JoeMo Lieberman: Even the Liberal New York Times Rejects Him

Even the Liberal New York Times has endorsed Ned Lamont, the Connecticut Democratic Primary challenger to Even the Liberal Joe "Mentum" Lieberman. While Lieberman, and many others in the MainStreamMedia and other outlets, characterize this as reasonable, moderate, respect-wielding Human Being aka Centrists, versus the angry, pitchfork-wielding half-feral villagers of Left Blogistan rising up against the spectre of their caricatured portrayal of "President" Bush as an evil undead monster (clearly they're one off) out of pure hatred and not, say, substantive and heart-felt moral and policy differences, the NYT lays out a series of good reasons, said in quiet tones, calmly, over breakfast with Grandma. Finally, the cowed, financially poor, set-upon Moderates can come out of hiding and return to the light of day from the heartless exile we in Left Blogistan have sent them into.

To whit, the Grey Lady says:

"As Mr. Lieberman sees it, this is a fight for the soul of the Democratic Party — his moderate fair-mindedness against a partisan radicalism that alienates most Americans... That’s far from the issue. Mr. Lieberman is not just a senator who works well with members of the other party. And there is a reason that while other Democrats supported the war, he has become the only target. In his effort to appear above the partisan fray, he has become one of the Bush administration’s most useful allies as the president tries to turn the war on terror into an excuse for radical changes in how this country operates... Mr. Bush continually tries to undermine restraints on the executive branch: the system of checks and balances, international accords on the treatment of prisoners, the nation’s longtime principles of justice. His administration has depicted any questions or criticism of his policies as giving aid and comfort to the terrorists. And Mr. Lieberman has helped that effort. He once denounced Democrats who were “more focused on how President Bush took America into the war in Iraq” than on supporting the war’s progress... this is no time for a man with Mr. Lieberman’s ability to command Republicans’ attention to become their enabler, and embrace a role as the president’s defender."

Let me just say: Damn straight! As quoted in the the Washington Post today, Sen. (joe)Mentum is approaching "...the final days before the Aug. 8 primary [by] summing up his message to voters this way: "Mr. and Mrs. Connecticut, I hope you'll respect me, even if you don't agree with me."

This is possibly the second-most inane thing Sen. Mentum has said. (Ok, maybe it's in a 3-way tie for third-most.) Why? BECAUSE MOST PEOPLE WANT TO VOTE FOR A SENATOR THAT AGREES WITH THEM. I respect my high school english teacher. I don't want him to be my Senator. That is to say -- it is of course important to respect your Senator, or, at least, it'd be nice to -- but to equate "respect" with "vote for" and imply that "agreeing with" him is unimportant to the voting for part... well, that's pretty fucking inane (where inane = stupid). Respect is an important first cut, but the list of people I respect is much longer than the list of people I'd vote for, and really, I neither trust nor respect nor would vote for Lieberman. He has taken many notable and important liberal positions, but his cravenness, ignorance, or megalomania -- whatever is pushing him to support Bush -- is completely unacceptable. As the NYT points out, bipartisan compromise is good and important, but in supporting a President whose policies are anathema to almost everything I stand for, he's not only compromised his values (in my opinion) but compromised mine, and those enshrined in our Constitution. I don't just disagree with Bush; I don't just really really really dislike Bush; I think he's bad for America. Respect is irrelevant to whether or not I think we're on a path to hell, pushing the rest of the world before us. I'm not a Connecticut voter, but nonetheless, let me say this: If Lieberman believes this path is the correct one and does not, in fact, lead to hell, in my opinion he deserves neither respect nor my consideration as a Democratic Senator. And by "my consideration" I mean "your consideration", assuming "you" are a "Connecticut voter."

For other Sen. Mentum-related critiques, try here, the sort of amateurish but mildly informative time-to-go-Joe here, and another NYT article about him outlining his cluelessness on how everyone DOESN'T actually like him and that he actually has to address the concerns of his Democratic constituency here.

Joe seems to have forgotten that the point of a primary is to pick someone you think has, in general, the right policies. He seems to think there's no possible reason not to vote for him other than irrational hatred of Bush. He clearly has forgotten what a small-d democracy is.