Look! Senator Lieberman loves the Republicans SO MUCH he'll even shake hands with somebody wearing a George Bush mask! (Image from the Newtown Labor Day parade; see the entire video here. At exactly 3:15 in the video you can see and hear Joe Lieberman lie yet again about remaining a Democrat.)
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm getting mighty sick of hearing Joe Lieberman blackmailing the Senate every time he opens his traitorous mouth. Every single day there's another news story about Lieberman's potential jump across the aisle to the Republic Party side.
You know what? I say, GOOD RIDDANCE!
Let the Republicans have him, with his fragile ego and sociopathic visions of war! Let THEM have to deal with his constant whinging about how nobody agrees with him, and how he'll jump ship if he doesn't get his way. Let him try to blackmail the Republicans all he wants once he goes over there.
You know why? BECAUSE IT DOESN'T MATTER IF HE GOES!
Fact: Lieberman votes with the Republicans every single time a vote on the war comes up.
Fact: Several Republicans are voting AGAINST party line on just about every vote, while the Democrats are pretty much hanging together (and Joe doesn't count).
Fact: Even if Joe decides to caucus with the Republic Party and creates a 50-50 split in the Senate, even with Cheney's theoretic tie-breaking vote (and see previous fact), the important committees and structure of the Senate will remain the same, because of this little known clause below (h/t to Sue from MLN):
(from Political Insider) Lieberman Switch Wouldn't Flip Senate
With Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) publicly stating he'd consider becoming a Republican if Democrats block new funding for the Iraq War, many Democrats worry that control of the Senate hangs in the balance. However, their fears are unfounded. Many think back to 2001 when former Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-VT) began caucusing with Democrats instead of Republicans, taking control of the Senate out of GOP hands. However, the two situations - though outwardly similar - contain one important difference.What this means is that the Senate is going to stay exactly as organized until the beginning of the next Congress, in January, 2009. The tie-breaker vote means nothing at this point, since Joe won't be voting any differently when he jumps ship like a bilge rat with mange anyway.
If Lieberman were to caucus with the Republicans, they would still not take full control of the Senate, despite Vice President Dick Cheney's ability to break 50-50 ties. This is because of a little-known Senate organizing resolution, passed in January, which gives Democrats control of the Senate and committee chairmanships until the beginning of the 111th Congress.
What's the difference between now and 2001? A small but important distinction. When the 107th Congress was convened on January 3, 2001, Al Gore was still the Vice President and would be for another two-and-a-half weeks. Therefore, because of the Senate's 50-50 tie, Democrats had nominal control of the chamber when the organizing resolution came to a vote. With Dick Cheney soon to come in, however, Democrats allowed Republicans to control the Senate in return for a provision on the organizing resolution that allowed for a reorganization of the chamber if any member should switch parties, which Jeffords did five months later. There was no such clause in the current Senate's organizing resolution.
Very nice! So you know what, Mr. Lieberman?
Just GO already!!!
15 comments:
Right on! The crux of the issue, which you outlined but is worth emphatically reiterating, is that the Senate committee structures would NOT be affected by Senator Lieberman's bolt to the GOP.
All of a sudden, 'Go Joe Go' has taken on a new meaning. I wonder if we should start a rally...
An even more important point; that guy wearing the mask is, I believe, the famous DavefromQueens.
But wait! Isn't that Tammy Sun holding Lorenzo Sunflower's evil brother Boris?
We later found Boris trampled in a muddy ditch. He had decided he didn't want to work for Joe, the true traitor.
ic - exactly! I would love nothing better than for Harry Reid to grow a pair and tell Joe he can "take a fuckin' hike!"
sue - correct on both counts! Boris killed himself when he realized he was being held captive by Satan's daughter herself; and yes, that's B.D. from Q., also know as "Bush Man"!
I had to look twice to decide that the guy in the red shirt holding the Lieberman sign wasn't Alan Schlesinger!
How wierd would that have been?
Substantially weird. :)
Joe Lieberman is more of a democrat than a republican. You people don’t agree with him on basically one issue, the war in Iraq. Well there are many more important things happening and I am glad the CT voters aren’t as naive and ignorant like you.
It's NOT the only issue, stupid, but it IS the biggest. If you haven't been paying attention, that's your problem. Joe Lieberman has consistantly screwed the Dems on many big issues for a long time.
George Bush doesn't kiss just anyone, you know.
"George Bush doesn't kiss just anyone"
Statements like these gives PPM a bad name....Grow up
It's time to make sure lieberman doesn't sully the name of democrats any further.
He was voted out of the party by his fellow citizens, what more do we need to do to bounce him from the party.
UptownNYChick
joe lieberman actually has a liberal voting record. you cant pick and choose facts, bob. it is what it is; lieberman is a democrat. you hate him because he doesnt have a blind devotion to the party like you idiots.
joe lieberman actually has a liberal voting record.
No.
I can go through a whole list of legislation where Joe Lieberman voted with conservatives and against the Democratic majority's position, and actions where Lieberman gamed the system by voting yes on cloture and voting no on the legislation when he knew full well that his no vote was the losing position.
And how about Lieberman's membership in the Gang of 14, at a time when his party needed all of the support from its members due to Republicans and Bush freezing the Democrats out from all participation and oversight? We are now stuck, for life, with two profoundly conservative justices who believe in the concept of a 'unitary executive' which, effectively, shuts out the people of the United States from particpation in their government. In the years to come, when future Congresses and watchdog groups seek to look into what the Bush-Cheney administration has done, these two justices will join with Scalia, Thomas and Kennedy to slam shut, lock and throw away the keys to those vaults which hold the paper trails.
Over the course of Joe Lieberman's time in the Senate, he has been the 'bitch' to corporations standing in line at the trough, at the American citizens' expense. Big Pharma, Big Insurance, all have Joe Lieberman to thank for making them obscenely rich at the expense of Americans' health and pocketbooks. Do you know all of those ads pitching medicines directly to the consumers, such as, "Do you have 'Restless Leg Syndrome'"? Thank Lieberman. He made it possible for pharmaceutical corporations to make up "syndromes" and concoct medications (which will turn out to cause other medical ailments) and advertise directly to the patient (who has no medical training, background, and has no idea if the medication is safe and appropriate for what he has). Big Pharma then tacks the cost of that pricey television advertising time on to the price of the drug. As a result, physicians wind up having to spend more time dealing with patients who want this or that drug, having no idea what it is that they're talking about and if it's indicated for what is ailing them. Physicians get no reimbursement at all for the time that they spend having to tell the patient, "No, that medication is not appropriate for you." (Physicians aren't getting rich, contrary to popular opinion; they've been losing economic ground for 15 years. That's one reason why fewer men are entering the profession, and why, for the first time ever, more women than men make up the rolls in medical schools. I'm not a physician, but I am in the health industry. What has happened to the state of American medicine since 1980, Reagan and deregulation is a travesty.)
Keeping physicians current on what drugs were available to treat what illnesses has never been a problem - Big Pharma just wanted to increase their business by stimulating patients to ask for medication for things that aren't even illnesses.
But that's Joe Lieberman. He will whore himself to whomever is willing to grease his palm, whether it's AIPAC, Big Pharma, Big Insurance (how about that Medicare Reform Act, eh?).
No, Lieberman isn't a liberal by any stretch of the word.
I'd like to know, from a democrat in Connecticut, what's going on there with registered democrats. Of the democrats who voted for Lieberman over Lamont, how are they taking Lieberman's threat to join the Republicans? Didn't they realize the possibility when they voted for him instead of Lamont? What was it about Lieberman did they like over Lamont? Lamont was only slightly to the left of Lieberman - Lamont was no liberal, so what was it that they were voting for in Lieberman?
If Lieberman joins the Republicans, what wil those who voted for Lieberman, do? Are there any local polls asking these questions?
I SO, TOTALLY, agree! I've gotten sick of hearing this concern over the potential power change, since anyone paying attention knows this won't happen, as you point out!
To anonymous 2/28/2007 8:52 PM, I cannot give you the perspective of Dems who voted for this slimeball in the general, but I'll point out that only ~30% of Dems did so. His main support was Repuglicans and ~half of 'independents'. Personally, I could not care less what those who voted for LIEman think about this issue; if they were not aware of the possibility when they voted, that is their own failing.
Yes, GO JOE!
J
Wow, I was fooled! I thought it was George Bush shaking hands with a guy in a Joe Lieberman mask!
Anonymous AND Ignorant, that's a sad combination...
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