Is Lieberman Sincere?

I agree! I was arguing with my dad about this last night. I don’t think LIEberman should be kicked out of the caucus – I think Obama is on to something as well. As far as chairmanships… I believe that they ought to be held by Democrats or there is no point in having a majority. One day if the independents get a majority – they can get the chairmanships. Just my two cents.

Nobody is trying to kick him out of the caucus. The only issue I’m aware of is deciding if he should remain as Chairman of a powerful committee which he runs in line with hawkish principals.Yes, Lieberman frequently demonstrates liberal tendancies. Give him a chairmanship of a committee where those principals can be exercised. He needs to get the hell out of Homeland security, though.If he wants to throw another tantrum over not having it all his way, fuck him.

Lieberman changed after 9/11. His record prior to that is one that most of us would be happy to have for a senator representing us in DC. (I’m looking at those of you who have Roberts, Stevens, and Inhofe, as well as others.)Joe’s record:http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Joseph_Lieberman.htmHowever, his actions towards his constituents and towards Connecticut Democrats during & after the 2006 primaries were arrogant and obnoxious. He spit in our collective face and told us that our votes didn’t mean squat to him – he knew best. HE broke with the party and became an independent and then bit every hand that had supported him in the past.After declaring himself an independent, does he therefore deserve the perks that go with being in the majority party in the Senate? No. And the people who that impacts the most – the people of CT who will be giving up the benefits of having our Senator being the head of a powerful committee – support his removal from his chairmanships. Our actions have consequences and so should Joe’s. Thus far, he has not even acknowledged that he’s done anything wrong, simply made demands as though he were the injured party.Forgive? Yes, certainly. Forget? Nope. He’s shown us who he has become and he’s not going to revert to his former self.

But am I crazy for thinking the Democratic Party should be bigger and better than the Republicans?I’m thinking stronger and smarter than the Republicans Lee. Let’s not revert to the “old softies”. Obama has made a smart recommendation regarding Lieberman. Let’s reserve our better nature for someone deserving of it. Like the tax payer for instance.

I meant T-A-X-P-A-Y-E-R!

I completely agree with ceu and wrote something similar on my blog.

What’s the point of keeping Lieberman’s vote if he doesn’t vote with you? It’s not like he’s shown any loyalty to the party, first running as an Independent after losing his Connecticut primary to Ned Lamont and then endorsing McCain and not being too kind to Obama in the process.

Lieberman was hedging his bets by running with McCain every chance he got, going so far as to say Obama voted against troop funding and therefore was against the troops. When you gamble there should be consequences. For Lieberman to get away with spitting in the face of the Democratic Party time after time with no repercussions is not a good thing for the party. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t have to march in lockstep like the Republicans do, but Lieberman’s actions are beyond the pale.

What really pisses me off is that Lieberman is the one who’s finding all this “unacceptable.” Shut the fuck up, Joe, you made your bed. Unfortunately, Obama has made a suggestion, recommendation, whatever you want to call it, and that should weigh heavily in the Senators’ decision on what to do with Lieberman in deference to Obama. I don’t like it but should they consider keeping Lieberman on, they should make it clear he’s on the tightest of leashes and if he keeps tacking to the right with the fear mongering and acting as if Israel is more important than the country he was elected to represent, he’s done.

sean hannity is already working overtime to turn Lieberman into a great american who stands up for what he believes in regardless of the political consequences and blah blah….there are plenty of ways to punish droopy w/out turning him into some sort of bi partisan martyr.

The best punishment is to marginalize him. That’s my point. If you kick his ass out (which he deserves) then he becomes the martyr to the Republicans and as a result, more powerful. The ball is in his court. His ball is deflated so lets see if he can play with it shall we?

Lee,I think what a lot of progressives are feeling for Lieberman is justified. After Obama helped him pull out a win as an Independent and how Joe stabbed him in the back for it seems particularly ugly to most conscionable folks, let’s face it, he and McCain are tight. So what seems a betrayal to Obama may not have been so much that. His support for John McCain, no matter how crazy his platform, his support for his long-time friend, seems honorable.It’s unfortunate Lieberman chose to speak at the RNC. His word choices even more unfortunate. But in his tenure in the Senate, he has voted for mostly progressive legislation.My knee-jerk reaction was “throw the bum out!” because I see the betrayal of the Democratic party as unconscionable. Also, I just plain don’t like him. But I think the country has had enough of the Bush “knee-jerk, vindictive bullshit” that maybe we shouldn’t “punish” Lieberman. Maybe we should show the country that we can forgive and yet never forget. Reid should try to get Joe back in the progressive page. After all, we do still need him for education, environmental and healthcare reform.If nothing else, Joe seems to sway with the political winds and right now those winds are blowing to the left. So long as he votes democratic, political expediency or not, I say let him do it.But I’d still like to tell him to eat a bucket of shit for the Obama bashing…

Ol’ Joe needs some ol’ school schoolin’.Deny Lieberman seniority on committees of his preference. If he bolts the Democratic Party and becomes a Republican, his political career is over. The GOP candidate in Conneticut will crush him in his next primary. I say call his ff-ing bluff.

As I said – I don’t like Lieberman. But I do like Obama’s decision. Not vindictive is the right path.

If not for loserman’s (remember that’s what they called him in 2001) personal attacks on Obama during the campaign, I could see making nice. He, however, crossed the line and proved he has no loyalty to anything but himself. Perhaps I should have said reproved as he showed his true colors after losing the democratic primary and then running as an independent (very shrewd of the CT republicans to vote for him in order to ensure the democrat’s defeat).

Besides, Obama saying he wants to keep him in the caucus doesn’t mean he must be kept at all costs and on loserman’s terms. Perhaps he is simply being polite? It’s a very good position for the Pres-elect to take really.

So, invite him to stay in the caucus and let him make the decision to not. Then ensure his sad ass doesn’t get reelected.

He’s not getting reelected no matter which party he chooses to caucus with. His approval rating in CT (last I heard) was in the low 30′s.

Lieberman didn’t just endorse “his good friend John McCain” over Obama—Lieberman campaigned AGGRESSIVELY every day against the Democratic nominee. He actively questioned Obama’s patriotism, and passively called him a Marxist. He went far beyond supporting his friend when he worked to elect Republicans over Democrats down-ticket. If nothing else, there are far too many stills and videos of John McCain at a podium with Joe Lieberman and his fucking 340 Brachiosaurus teeth peeking through his sunken smile as McCain poured barrels of bullshit onstage.Lieberman didn’t just bet on the wrong horse—he doubled down. He knew that he was pissing away his position in the party and decided to let it all ride for a spot on the ticket with McCain or a fall-back job in his cabinet.He lost. And elections and bad gambles have consequences.If it were up to me, Lieberman would be out on his ass. At the very least, lose his Chairmanship and committee posts, his seniority and he could earn his way back if he behaved. Otherwise he’s free to take Mitch McConnell’s gracious invitation to join the freshly castrated GOP at the back of the line.But it’s not up to me, and frankly, Obama needs to steer clear of it and I’m sure he knows that. But Harry Reid cannot let Lieberman’s betrayal of the party go unanswered. You can’t go as far down the road in the other direction as Lieberman did and expect to come back to things the way they were.

What it boils down to for me is this—Lieberman failed at his oversight duties as Chair—he essentially covered up for Bush/Cheney the last two years on everything from KAtrina to the War. That’s reason enough to pull him off the Committee.But there is also no reason to trust him going forward that he wont use that same oversight position as a hedge against the party in the future—don’t mess with Joe or I’ll make life hell for the White House…He deserves to lose the Chair for the reasons stated above even more than for his campaigning against Obama. That’s how it should be played—not as political payback. And it has to happen NOW, because waiting til he starts trouble for the White House will look much worse.