.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

 

"Is This The End Of Zombie Lieberman?"

Mark Schmidt at Tapped: "Let's find a way to give [Lieberman] a dignified way out, and accord him exactly the level of respect for his service that Lamont did last night, which was considerable and was deserved."

Schmidt makes eminently reasonable points about the aftermath of the Connecticut primary; I agree with him completely that Lieberman is likely to bow to reality and drop his independent bid sooner or later. The guy who thinks the general election voters of Connecticut will love him as much as he loves himself is the same guy who completely, fatally misread his own primary, after all. I assume that polls over the next few weeks will bear this out, as the moderate Dems and independents Joe assumes are his by right recoil from his hubris in the face of concisive defeat.

But man, is it hard to accord Joe considerable respect for his service after everything he has said and done over the past 10 years. I resented him in 1998 for knifing Clinton in the back, even as I understood the alleged politics behind it. I loathed the guy in 2000 based on his obnoxious sanctimony, and his utterly ineffectual performance against Cheney in the VP debate. He intentionally, unforgivably brought a butter knife to a howitzer fight--a tendency that characterized his whole candidacy, right up to his eagerness to cave during the recount. This is the guy who has repeatedly, despicably asserted that "the Constitution promises freedom of religion, not freedom from religion." Who led the morality police against the phantom evils of video games, diverting attention from, you know, actual problems. Who turned his back on Social Security, one of the defining positions of the Democratic Party. Whose people had the gall to argue with CT soldiers in Iraq over their choice of requested weapons, rather than busting his ass as their representative to get them what they wanted. And yes, who made a hobby of basically rimming Geroge W. Bush on national security over the past five years while demonizing his own party. As Josh Marshall has said, Lieberman grew to advocate bipartisan compromise (i.e. capitulation to right wing thugs) for its own sake. Whether he foolishly but sincerely misread the political moment, or just let the admiration of D.C. pundits and his GOP pals go to his head, it doesn't really matter. I don't care why he's such an asshole. I really just want the guy gone, and if official Washington flattering his ego for the next month is the only way to do it, fine. But I run the risk of choking on my own vomit.

Comments:
Lieberman has helped to destroy the world; he was one major justification for me voting for Ralph in 2000 -- when I lived in Florida. I admit, Al's wife was another big reason. I've just never been as high on Al Gore as other people are; in fact, I've never been as wild about Bill Clinton as other people are... although I admit, I'd take either in a heartbeat over what we've had inflicted on us instead.

My main reason for disliking Joe has always been his religion; if I had my way, candidates for office would be barred by law from making any mention whatsoever of their religion. Ah, to live in such an enlightened nation...
 
This may seem like semantics, but I don't mind his religion; it's his pompous *religiosity*, embodied in that quote in my post, that bugs me. Maybe that's what you're saying?

Ultimately, what's most pathetic is that Joe seems incapable of seeing the deep irony of his position. His vaunted "moderation" is at this point nothing but a thin cover for the wild-eyed extremism of his ostensible political opponents. Flipping the old Goldwater quote, Lieberman shows that moderation in defense of tyranny is most definitely a vice. In fact, Joe's no moderate at all, at least on the most important issues of day. As somebody on the blogs pointed out today, one-sided compromise is rightfully called capitulation; on Alito, the bankruptcy bill and a host of other issues, that's been Lieberman's stock in trade for years now. He's an utter disgrace.
 
Yeah. I was trying to say, you can be religious, just don't make it the lynchpin of your 'appeal'. (Frankly, given my druthers, I'd prefer to vote for agnostics. Then atheists. Then pagans. Then, I don't know, Unitarians or Episcopalians who don't go to church much.)
 
I better not run for office - I'm a lapsed Episcopalian who turned into an atheist.
Dare we hope that Democrats will now feel safe to come out from wherever they've been hiding? I still marvel that Bill ( a Republican in Democrat clothing) was impeached for a blow job, and W has lied and cheated and brought the world to the brink of destruction and nobody cares!!
Anonymous Mother
 
No, Joe Lieberman recognized the Democratic party's direction: becoming the anti-war party, the moonbat extremist left-wing party; their unwinnable tilt away from center, riding Michael (Weapon of Mass Digestion) Moore's direction to ultimate unelectibility.

While you suffer the extremists on the left to lead you away from the center, you will ignore the true enemy: Muhammedanism, the true enemy of progress in this modern world.

Christianity had it's reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries; Islam is still set in the 6th century. Until we 'persuade' the good parts of Islam to do away with the parts that still strap bombs on martyrs and expect 72 virgins for it, then all of us, even peace-loving comic-book collecting Democrats are in some dire straits.
 
Micheal Moore is fat! Micheal Moore is fat!

Good luck fighting your Epic Clash of Civilizations. I will sleep better at night knowing you have personally enlisted to defend me on the front lines of World War 8, or whatever number you guys are up to now.

Do you sleep with the lights on?
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?