On Tuesday, Democratic senators will vote by secret ballot on whether or not to strip Joe Lieberman of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. It’s a no-brainer. He should be stripped of his chair and kicked off the Armed Services Committee as well. If he wants to caucus with the Democrats, he should be welcome to do so, but he should be excluded from caucus strategy sessions.
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BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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enough of making nice already. Senators Sanders, Leahy will vote to strip. Glad it’s by secret ballot…makes it more likely Joe will be ask to go. Thinkprogress lists the many reasons why
Dorgan has joined the chorus.
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Reid said in a CNN interview, “Joe Lieberman votes with me a lot more than a lot of my senators. He didn’t support us on military stuff, and he didn’t support us on Iraq stuff. But you look at his record, it’s pretty good.”
[Links are mine – Oui]
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Reid is beholden to Lieberman. Already said if it were not for Lieberman’s vote he Reid would not be Senate Majority leader. Go figure.
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Obama resigns Senate seat, adds White House staff
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Liebedrman is sort of schizophrenic; sometimes, he is a progressive supporting noble causes. Other times, he stands with those ridiculous and contemptible conservatives. What to do? Perhaps, he needs a bit of behavior conditioning. Read carrot and stick or reward and punishment.
In short, strip him of his committee chairmanship but let him retain his seniority on the other committees on which he serves. See how he conducts himself during his “probationary period”. If he screws up, no chance for a chairmanship plus he loses his seniority on the remaining committees. If does a good job; that is, votes the Democratic line, then, ok, he gets a shot at a chairmanship. Bye and bye.
Holy Joe should have to prove himself to his Democratic peers. Would that the Democratic majority could be so practical.
He’s not schiz; he’s very conservative on foreign policy, primarily in the Likudnik style, and opportunistic on everything else. For the most part, “opportunistic” means liberal, as that gives his political capital to go hard right on the issues he cares about. And it is that issue he cares about, not any party, so he is disloyal in a way that is, I’m sure, noble from his own perspective.
It’s a no brainer to us outsiders, but not necessarily to those inside the Beltway.
FISA oversight, preventing torture as SOP for the US, and stopping the war were all no-brainers too.
We know how the Dems, Obama included, came down on those.
Like they had no brains.
I’d bet my last nickel that those old farts in the Senate will vote to let Lieberman keep his chairmanship. They are all about camaraderie and making nice with each other. It’s a fucking taxpayer-sponsored gentleman’s club. The Senate is our greatest obstacle to bringing progressive change to this country. The House is a lot better.
if they wanted lieberman to keep his chair they wouldn’t be having the vote in the first place. this entire discussion would be moot.
the only reason the vote is on is because lieberman wouldn’t trade his chairs for lesser seats in other committees. now it’s all or nothing for holy joe, who, to his colleagues chagrin, always seems to pick the avenue with the greatest drama, and, to our fortune, who hasn’t lately shown much talent for picking a winning hand.
i don’t think reid would schedule a vote that he knows he gonna lose, so my bet is that the drama queen goes out crying.
Buh-bye, meine Liebschen!
It occurs to me that it might not be a productive idea to needlessly alienate people on the center right of the spectrum if your goal is build an effective movement for progressive change. Your mileage may vary.
Couldn’t resist.
I say kick Lieberman’s ass out of every committee he sits on, take away his parking spot, reassign him to the worst office spaces in town, and of course prevent him from knowing anything about Democratic strategy.
Anything you tell Lieberman will get right to McCain and Graham and the rest of the right wing. He can caucus with Dems if he wants, but he should never be a member in good standing ever again.
Fetchez la vache…