Lieberman Stays

Joe Lieberman escaped with his political hide intact after today’s Senate Democratic Caucus meeting.  He stays in the caucus, and he keeps his chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, a prestigious committee assignment.

From the Washington Post piece (linked above)

“This was done in a spirit of reconciliation,” Lieberman told reporters after the meeting.

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said that “Joe Lieberman is a Democrat. He’s part of this caucus.”

The deal was negotiated by Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), as well as Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.). The Democratic caucus voted 42-13 to accept it.

And, of course, President-elect Obama said that he thought Lieberman should stay.

Lieberman said that he’s grateful:

LIEBERMAN: Senator Reid asked me to relinquish my seat on the Environment Committee. In the spirit of cooperation and in part to make room for freshmen senators, new senators who wanted to be on that committee, I said I would, in the spirit of cooperation, do that. […]

Incidentally, Senator Reid will be imposing a new rule in light — that is, we’ll be applying a rule that exists in the Senate but hasn’t been in light of the new members, the larger Democratic Caucus, which is that each member can only be the chairman of one full committee and the chairman of one subcommittee.

So in that regard I am very grateful to continue as chairman of Homeland Security and of the Airland Subcommittee of Armed Services, which overseas all Army and Air Force programs.

He should be grateful.  He should show a lot more gratitude toward Harry Reid and Barack Obama personally as well. 

He fully deserved being kicked out of the caucus.  He certainly deserved to lose his committee gavel.  You don’t campaign for your party’s presidential rival and say the things that Lieberman said and not expect some sanction.  As I said, he fully deserved being thrown out of the caucus.  (Maybe Senate Democrats are hoping that Connecticut voters will take care of the problem in four years — although voters’ memories are notoriously short.)  Instead he escapes with what amounts to twenty lashes with a wet noodle on his wrist.  He should thank the president-elect (and those deal-brokering senators) a thousand times over for being magnanimous.

It’s a shrewd move, politically, to allow Lieberman to stay in the caucus.  Obama campaigned on a platform of a new kind of politics — a post-partisan politics.  This was his first opportunity to show that this is really how he intends to govern, and he didn’t let the opportunity pass.  What better way to show that he means what he said?

All that said, I completely understand the ire of many Democrats.  I share it.  I would have liked to see some real consequences for Lieberman’s actions.  I don’t think that there’s anyone less deserving of saving (politically) than Joe Lieberman.  Obama is showing grace; the definition of which (in this context) is showing mercy to someone who doesn’t deserve it.  It’s not weakness; it’s showing grace.

Joe Lieberman and the Democratic Caucus

I watched the spectacle that Joe Lieberman made of himself supporting John McCain during the presidential campaign.  I was quite irritated with Lieberman during the campaign.  Perhaps I’d feel differently if Obama had lost, but I feel a bit more conciliatory toward Lieberman than I did two weeks ago.

One reason for that is Barack Obama.  He’s called for allowing Lieberman to stay in the caucus.  Obama ran on a platform of inclusion, of post-partisanship.  He won because of his inclusiveness (among many, many other reasons).  I think it sends a message about how Obama intends to govern, if Lieberman stays in the caucus.  It would be magnanimous.  It would say that Democrats are the party that allows some dissent (unlike the Republicans — see Kathleen Parker’s column today in the Washington Post).  Some senior Democratic senators have even joined the campaign to save Lieberman’s hide.

Make no mistake.  Lieberman does not deserve saving.  Caucusing with the Democrats and voting with them about 90 percent of the time doesn’t make one a Democrat.  Lieberman went way over the top with his convention speech at the Republican convention and his campaigning for McCain during the fall.  Lieberman deserves to be booted off his committee, lose his seniority, and be booted from the Democratic caucus.

Even though he deserves it, though, doesn’t mean it should happen.  Lieberman should, however, feel some pain for his actions.  There should be some punishment.  But the Democrats shouldn’t boot him from the caucus, or do something so harsh as to make Lieberman bolt.  Compromise.  Make something happen.

Lieberman: McCain Will Live to 85

Lieberman and McCain (Photo: Huffington Post)

I’d like to see Lieberman try to make good on this promise. 

Asked again on Sunday whether Sarah Palin is ready to be president, Sen. Joe Lieberman went one step further than he has in past remarks — virtually pledging to voters that John McCain “will live to 85 at least.”

In an audio clip of the Tampa, Florida, event obtained by the Huffington Post, Lieberman acknowledged that he has spoken “to doctors and insurance actuaries” about McCain’s health, “because I get asked this question so much.”

“People say to me, oh jeez, he’s 72 and he’s got skin cancer,” Lieberman said, adding: “I can tell you he’s been in remission for eight years. Secondly, I talked — because I get asked this question so much — I talked to doctors and insurance actuaries. And they tell me based on McCain’s age, his health, including skin cancer, he’ll live till at least 85. And probably longer.”

Lieberman once again offered a prayer that Palin would not soon have to serve as commander in chief: “I believe that he’ll be able to serve through his first term for which he’s elected, please God.”

There’s only one way to ensure that Sarah Palin does not become president: Vote for Barack Obama.  I’ve said it over and over ad nauseam: Sarah Palin is not ready.  John McCain disqualified himself from the presidency by tapping her.

It remains an open question as to whether McCain’s melanoma really is in remission.  Doctors have asked questions over and over.  There are also questions as to whether McCain has suffering from some cognitive issues.  See my posts on McCain’s health here, here (a doctor commented on this post as well), here, here, and here.

I really bear no ill will toward John McCain (or Sarah Palin).  I simply want what’s best for our country.  That is not John McCain and Sarah Palin.  The risk is simply too great to take the chance — against quite a lot of evidence — that McCain is ok.

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More Ethical Issues for Palin

It’s becoming more and more apparent that McCain’s team did a shoddy job in vetting her.  More and more shoes keep dropping.  (Read A Letter from Someone Who Has Known Sarah Palin since 1992 for more information.  It’s quite illuminating.)  To date:

• Ethical issues stemming from whether she abused power in trying to have her brother-in-law fired (he was an Alaska state trooper) as he was divorcing her sister.  She then allegedly fired the public safety commissioner because he refused.
• Her 17-year-old daughter’s pregnancy.  This isn’t relevant as it pertains to her family issues, but it certainly raises some hypocrisy issues where her personal life may be different to how she runs her government.
• She was for it before she was against it, as it pertains to the “Bridge to Nowhere.”  She says she stopped the project, but she kept the money.
• She ran Wasilla into $22 million in debt, necessitating the hiring of a city manager because her management skills were so bad that she was running the town into the ground.  This, for a town with a population of about 5,000 at the time.
• She has tried to ban books in the Wasilla library.  When the librarian refused, she tried to have the librarian fired.
• She has ties to the Alaska Independent Party, a secessionist party in Alaska.

Now, there’s another shoe that’s dropping.  When she was mayor of Wasilla, she fired the police chief  because he “stepped on the toes of Palin’s campaign contributors, including bar owners and the National Rifle Association.”

I don’t know about you, but it looks like a pattern to me.  It’s a pattern of abuse of power, of hypocrisy, of censorship.  This is the running mate John McCain picked?

I have no doubt that she’ll give a great speech tonight at the convention and that she’ll fire up the delegates.  My question is this: So what?  It doesn’t matter.  Look at her record.  It’s quite a record of abuse of power for one so early in her career.  No wonder the Republicans love her.  They must see her as a continuation of Bush and his abuses.

More and more tidbits like these are going to come out as the press does the McCain campaign’s job for them and holds Palin and her record up to the light.  I can’t wait for her first press conference when the reporters (if they do their jobs) start asking some questions.  I also can’t wait for the vice-presidential debate.  I will be riveted to the screen for that one.

I’ve read — in several places — today that the reason Palin was so incompletely vetted was because McCain really wanted Lieberman as his running mate.  McCain was told, however, that there would be a revolt in the party if he tapped Lieberman.  It’s an interesting, and plausible, theory.  It might help explain some of the recklessness in the pick of Palin.

[Update]: None of the above are sexist smears by the media or anyone else.  These facts make up her record.  In naming Palin, I think a case could be made that what McCain did was a disservice to women.  Don’t believe me?  Read Maureen Dowd’s column from today.

Joe Lieberman — Maverick?

Joe Lieberman addressed the Republican Convention last night, eight years after he was the Democratic nominee for Vice President.  It’s historic.  It was also expected long before an official announcement: Lieberman has been campaigning for McCain for months.

During that time, Lieberman has undercut Barack Obama repeatedly, apparently throwing a long-held party affiliation away because of the Iraq War.  Lieberman said last night in his speech, “I’m here to support John McCain because country matters more than party.”  He’s right about this; country does matter more than party.  (Obama has been saying that for more than a year.)  But I can’t believe that anything Lieberman has done isn’t self-serving.  It’s not about party or country — it’s about him.

Ned Lamont defeated him in the Democratic primary for Senator from Connecticut.  So what does Lieberman do?  He doesn’t accept his defeat — the word of his party.  He decides that he doesn’t want to leave office, and runs as an independent.  Then he magnanimously decides he will caucus with the Democrats, allowing them to have a majority in the Senate.  But this also gives him a powerful committee chairmanship. 

Now he’s working for John McCain.  For what, you ask?  Well, before Palin was tapped (with scant vetting, I might add), I thought he was trying to get the vice-presidential nod from McCain.  Maybe he’ll still get it if, as some conspiracy theorists think, Palinhas to withdraw.  I don’t subscribe to that point of view.  I think he wants a cabinet position — Secretary of Defense, maybe — in a McCain administration.  I also think he’d be a disaster approaching the scale of Rumsfeld if he’s tapped for that post.

I’ve been saying for awhile that the Democrats need to boot him from the caucus.  Lieberman has been a Democrat his whole career.  If he wants to throw away that party affiliation over the Iraq War, fine.  Strip him of his committee chairmanships and remove his Democratic seniority in the Senate.  Democrats don’t get to undercut their party’s nominee for president at every turn and walk away scot free.  He’s no maverick.  He’s a self-serving politician who has lost touch with his constituency and his party.  It’s time for Lieberman to suffer the consequences.

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Joe Lieberman at the Republican Convention

Joe Lieberman will speak at the Republican Convention.  As Huffington Post points out, what a difference eight years make.  Eight years ago, Joe Lieberman was the vice-presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.  Since then, he’s been defeated in a Democratic primary for senator from Connecticut, won re-election to the Senate as an independent, caucused with the Democrats in the Senate helping them to keep a majority, has campaigned for John McCain, and has undercut the Democratic nominee at every possible moment.  He’s been the surrogate that McCain has counted on most, and now he’s getting his reward.  (I still think he could be the Republican vice-presidential nominee.)

Where is Harry Reid’s comment on this?  People have been saying for months that there is no way Lieberman deserves a plum committee chairmanship and a seat in the Democratic caucus.  He’s doing this for two reasons: because he believes in McCain (I have no problem believing that his support of McCain is sincere) and because he can (he knows there is no way Reid will kick him out of the caucus until after the election).  Lieberman needs to understand that it’s fine for him to make choices in his political career, but that there may be some consequences for those choices.  There should be consequences.  Lieberman is a Republican in all but name.  He should head over to that side of the aisle and formally turn his coat.

Pelosi Rips Lieberman

Nancy Pelosi, on Ronn Owens’ program (on KGO radio in San Francisco) yesterday, ripped Joe Lieberman for undercutting Barack Obama.  She further warned that he could lose his committee chairmanship.

Pelosi was asked by a caller on Owens’ show what could be done about the attacks from Lieberman, the Democrats’ 2000 vice presidential nominee who, though an independent, still caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate.

“You’re right,” Pelosi said. “Joe Lieberman has said things that are totally irresponsible when it comes to Barack Obama. Here we have a leader for the future, really a great leader for the future and one that comes along only every now and then, and they know it so they have to undermine him. And one of their best weapons, of course, is someone who is considered by some to be a Democrat.”

Pelosi explained that Senate Democrats are leery of challenging Lieberman over his comments because his vote is crucial to preserving the Democrats’ 51-49 majority in the Senate. But she warned that Lieberman’s top spot on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee could be in jeopardy if Democrats gain seats in the Senate in November.

“The Democrats in the Senate are in a tough spot. They have 51 votes. Joe Lieberman organizes with them,” she said. “In 85 days or something, they will have five more Democrats. They won’t need him to make the majority. And it will be interesting to see what the leadership in the Senate, the Democratic leadership in the Senate, does at that point in terms of Joe Lieberman’s chairmanship of his committee.”

It’s about time someone stepped up and called Lieberman out.  It should have been Harry Reid, but I’m glad Pelosi said it.  It’s fine for Lieberman to be friends with McCain.  I don’t have any problem at all with that.  I don’t even care if Lieberman privately supports McCain and votes for him this fall.  But in public he should support the party’s nominee.  He caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate and called himself a Democrat.  He should at least act like one, on this issue. 

I think it’s great that Lieberman stands up for what he believes in and votes his mind.  I disagree with him on many of those issues — Iraq, most notably — but I respect him for standing up for it.  But he’s crossing a line with his open support of McCain.  It’s time for Lieberman to pay the consequences — toss him out of the caucus and strip him of his chairmanship.

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Joe Lieberman

Can someone tell me why he’s still part of the Senate Democratic Caucus? He’s a Republican to me, it seems, changing sides the way Zell Miller did a few years ago. He lost the Democratic primary for his Connecticut senate seat and still ran as an independent. He’s endorsed John McCain. He’s aligned himself with George W Bush on several issues. He seems to be actively carrying McCain’s water with regards to Israel, against Obama. (See this piece on Huffington Post.) So why is he still in the caucus?

I know he helped make up a Democratic majority during this Congress. But he’s not needed anymore (or won’t be after Election Day). If McCain wins, he’ll be Secretary of Defense; if McCain loses, he’ll presumably go back to the Senate. Let him caucus with the Republicans, or if he wants to be an Independent, let him give up his seniority on committees.

I’m okay people who buck the trends. But sometimes a little loyalty is needed. Lieberman seems to have placed his with the Republicans.