Whatever.
Dean agrees with the vote. Maybe it’s not all that bad after all, but I still don’t like it.
“Betrayed the two party system”? Please tell me you’re joking.
When put that way it sounds commendable!
I agree with those who say the senate democrats are cowards, and I agree with those who say they have done the right thing. They’ve pretty much done what the president-elect has told them to do, and thankfully they don’t have the backbone to disobey him.
Obama seems to be two steps ahead of everyone else in almost everything he does, and I think that applies here as well. Although a retributive bitch-slap might be more self-satisfying to the siblings who stayed faithfully in the palace, several things happened today that would not have happened otherwise: (1) Lieberman praised Obama as a unifying force for change; (2) he praised the senate democratic leadership; (3) he culpably admitted to engaging in wrongheaded snipes during the campaign; and (4) he announced that he will caucus with the Democrats.
Those are items of defeat for the Republicans, who would have liked nothing better than to steal him away.
Despite how annoying one might find one’s own nose to be, leaving it on one’s own face is usually a good idea. There are real battles to fight ahead — monsters that are economic and military in nature. Obama is tooling up to wage these battles. And wisely so.
As much as I’d like to disagree with you, Liberal, I simply can’t.
As much as I would have liked to seen Lieberman’s eapulettes ripped off and him frog-marched out of his chairmanship, I think that this was most likely the much more prudent move on the part of the Senate Democrats. It avoids pissing Lieberman off, and keeps his vote in house.
Lieberman is a pretty reliable vote on most Democratic issues, and though the Democrats are coming in with a substantial majority, there are a lot of Senators who go their own way on particular votes. He has the chance to be a critical vote on close issues and cloture motions, particularly as the remaining Republicans are more ideologically right-wing, and thus likely to stick together, than the outgoing class. Perhaps more important, he has the ability to stick a knife in the back of particular Senators who pissed him off if they ever get into a situation where they need his vote.
Although Lieberman was out on the campaign trail with McCain and stumped for some Republicans, the fact of the matter is that he was pretty darn ineffectual. His Faustian bargain was that he would stick three yards behind McCain for the entire primary season, and then McCain would maybe, possibly consider him for another shot at the VP slot. Of course, in the end, despite his dogged effort at McCain’s heel, McCain chose to fly in Caribou Barbie from the frozen north and ignore the little campaigner who couldn’t. Isn’t that punishment enough?
More to the point, a pissed off Lieberman, particularly if he were to bolt the caucus, would be uncontrollable and dangerous. Now, he owes the Democrats something, and they still have his chairmanship to hold over his head. As a political force, he’s pretty much marginalized anyway, so as a pragmatic matter, it made sense to keep his vote in place.
Indeed, this seems to be the sort of pragmatic decision-making that the Obama administration seems to be shaping up to use. Whereas the Bush philosophy was you’re with us or agin’ us, Obama seems to want to draw what support he can from those who don’t go along with his plans entirely. I think that Obama will be a great disappointment to those who expected him to ride in on a white horse and slay everone who had a hand in the Republican excesses of the past eight years. Rather, he won’t focus on punishment for those who arguably went beyond where they should in the past, but instead concentrate on making things work in the future.
Great post, do you have a link to the story? I would like to read the details.
I still think he was bluffing. The Republicans had nothing to offer him anyway. Really though, let’s be clear here. This is not the first time Harry Reid has let us down with his lack of “leadership.” He’s been pathetic for the last two years. I can’t blame Lieberman at all. He knew he wouldn’t be punished, so why blame him? It’s wrong what he did, but he also knew he wouldn’t face the consequences.
Secondly, he campaigned for Senate Republicans. Nevermind the Presidential race. He actively tried to help the other party in the chamber in which he is elected to. Does that mean nothing now?
Not at hand, sorry. I saw it myself during the news conference on MSNBC. And I was amazed at how smart our new president really is. What a wonderful thing it is to be able to look up to a living breathing leader who has moral courage, intellectual brilliance, and a steady temperament. We don’t know how lucky we are.
You’re right about Harry Reid. But a get-even consequence would not have served the administration. Sure, Lieberman would be out of the caucus and off his committee chairs. But so what. It would have left Obama and the democrats looking petty at a time when most people couldn’t care less about the in-fighting pissing contests that congress perpetually engages in. The democrats would have proved they can piss the farthest, but all they’d leave the American people with is a big puddle of urine. And the Republicans would finally have something they could seize upon to show that Obama and his cohorts are small-minded after all. But now they can say nothing. “Those sons o’ bitches were magnanimous and forgiving, the bastards.” I don’t think it would go over well.
Trust your leader. You finally have one worthy of it.
Possibly for the first time in our recent history, we have a Christian President who actually follows the tenets of his faith.
**Colossians 3:13 ** Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
I may not be a Christian, but it’s a breath of fresh air to have one in charge who doesn’t just spout off about what G-d says, but actually does his best to live up to those commandments. George W. Bush basically pissed all over the bible, much like he did the Constitution.
Agreed that Reid is a crap leader. I would love to see Hilldog replace him if she doesn’t take the SOS gig.
I would hate to see her as SoS but I think she would make for an interesting Senate Majority Leader. What does it take to remove Reid as the Senate Majority Leader? I realized I don’t know how this works.
Another excellent point. Although it benefits the one who is forgiven, the real power of forgiveness is what it does for the one who forgives.
I’m all for forgiveness, but forgiveness doesn’t mean naivete, nor does it mean even knowingly leaving your guard down. Forgiveness =/= trust. It’s possible to forgive a murderer, but setting him free doesn’t have to be part of the deal. It’s possible to forgive someone who repeatedly shafts you; leaving him in a position that gives him specific powers to shaft you again doesn’t have to be part of the bargain.
I have no interest in having to trust Lieberman.
My Scripture for the day would be Matthew 10:16: “I send you out as sheep among wolves: be wary as serpents, innocent as doves.”
Perhaps Liberman could be thought of as a prodigal son?
RT, I’m all for keeping up one’s guard, but it’s important to know what one should guard against. There’s the scene in Overboard, where Ms. Staten falls off the ship, and the first thing she screams is, “Oh, my hair!”. I think fixing our guard on Lieberman while a depression looms is myopic to the extreme.