lib•er•tar•ian

n. 1. a person who believes in the doctrine of the freedom of the will
2. a person who believes in full individual freedom of thought, expression and action
3. a freewheeling rebel who hates wiretaps, loves Ron Paul and is redirecting politics

Some thoughtful reading in between your Cyber Monday work blahs and online shopping:

How to make sense of the Ron Paul revolution? What's behind the improbably successful (so far) presidential campaign of a 72-year-old 10-term Republican congressman from Texas who pines for the gold standard while drawing praise from another relic from the hyperinflationary 1970s, punk-rocker Johnny Rotten?

Establishment conservatives have played the Nazi card on Paul. So if they despise him, I suppose he can't be all bad. Though he is pretty nutty:

A former Libertarian Party presidential candidate, he has at various times called for abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, the CIA and several Cabinet-level agencies. A staunch opponent of abortion, he nonetheless believes that federal bans violate the more basic principle of delegating powers to the states. A proponent of a border wall with Mexico (nativist CNN host Lou Dobbs fawned over Paul earlier this year), he is the only GOP candidate to come out against any form of national I.D. card.

A pro-war Democrat actually challenged Paul in his 2006 Congressional re-election bid; that's how weird Texas gets sometimes. Anyway, the neoconservatives hate him ...

Republican pollster Frank Luntz has denounced Paul's supporters as "the equivalent of crabgrass . . . not the grass you want, and it spreads faster than the real stuff." And conservative syndicated columnist Mona Charen said out loud what many campaign reporters have no doubt been thinking all along: "He might make a dandy new leader for the Branch Davidians."

When conservatives feel comfortable mocking the victims gunned down by Clinton-era attorney general Janet Reno's FBI in Waco, TX in 1993, it suggests that a complacent and increasingly authoritarian establishment feels threatened.

There's even been speculation that he will join forces with Dennis Kucinich on an independent label. Fantasy for some and nothing more, IMHO.

Ron Paul is going to be a source of nearly constant amusement to me, I believe.

Trent Lott cuts and runs

Mississippi's other senator was widely rumored to be the one stepping down, but the former Senate majority leader beat Thad Cochran out the door:

No reason for Lott's resignation was given, but according to a congressional official, there is nothing amiss with Lott's health. The senator has "other opportunities" he plans to pursue, the official said, without elaborating. Lott was re-elected to a fourth Senate term in 2006.

Lott's colleagues elected him as the Senate's Republican whip last year, a redemption for the Mississippian after his ouster five years ago as the party's Senate leader over remarks he made at retiring Sen. Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party in 2002. Lott had saluted the South Carolina senator with comments later interpreted as support for southern segregationist policies.

Lott also publicly broke with Bush after that incident, saying in his book Herding Cats that the president's rebuke was "devastating... booming and nasty."

So now what happens?

Mississippi's Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican, will appoint Lott's replacement, who will serve until the 2008 elections, when voters will elect someone to serve out the balance of Lott's term, which runs through 2012. Rep. Chip Pickering of Mississippi, a former Lott aide who recently announced his retirement from the House, is widely seen as a potential successor. Pickering could not immediately be reached for comment.

Daily Kos has speculated about Democratic possibilities, including AG Mike Moore, whose name was mentioned before Cochran declared his intentions to run for re-election. An open seat makes this another chance for Senate Democratics seeking the 60-seat majority that overcomes presidential and Republican obstruction.

There's a small downside: MS would be a less expensive pickup opportunity than Texas, and some DSCC money that might come Rick Noriega's way could be redirected. But that's political fodder for another day. Today is to celebrate the departure of one more of a bad Lott of Republicans from the US Senate.

Update: DHinMI observes that it's all about the greed.