. This press follows in the heel of a new pulse of condominium and dockside casino development that may propel the MS coast into a new level of tourism. For this reason, the local community was unusually united, with Repubs and Dems side by side trying to hold onto a good tourism environment. It is a major step forward and it was a people power effort. Important lesson, work the grassroots.

And from CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 (Soledad O'Brien substituting for Anderson Cooper)

O'BRIEN: As we told you earlier tonight, Cindy Sheehan is returning to Crawford, Texas. She says she believes the president deceived her son by sending him to die in her words, in a senseless war. Our next guest on 360 disagrees. Senator Trent Lott voted for the war, says knowing what he knows now about Iraq, he still supports the president's decision. The Republican from Mississippi is the author of a new book. It's called "Herding Cats." He joins us this evening.It's nice to see you. I love the title of your book. Let's get right to it. How much do you think, back to Cindy Sheehan, how much do you think not meeting with Cindy Sheehan is causing problems with the president?

SEN. TRENT LOTT (R), MISSISSIPPI: It probably does cause some problems, because people, you know, they can't help but have their heart go out to this mother who lost her son. And people think, you know, she has a right to demonstrate, and wouldn't be easy for the president to meet with her. And early on, I said I probably find a way to meet with her, maybe with more mothers or others or a group of some kind. I didn't know at the time that he had met with already. And then I've heard some comments that she's made later that do disturb me, and, so, you know, you have to weigh each situation, look at all the details. But I think people would like to see some further responsiveness. And I don't mean that as critically of the president as it may sound. It's hard. It's tough. Because you can't meet with everybody that demonstrates or protests no matter how good their cause. But --

O'BRIEN: Kind of keeps the story going.

LOTT: Yes, it does. And I, also, I want to emphasize this, too. You said that, you know, I supported going to the war, I think it was the right thing.

O'BRIEN: You write about it a lot in the book.

LOTT: Right. We are there now, and whether you agree with that or not we've got to figure out how we complete this job. And I want to emphasize, I don't think you should, just because you say we still got a job to do, you shouldn't acknowledge that maybe we need to do it differently, or change some people, or change your tactics. Be realistic in facing where we are and how do we want to get to where we need to be a year from now. What is the, you know, the conditions -- what are the conditions you're looking for.

O'BRIEN: Well the president says we're going to stay. He said it again today and he said it many times. We are going to stay until the mission is completed. But as you can see from the poll numbers, and the latest ones say 43 percent, think the war is going well, 56 percent think it's going badly. At what point would your constituents say Senator Lott we want our boys and women home. Do you say, it's time to go.

LOTT: Well even my own constituency, a state that you know is a red state, they still for the most part like President Bush. And they supported our military -- always supported our military, and they supported going into Iraq. I had a lot of them say kind of what's the plan here? See, when you just say, we are going to stay until the mission is completed, I think you need to take a little bit more time and say, well, this is the mission. Now why don't we have more police trained, more soldiers ready? Why hasn't the economy been growing more? Why isn't unemployment still too high? What are we going to do to maybe put a different mix of troops in there, move a division to the northern part of Iraq?You need more information, but the president, I watched him, he's pretty perceptive. When he senses that things are not what they should be, or he's not getting as much across then he will initiate a lot of things that will expand that message, and, maybe even change how we are doing the job. And I think we need to assess that right now.

O'BRIEN: All right. Senator Trent Lott, it's nice to you. The book is called "Herding Cats." You covered the war in Iraq and many other things as well. It's an interesting read. Thanks.

LOTT: Thank you very much, Soledad.

WTF? Who put Kool Aid in my coffee? Is Thad becomming an (gasp!) Environmentalist? Is Trent second guessing Fearless Leader? My, oh, my, things are happening in the GOP! Could it be the Pres is being viewed as a liability.
Lameduckness is a terminal disease.