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Thursday
18Aug

“He Had Suckled at My…Uh, This Is Off the Record.”

DateThursday, August 18, 2005 at 08:54AM

TrentLott.jpgQuote: "Frist's actions amounted to a 'personal betrayal.' I had taken him under my wing." Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, complaining about his successor in a newly published memoir.

Figure of Speech: mempsis (MEMP sis), the figure of reproach

After 36 years on Capitol Hill, now Trent Lott discovers that politics can be nasty. After he made a few racist remarks at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party, Bill Frist snatched the majority-leader gig right out from under him. Lott's lament qualifies as a mempsis, a figure that figures most famously in the Book of Job.

Will kvetching sell books? It worked for Job.

Snappy Answer: "That'll teach you to trust a politician."

Got a snappier answer? Email Figaro.

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