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Remember Holy Joe's campaign promise, “I’ve given my word I will caucus with Democrats?" Well, don't say we didn't warn you. Via Politico:
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut told the Politico on Thursday that he has no immediate plans to switch parties but suggested that Democratic opposition to funding the war in Iraq might change his mind.
Lieberman, a self-styled independent who caucuses with the Democrats, has been among the strongest supporters of the war and President Bush’s plan to send an additional 21,500 combat troops into Iraq to help quell the violence there.
"I have no desire to change parties," Lieberman said in a telephone interview. "If that ever happens, it is because I feel the majority of Democrats have gone in a direction that I don't feel comfortable with."
And then there's this bit of charming party chain-yanking delivered via Time Magazine:
...last month, after Lieberman told Reid he had stopped attending the weekly Democratic lunch because he didn't feel comfortable discussing Iraq there, Reid offered to hold those discussions at another time. Lieberman has started attending again.
Aw, poor Joe. He didn't feel comfortable? How sad. Let's all thank Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Rahm Emmanuel and Bill Clinton for putting us all in this position, weakening the party, hurting the ability of Democrats and Republicans alike to get us out of the Iraq quagmire by giving Bush "bipartisan" cover (*cough*) for his McCain/Lieberman surge, and basically making the activist base of the party (and Democratic voters in Connecticut) feel like they mean nothing when measured against their own political ambitions. Nice going. Really.
Then there is the fact that as chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, Lieberman (unlike his House counterpart Henry Waxman) has no intention of looking into war profiteering, one of the key issues voters claimed they wanted their representatives to investigate.
If there is a good reason for this state of affairs, I confess it escapes me.
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( Insert salutations here)
Madness! Madness! Madness!
Bah! Lieberman again.
The SOB sure is an attention whore.
How low can Joe go? Snakes got nothin’ on him.
His money quote:
He sounds like a wife beater rationalizing his wife beating. “I hope you won’t push me to the point where I have to beat you. That would hurt me so much.”
Ruh roh!
I am over the top sick and tired of Lieberman. Let him switch.
Thanks Jane.
This post is a high hard one just outside the plate for punaise’ now famous lament.
The Connecticut senate election was Karl Rove’s last piece of successful skullduggery (there’s a better phrase but I’m trying to be polite). That Reid, Emanuel, Schumer and Clinton went right along with it is still incomprehensible to me, since there was never any risk that Schlesinger would win the seat. If they’d only paid attention during the primary and its immediate aftermath they’d have realized that Joe had completely flipped and gone over to the dark side.
Why should Lieberman bolt and lose his seniority and committee slots? Especially since it’s looking more and more like the Democrats will, if anything, consolidate their hold on the Senate come 2008.
He’s just chain-yanking. Ignore him.
Bustednuckles @ 9
ahem. *clears throat*: “my contempt for Joe Lieberman will never subside. trust me on this.”
I’ll say it for punaise:
my contempt for joe liebertwit knows no bounds
Still way damn too slow.
:(
(but back in the lake for a spell)
Phoenix Woman @ 11
Have to agree. “Independent Republicrat” blowhard narcissist.
HoJo nurtures plenty of contempt to share. jump in, y’all!
Hey Joe, how comfortable are all the people who have died, and are injured becuase of your just cause.
Jane v. Lieberman.
My money’s on JH.
You know there had to be a reason why so much heavy duty Republican money coursed into [or is that COARSE] his campaign. Mel Sembler, I’m talking about you.
And the fact that the SAME DAMN PEOPLE are financing Libby’s defense? Sheer coincidence I’m sure.
Hello traditional media, are you interested in this story? A Senator under the influence of a man associated with abusing teenagers???
[…crickets…]
(From an earlier thread, but pertinent to this one:)
From E&P, http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp.....1003548744 :
Crikey. Lieberman would be a frickin’ idiot to jump to the Republic side of the aisle at this point, and I wish someone would call him on it — something like:
“Hey, Joe, go ahead, jump. And when the Democrats increase their margin in the Senate by 5-10 seats in the next election, we’ll just smile while you wander in woods, hangdog Diggity Dog, who can’t get anyone’s attention anymore. Or any legislation passed or considered.”
Fuckwit.
That said, I wonder how much it would hurt if Joe really did switch sides. I don’t think it would much matter.
It would split power in the Senate, yes. Dems and Republicers would have to either have equal representation in the committees, or split the committees they control, or some combination thereof. Which would make some things more difficult.
But they’re already difficult, as shown by the Republic Party’s succesful block of debate on Iraq. Joe’s obviously not helping there, and he doesn’t really help on any of the other issues to concern of Democrats. And where he is useful, he’s not that likely to switch positions just because he switched party.
Frankly, he might be of more use to us as moderate Republicer than a neocon Dem: it would force the Pugs to move centerward a little bit, on some issues, if they want to retain his seat — and let’s face it, the Republicers are not going to be in any position to risk seats for at least the next two elections.
I say we should let him go, and punish him after the next elections. ‘Cause he really ain’t helping us now anyway.
Addendum: Notta Flatlander noted in an earlier thread that, in fact, the committee seatings and power balance wouldn’t change even if Lieberman switched, because the organizing resolutions have already passed, and would require a 60 vote majority to overturn at this point. Which only makes my point stronger.
Wonder how the Connecticut voters are feeling about now?
So Jane: Tell us how your day went. Did you just sit at the courthouse or what?
david sirota says “Why Dems Should Hope Lieberman Joins the GOP“
And these are the type of people we need to eventually clear from the Dem party. Hillary is also one of them, and she will never receive my vote.
Millineryman @ 17
How MORAL, ya know, because he’s big on morality. Video games with violence.
YO LIEBERMAN how about WAR with REAL VIOLENCE.
Excuse my shouting I just get upset when our young troops are killed and crippled because you helped this administration perpetuate their lies. Kids with missing arms and legs and eyes and ears and brains and hope.
THANKS JOE.
Morality…?
Not to mention 600,000 Iraqi dead.
Ooops, I guess we’re not supposed to mention them.
Estimate by Johns Hopkins, my alma mater for grad school, you know, they are so sloppy with statistics.
Jane @ top:
I kind of hate to see Bill and Hill dragged into this one, but have to admit that they put themselves there.
you know the people of Connecticut got what they thought they paid for. turns out, their measly offer was out bid by another. don’t they have egg on their faces now for looking at that chicken wrong!
Liar, traitor, opportunist, warmonger, scrofulous reliquary of the DINOS and *moh-ron.
(*thanks, Christy for this spelling.)
Late in the last thread Everhopeful mused that if Joe switched parties, he’d also go into obscurity.
Hmmm…does that mean he and his bottom teeth would lose their standing invitation to scold, lecture, and whine ad nauseum over the airwaves? Might be worth it.
Like many people here, I spent primary day in Connecticut, volunteering for Ned, then watched Joe’s unconcession speech from the Lamont victory party. He is a sad, confused, and angry man whose inability to deal with these feelings has prolonged one of the biggest and deadliest disasters in our history.
Tip: if you want to be a leader, deal with your emotional shit so the country doesn’t have to.
I wonder what our new freshamn class in Congress thinks of good old Honest Joe?
Sweet baby jesus. Connecticut elected themselves a republican.
Sorry to jump the gun, last thread.
I hate unfairness. Why didnt the Dems realize Joe would do this. What is really the truth up there in the Senate?
Actually Joe did FDLers a favor.
Still wondering what to do while the jury is out?
Frankly I think HoJoe is too hell bent on crippling the Democratic party —and the American public as well(re: war profiteering)– to want to switch. Look where his whining has got him before. Wah, wah, he doesn’t feel comfortable discussing Iraq in front of his collegues.
DEPU’d, too good to leave double EPU’d. One of our own helped untangle the Nixon tapes.
S.O.S. in MA @ 164
I’ll never forget the original one. I and my group of my engineers had previously invented “forensic acoustics” and had successfully used it to analyze tape-recorded evidence. I remember almost driving off the road when I heard of Butterfield’s revelation. We began hoping that we’d get a crack at those tapes. We did; loooong story.
For me, the display of the clipped-out, printed original WaPo editorial (with scrawled markup in a hand that’s acknowleged to be Shooter’s) was that moment in TraitorGate.
He’s goin’ down! And his little sockpuppet, too! :)
egr bold
Mass Southpaw @ 30
Joe doesn’t want to be a leader. He just wants power. Yes, they are often overlapping ambitions, but I think Joe is one of the exceptions.
Lieberman is not *comfortable* attending the lunch if he has to endure discussions about Iraq. That just takes the cake.
I am always amazed at Lieberman’s petulance and the fact that he publicly talks about his oh so harrowing experiences. What’s even more surprising is the way people seem to walk on eggshells around him. One day, he’s really going to get a shock when people start leveling with him. He’s a despicable man. He’s got nothing left but his threats. I wish Harry would call his bluff instead of accomodating, and kissing and making up. I also wish I had confidence that Harry really knows what he’s doing.
The picture up top looks like a group mugshot. (They’re all so grim.) All it needs is signs with names and serial numbers underneath.
Not voting for Hillary. If I lived in CT, my contempt would probably have prompted me to send Joe a picture of a sword, as in ‘take the hint, please’.
Leadership now would be for Senator Reid to invite Joe to go ahead and leave.
It’s like a bad relationship. Let’s end it and move on.
feeling…….queasy……RETCH!
Sorry, but I just stumbled into this thread - entirely about a pasty faced egomaniacal sociopath from CT and I just can’t help it. Makes my innards churn.
ccmask @ 32
O.K. please stop. Some of us CT Lamont supporters talked to voters till we were blue in the face.
GO, JOE, GO!
Now that the Senate is organized we don’t need the sanctimonious twit.
I say, get thee gone traitor, the sooner the better…
Once he lost the primary common decency suggests that he should have bowed out and backed LaMont, that he didn’t proves him a craven opportunist and a turncoat to the Democratic party that nurtured him all these years.
Um, he can’t switch from the Democratic party to the Republican party, because HE’S NOT PART OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. We booted him out last year. If he ever feels that the majority of the Democrats have gone in a direction that he doesn’t feel comfortable with, he can take comfort in the fact that the feeling is mutual. That’s why we kicked him to the curb.
I think this is a pathetic attempt by WATB HoJoe to be a bright shiny thing to distract FDL’s attention from the Libby trial.
Too bad HoJoe doesn’t realize FDL can multi-task.
P J Evans @ 39
Hmm. Not shilling for Hillary here, I’d be happy with Hillary, Obama, Edwards, Clark, or Richardson as President.
Just noting that there are far worse things than Hillary in the White House. Like McCain, Giuliani, Romney, or Brownback. Or any Bush.
David Sirota has an interesting take on Joe. He doest think it would be so bad for the Dems not to be in control.
Interesting.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/2/22/17934/5549
Don’t forget Ken Salazar and his part in the Gang of 14 bullcrap.
Good riddance to bad senators.
Rusty Austin @ 43
Lieberman. Common decency. Same sentence.
*Head Explodes*
Compare and contrast:
Fitz - man of integrity and public service in pursuit of truth and justice
HoJo - slimy, petulant, sanctimonious worm in pursuit self-aggrandizement
Lieberpuke gets much more air time by threatening to switch than he would if he actually did, so he most likely he won’t switch.
But if he wants to, let him go and good riddance!
As long as we have the House we’ll be OK. Then in ‘08 we’ll get the Presidency and the Senate and Lieberpuke can slither away with his slimey Repug minority friends or maybe take a job with Halliburton.
snowbird42 @ 47
Right on David Sirota.
mui @ 42
Alas, it was only the Lamont supporters and voters that turned blue.
President HRC is NOT inevitable. No matter what this arrogant Senator would have us believe. The Clinton campaign is attempting to railroad the Democratic Party.
is it possible that simply because liebershit has “no Intentions”– that ends it?
If that is the case the weare all fucked folks! I am sure that someone else on the comittee can institute an investigation.
Hi Jane,
Keep up the good work on all these subjects. I wish you could debate him on TV, you would squash him like the bug he is.
It’s all a case of I owe you, you owe me…backroom deals, he knows if he bolts to the Repugs he won’t lose any stature, they will appoint him to key committees. As far as the Dems who made this happen, what can I say but Aaaargh!
They are just as beholden to the corporate masters and want to maintain the money flow and the status quo. I hate to say that because I enjoyed Clinton as Prez, until he did the horny 17 yr old boy thing and couldn’t keep it in his pants. I’m no prude, but geez! The eyes of the world are on ya and you can’t control yourself?
Here is the big issue with politics today..who actually represents their constituents? You know the people who voted you in to represent their views. We, the people, have no voice at all right now. I am activist enough to keep trying but not so naive to think I can make a difference.
Be careful out there Jane. Truthtellers disappear. I toyed with jouranalism for awhile, but I am the type who would have been killed for digging up and exposing too much dirt. (well back in the day when that was the media’s responsibility and I would have not been blocke d from doing so)
Notta Flatlander @ 53
We did a tremendous amount of work, and I don’t think the election was the final outcome of what we did. I think we planted seeds and awareness in people’s heads.It’s very easy to sit far away and make judgments.
I want Lieberman to switch. I’m tired of dealing with him.
Lieberman and the Hindenburg.
One was a gasbag that killed many people and crashed to the ground in flames. The other was an airship.
Here’s an idea. Maybe Harry Reid should take Joe aside and say:
Never happen, I know. But still, it’s what the nitwit deserves.
Notta Flatlander @ 59
ROFL!
When Hillary tells me if I don’t like her stand on Iraq to vote for someone else, it reminds of Bush and Lieberman.
Joe Lieberman has become the Anna Nicole Smith of politics. The media can’t stop with him, he’s embarrassing to watch, and he takes up space the way the wrong person does in your bed the next morning.
HoJo is a bug screaming to be squashed (or at least taken outside).
I blame the Clintons.
mui @ 57
Whoa dude or dudette! I wasn’t making judgments - I was sympathizing! Trying to anyway. I was sharing your frustration.
Lieberman is a power-hungry, unscrupulous man who somehow convinced the people of Connecticut to vote him back despite the clear evidence that he was no true Democrat.
I wish you could recall him via election. Instead we are stuck with him. Shame on Connecticut!!!
PS: I have a feeling that unless there is some real jackass holdout, the jury verdict will come back tomorrow. Juries usually don’t like to go into a weekend before they render a verdict. This trial has taken a long time and I am sure the jury is exhausted. Here’s hoping…
McCain Slams Bush Administration on Iraq and Global Warming, Criticizes Both Cheney and Rumsfeld
I gotta love this.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics.....SFeeds0312
I hope he switches to Repug- they deserve him!
I take back the whole “shame on Connecticut.” I can’t blame the whole state….there were so many that worked so hard for Lamont….What a shame he is not representin’ in the Senate
Why sould anyone coddle Joe the Jellyfish anymore? Encourage him to go ahead and make the switch of parties. Let him become a Republican so those that are trying to do what is right can move on and focus on real issues.
speaking from an undisclosed location in Tareyton, CT, Joe said he’d rather switch than fight.
I blame many of the rich and powerful for this; I’d start a list but my head would explode and then what?
There’s something(s) very rotten in this country…
thank goodness for FDL.
ABC News (h/t Oklahoma Kiddo @ 66):
Oy vey. This from Senator Surge.
He’s just trying to create a backtrack record for when the surge goes wrong.
I’m serious. I want this baby Lieberman, OUT!
I agree with Sirota.
The Democratic Party must not tolerate anymore the continued emotional blackmail from Joe Lieberman.
I say get it on and toss his flaccid ass to the curb and let Rove and Bush hold his hand.
-GSD
OMG. Where on earth did you dig up that picture? What an evil troika.
Showin yer age punaise?
And Hill has a serious attitude prob.
LSMFT?
A little action on the homefront reported by Maura.
GSD @ 74
Then throw them an anchor via more Fitz prosecution, investigations, Waxman oversight, chimpeachment and huge democratic voter turnout in November.
Notta Flatlander @ 76
those 60’s TV jingles left an indelible mark on my youthful psyche.
Looks like Holy Joe’s owned by the Bush family, just like Nader. Bush family roots are really deep there. Only recently have they been pretending to be Southerners.
Makes me suspicious of anyone from CT.
punaise,
I would rather fight than switch.
GSD @ 74
try new “Joeghurt!” with the
acidopholousflaccid off ole’ ass cultureLieberman is not a Democrat. The Democratic Party owes him nothing.
mui @ 79
thanks mui– great op-ed. kudos to the writers and signatories.
;(
I’m just gonna go bat-sh*t if the jury doesn’t come back with a verdict tomorrow - waiting waiting waiting through the weekend would be sooo crazy-making!
Plus, I’m thinking it could indicate some major disagreement(s) going on in that room - my constant fear is that a secret wingnut might have gotten through - OK - this kind of thinking is not constructive - chalk it up to paranoia…
Drive by …
Errrr, about the picture and Howie’s post yesterday.
Once again Jokeline looks on from his Ivory Tower and illuminates his ignorance and weighs in with a pathetic attempt at telling CA CD-10 voters that he thinks they are idiots like the rest of us “rabble”.
Interesting little poll where you can vote on senators. Not scientific of course, but still fun. Lieberliar ranks at the bottom.
angie @ 86
angie, long time no see.
Joe sucks and he’s a putz. Ned-heads in CT like myself and mui are a little sensitive to the entire state being blamed. Joe ran a nasty, fraudulent campaign.
But, really, let’s look at this clearly. The only reason he gets any air time at all is by threatening to switch. That’s pathetic.
It’s obvious that the tide has turned on Iraq with the preponderance of polls showing how unpopular it is. Joe picked the losing side. He has no influence in the senate - watch C-span with they vote and you’ll see that other senators don’t talk to him while he follows John McCain around like a puppy. Only Fox invites him to be interviewed - no one is interested anymore. The wheels on McCain’s campaign are coming off and the president Joe supports has a 30-35% approval rating. Our allies are leaving Iraq and it is imploding slowly.
It doesn’t matter what Joe does or how he votes. Harry Reid knows this but he’s smart enough to be underestimated. The house is forging ahead with resolutions, investigations, and tightening the purse strings. Joe just looks stupid spouting the same old bull.
I do not want Hillary or Obama. And I’ve been a Democrat a lot longer than either of these two.
And thanks to Sharkbabe who is such a good example of responding to evil with exuberant energy. And the occasional swear word.
A toast to ye, Sharkbabe!
let’s not forget barbara boxer’s rush to joementum’s side after ned lamont kicked his sorry ass.
General Wes Clark’s new web site:
StopIranWar.com
The sooner he flips, the better. Good riddance to bad trash.
I am more angry with certain members of my party (Demos) than I am with the Republicans.
notaboomer @ 94
We can go on and on with that one. Hillary’s letter to the DTCs talking about what a good guy HoJoe was on social security. Barack Obama chastising the booers as if they were children at the fundraising dinner. . .
SusanM is right. HoJoe ran a disgusting campaign as well. The phone messages, church fliers, alleged vote buying, and all the flat out lies.
Badwater @ 82
I’m from CT. It’s not CT in general, it’s the Yale Mafia. Seriously.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 97
O.K., is this satire? You’re sounding an awful lot like Joe.
DeWitt Grey @ 10
I agree 100% - I really am beyond frustration. I’d say the Democratic leadership is getting what they deserved - but we the people are getting nailed too.
Screw you Bill Clinton and all the other Lieberliar enablers.
mui @ 42
So sorry mui. I know how it feels being from Florida.
Meanwhile. . . .Shooter and Howard Should Get a Room!
David Ehrenstein @ 103
I have a room in mind.
It’s called a “cell” — at the Hague.
Suzanne @ 45
Hahahahaha we are full of people with ADD who are all over multitasking. BEWARE.
I can bring home the bacon
Fry it up in a pan
And never, ever let you forget you’re a man
‘Cause I’m a woman…
Woman…of FDL…
Yeah I’m saying.
Cause I’m a woman…
Woman of FDL.
Jane.
Christy.
Marcy.
Somebody’s got to write the new lyrics.
I was thinking more Building 18.
Alas Jane, it seems the CW with Senate Democrats is:
It seems they ain’t never gonna learn. He pisses on their shoes, and all they can say is how they still like the shine.
ccmask @ 102
It’s o.k. I guess I am a little sensitive on this issue. It seemed sometimes like we were already working very hard and then being told to work harder. But you know the deal, when Rethuglikan money comes pouring into your state it’s a tidal wave.
Oklahoma kiddo @
92
After finding out about this, I’m going to have a harder time getting behind Obama than I thought. I wasn’t exactly excited about him, but he was seeming better than the other options.
Lot of people asking me why we are going after Tauscher.
I said because she is not fairly representing her constituents.
Is there a better reason?
I do not see what I regard as ‘loyal opposition’ by many members of my party, to Republican ideology. It’s that simple. What I get from the Repubs I expect. I do not expect the same from the Democratic Party.
Here’s a Cheney quote from that disgusting article David linked to:
“Our purposes in this world are good and right.”
Saying it doesn’t make it so.
Just like a certain pResident saying “I am a Christian.”
People whose purposes are good and right don’t need to announce it. People who act in a Christ-like manner never announce it.
urban pirate @ 99
Bush roots, no. A Bushie got pummeled by Lowell Weicker.
Mrs. K8 @ 112
Well sometimes you have to, if asked on national Russian TV why you are working 5,000 miles from home for someone else’s children. I said because I am a Christian like your Pravoslav [Orthodox Xn]. And some amazing TV editor let that segment go on national television in 1999. Hope they weren’t fired or worse.
egregious @ 110
No.
JGabriel @ 46
This is true. Irritating though some democrats may be, at least they are not repiglicans. Remember Hubert Humphrey! Major downer after Bobby Kennedy, but he would have been infinitely preferable to Nixon.
HHH
It’s almost like the same guys that sit on the boards of major defense contractors also sit on the boards of the major media companies, PR firms and election machine manufacturers.
I’m gonna say something that is totally against what I feel, but I hope the jury doesn’t come back until Monday. I’m convinced there will be some guilty counts, maybe all of them. They should be at the top of the news cycle.
Larry Johnson has a new post up @ No Quarter:
“Rightwing Perjury Doublespeak”
http://noquarter.typepad.com/m.....l#comments