So Lieberman actively campaigned for McCain and against Obama. So he’s held virtually no hearings as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, claiming that Waxman is doing just fine by himself. So he’s said that McCain is better on national security than Obama is. So what? What matters is that he’s a Democrat (except he spoke at the Republican National Convention) and he’ll vote with you (except when he doesn’t). Good job being completely fucking spineless. You’re lucky it was a secret ballot, or everybody who voted for him to keep a gavel he doesn’t deserve would be primaried next time they’re up for re-election.
Cowards, completely fucking spineless cowards.
Agreed. There was no better time, nor reason, to give Joe the boot from that committee. He wasn’t doing his job, and he was a back-stabbing saboteur in the caucus. The only reason not to is lack of will and cojones.
ETA: When is Reid up for his Majority Leader position vote? And how can we give him a very pointed heave-ho?
That’s fucking IT.
I don’t give a fuck if Obama did win. The fucking honeymoon is officially over.
What pisses me off more than anything else in this matter is that there will be NO FUCKING EXCUSE by the Democrats for keeping him around. I can’t imagine why they’ll say they acted as they did.
Jesus H. Christ this has me fucking livid. I have lost all fucking confidence in Democrats. I have NONE. If the god damned Democrats can’t realize the right thing to do in this situation their fucking judgment is beyond repair. There were only 12 of them who voted for it.
And Harry Reid is the biggest goddamned pussy in the whole fucking Senate. That little piece of shit has done nothing that looked like leadership since he rose to power. Why oh why are Democrats such pussies? I can only hope that Obama will somehow strong arm them into getting what he wants.
I’m so pissed about this. It is a fucking gigantic slap in the face to all of us who’ve done anything at all for this fucking party. It’s a fucking SLAP IN THE FACE.
ETA:
Also, could you assholes have possibly waited before completely capitulating again? Shit I thought things might be different for once given the huge legislative victories we worked for, yet you start off the new congress by capitulating in one of the situations where it was less deserved or necessary.
Congratulations, I’m officially not a Democrat
Spineless turds. And Harry Reid calling him a Democrat is the whipped cream on the horseshit.
You may not like the reason (and I could see where you and some others “could not imagine” a reason). However, there actually was a reason:
If they chuck him out right now, he can begin to caucus with the Republicans, giving the Republicans control of the Senate for the next six weeks.
Now, it can be argued that this is a rump session where nothing will occur. It can be argued that since the House is still under Democratic control, hanging on to the Senate (when it is going to become solidly Democratic on January 3) is a foolish exercise.
However, the claim that there is no reason is without foundation.
Actually I’m sure this has been debunked numerous times, in that the Senate was organized by it’s rules that it would operate under in early 2007 (i.e. under Democratic control), and the Senate would abide by those rules till it was next re-organized - e.g early 2009.
So there was no excuse for keeping Jomentum, just weasle-ness and club-house rules…
Yes, let’s run a presidential candidate who’s all about Change and just sit and watch as the jackass who insists on affiliating himself with us campaigns against our Candidate of Change, and then when we have the opportunity to tell said jackass to get the fuck out we won’t and instead will politely smile for the cameras because our heads are so firmly wedged up our asses it’ll take a team of six proctologists, three chiropractors, several dozen levers and a team of coal miners to extract it!
This is why I’m not a registered Democrat.
Obama expressed a preference for keeping Lieberman in the caucus. And I can’t understand being this worked up about this issue.
I can’t get worked up about this. Despite all the attention it is getting from the Daily Kos’ of the world, this is so far down the priority list in my mind all I can do is register a “meh” (now officially a word).
I’m only registered so I can vote in the primaries, at least.
Can’t though, they wait until he’s up for reelection, and nominate someone else in his place?
It’s not that important really, but it’s a sign that Democrats are, indeed, still a bunch of pussies.
We’ll need Lieberman’s vote to break filibusters. This puts him in the Democrats’ debt. It’s not as bad as it looks. He’ll still have his chairmanship but he’ll be Obama’s bitch.
You’ll notice that Obama said he was interested in keeping him in the caucus, not keeping him as the head of his committee. There’s a big difference there. After he said that, Reid tried to muddy the waters saying he was getting mixed signals when the truth was clear, Reid could have easily stripped him of his gavel and call Lieberman’s bluff.
Why am I getting this worked up about the issue? Because Senate Dems have clearly fucked us over in the past in the name of the easy way out. Remember the Iraq war resolution? That’s why I’m angry. I felt that they betrayed me then, and to see them do it now, after all we’ve fought for and won this time, clearly shows me that there is no such thing as change.
True. It’s a long shot to get to 60, but without JL, it won’t happen.
I have to wonder if he made that condition of staying in the caucus.
As I recall, that is just what they did last time, and he, having lost the primaries, ran anyway as an independent and won the race. He betrayed the Democrats, and the two party system. I would not have had a problem with him just running as an independent all along, but losing a primary and running anyway doesn’t sit well with me.
Obama wants him to stay in the Democratic caucus, so I am not bothered by them Congress keeping him in the cacucus. I am pleased that they are following what Obama wants so far, and hope this is a sign that some of his legislative agenda will make it through. If there is anyone to take issue with it is Obama for wanting him to stay, and I have heard some reasoning behind that, and I am willing to wait to see how this plays out before passing judgement.
Why will he be Obama’s bitch?
Oh jeez, that’s what happened in 2006 and started this whole thing. Ned Lamont beat Lieberman in the primaries, but Lieberman ran as an independent and was re-elected.
What Obama said, in so many words, was ‘make it work, keep him in the caucus.’ I think it’s pretty obvious this was that only way that was going to happen. Punishing him would have been satisfying for everybody, but if the goal is getting shit done, they probably made the right choice.
This all makes perfect sense to me. Joe may be that magical 60th vote needed to defeat Republican filibusters. Obama has the good sense to realize this, and to eschew petty vengeance.
Politics makes strange bedfellows, y’know.
So you think that if he were relieved of his one chairmanship – in an area where he disagrees with Democrats – and given instead a lesser one in an area which he agrees with Democrats would force him to leave the caucus? And what exactly would he end up doing? The Republicans aren’t going to give him shit and he knows it. Face it, we had him bent over and we should have made an example of him. This was done in the sake of unity, but guess what, sometimes you have to use the stick instead of the carrot to promote unity.
Lieberman had no other options but to take what the Democrats dished out for him. He wasn’t going to join the Republicans because A) he doesn’t vote like one and B) they aren’t going to give him rank over real Republicans when he gets them to 42, or whatever. He had no options. Instead he got to keep everything he wanted.
Now look. As much as this shit INFURIATES me. I’ll be willing to let it slide if congress doesn’t FUCK IT UP in the next few years. But if that little piece of shit says one cross word I won’t be happy until his ass is kicked to the curb. He is a moralizing piece of shit who thinks he’s better than everyone despite always picking the losing side. Fuck him with a cattle prod.
ETA:
As for the magic 60. You think that Joe will give a shit about voting with Democrats now? He’s probably done the worst thing you can do and was still not punished. I doubt he would be afraid of refusing to join in a cloture vote now. The filibuster situation will be determined by each issue, not strict party lines.