"J'accuse!"

A mysterious lady (whom I'll forever refer to as "The Bravest Woman in Connecticut") challenged Senator Lieberman while he was being filmed by CNN leaving an apparent video op in a New Haven eatery. The clip was part of a larger piece on Ned Lamont's campaign for Lieberman's seat.

CNN's Mary Snow stood by while the agitated woman approached the Senator and angrily questioned him. This amazing clip is available for viewing at CNN Online.

UPDATE: Apparently the Evil Powers That Be have managed to bully CNN into removing the clip, but the damage is done. Once the video was released on the net, it's out there for good...remember, "That bell can't be un-rung!" Click on THIS LINK to see the Ned Lamont Resource's video at "La Resistance" (a name that follows nicely the French theme of "J'accuse", le fait pas?)

What impressed me the most was this woman's anger at the Senator, and how poorly equipped Lieberman is at deflecting criticism when he's not safely insulated from his constituents by aides, publicists, or thousands of miles while traveling away from Connecticut.

In this image, the woman confronts Lieberman, and asks, "Why are you betraying your voters?" Lieberman looks momentarily stunned, then produces what can only be considered sparkling banter.

Joe counters brilliantly with "I'm NOT!", pointing at the woman as if she's a witch and he's a Spanish Inquisitor. While he doesn't say much, his body language speaks volumes. He looks physically ill at being confronted by a real live voter.

She doesn't back off for a second, and I can forgive her for her less than stellar followup, "Yes you are!"

Joe then parrots his favorite refrain and says, "Look at my record."

Yes, let's look at his record. Lieberman supports an illegal and immoral war in Iraq. He's voted countless times with the President on such issues like confirmations of child-strip-searcher Sam Alito and pro-torturer Abu Gonzales. He's all in favor of denying rape victims emergency contraception, and in fact thinks it's only a minor inconvenience for a victim of sexual assault to take a "short ride to another hospital". Etc. etc. etc...

Lieberman then dismisses the woman's questions with an arrogant wave of his arm, probably accompanied with a mighty "harrumph!" or a barked "Bah!" Boy, I'd love to hear the entire audio from THAT little encounter.

This woman's identity may already be known to some locally, but I just want to let the world know that I think she's "The Bravest Woman in Connecticut".

Joe? Thanks for making yourself available to your constituents...we appreciate it.

And thank you, CNN.