Lieberman refuses to apologize

Why Meet the Press was wasting their time with wanker Lieberman I don't know, but they did have the cowardly traitor on today. Speaking with Tom Brokaw today, Lieberman refused to apologize for actively campaigning against and harshly criticizing Barack Obama, saying only that he “regrets” “some of the things” he said:

BROKAW: I hear the word regret, but not the word apologize.

LIEBERMAN: Well, I do — I regret it. I mean, you know, I’m going forward. You can take from the word “regret” what you will. I wish I had not said some of the things I’ve said. But again, we all do it.

Watch it here:

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Meet The Bloggers: Lieberman Must Go

Cenk Uyger of the Young Turks also hosts Robert Greenwald's Meet The Bloggers, every Friday afternoon. This last Friday Cenk interviewed Satyam Khanna from Think Progress about Joe Lieberman and Lieberman's actual record.

Check out this clip from Meet the Bloggers:

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You can read the ThinkProgress report on Lieberman’s significant shift to the right in both foreign and domestic policy here.

Every Democrat Needs to Watch this Video

Jed of Jed Report has become the king of progresive videos, and he has put together another great compilation.
Seriously every Democrat on the Hill needs to watch this video compiled by Jed:

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Full Democratic caucus will vote on Lieberman's fate

The full Democratic caucus will vote on whether Joe Lieberman is allowed to keep his chairmanship of the Homeland Security committee at its caucus meeting next week, a leadership aide confirms to us.

Previously, Reid's office had held this possibility out but hadn't made a final decision on whether to throw Lieberman's fate to the full Dem caucus for a vote.

In the wake of Obama's statement today that he doesn't hold any "grudges" against Lieberman and his decision not to take a position on whether Lieberman keeps his chairmanship, I emailed a leadership aide to ask whether the vote would definitely go forward. His response:

"Yes -- this is a decision that will be made by the caucus next week. Absent a stunning series of events there will be a vote next week in the caucus on whether to strip Senator Lieberman of the chairmanship."

That would appear to make it official.

The news comes amid signs that Lieberman is losing support among his fellow Senators. The Huffington Post reports, for instance, that the Clintons are not making any calls on Lieberman's behalf. And Senators Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin are reported to be hoping that Lieberman is given the push.

Now it looks as if these Senators will have an opportunity to vote on his fate, though the exact mechanism of how the vote will work is as yet unclear. More when we learn it.

Robert Greenwald: Lieberman Must Go Once and for All

Robert Greenwald is sick and tired of Joe Lieberman, and I have to agree with him. Joe Lieberman is a lying backstabbing bastard. He didn't just support John McCain, but shit on his own party.

Robert Greenwald writes:

Joe Lieberman has launched consistent, deeply partisan attacks on President-elect Barack Obama, questioning his patriotism and fitness to lead. While Lieberman campaigned for John McCain and spoke on his behalf at the Republican National Convention, he spread some of the GOP's nastiest smears.

Think Progress has provided thorough evidence of Lieberman's partisan politics. Lieberman should not be allowed to have subpoena power to investigate the Obama administration as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. In fact, he should not be allowed to remain chairman of this or any other committee.

Watch the video:

Lieberman has proven he cannot be trusted to hold a high rank within the Democratic caucus. That is why we launched Lieberman Must Go last summer, a campaign that caught Congress' attention when we delivered a petition with over 43,000 signatures.

Now, we ask you to help us escalate the pressure by contacting members of the Senate Democratic Steering Committee. Tell them to strip Lieberman of his chairmanship in the Democratic caucus. We have included a sample script and phone numbers below for you to use, and we ask that you be polite when you explain why Lieberman Must Go.

Senator _________, my name is _________.

I'm a registered Democrat and a [your state] resident. I urge you to vote to strip Joe Lieberman of his committee chairmanship when the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee meets to discuss his future. A man who spent the entire election season demeaning Senator Obama's patriotism and his qualifications for office cannot be trusted with oversight authority over the Obama administration. Joe Lieberman is not a Democrat, and he should not enjoy the privileges of being a member of the majority party. Will you vote to strip Lieberman of his committee chairmanship?

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What is the future of Joe Lieberman in the Senate?

Personally I would like to see the Democrats march him over to the Republicans and drop his lying, back-stabbing, hypocritical ass. There is this myth that Joe Lieberman is some great liberal, a myth that Senator Reid continues to promote. It is a myth. Joe Lieberman may once have been a liberal, but that was years ago. Since winning re-election in 2004 he has been a conservative shill, he lied to his constituencey about investigating the government's handling of Katrina, he voted for torture.


This has me wondering why is Harry Reid praising Joe Lieberman? On Sunday's CNN’s Late Edition, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he recognizes what Joe Lieberman said and did during the campaign was “wrong” and “improper,” telling host John King, “if we weren’t on television, I’d use a stronger word of describing what he did.” But he added, “Joe Lieberman is not some right-wing nutcase, Joe Lieberman is one of the most progressive people ever to come from the state of Connecticut.”

Despite his strong endorsement of Senator John McCain’s right-wing policy platform in the 2008 presidential election, a number of prominent Democratic senators are now defending Joe Lieberman and his position of leadership in the Democratic caucus, arguing that he is a key ally in furthering the progressive agenda.

As I pointed out above Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has argued that “Joe Lieberman is one of the most progressive people ever to come from the state of Connecticut.” We have also seen Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana saying, “I think we had to just let bygones be bygones. We’re going to need him on healthcare and energy independence and education and a whole lot of other things.”

Even President-elect Barack Obama has informed party officials that he wants Joe Lieberman to continue caucusing with the Democrats in the 111th Congress, though he says nothing about Lieberman maintaining his chair of the Homeland Security and Government Reform committee. I do think this at least should be the price of Joe's back-stabbing. Let Lieberman remain within the caucus if he wants, but he should lose all leadership responsibility.

Lieberman has insisted that he will split from the Democrats if his homeland security position is stripped, and I say fine, then it is his decision. It is unclear whether Obama would be comfortable with Lieberman maintaining his current committee post.

While Lieberman has supported progressive policies in the past, including advocating on behalf of the environment and civil rights, his recent record demonstrates that he’s no longer a progressive.

In a new report, ThinkProgress documents Lieberman’s significant shift to the right in both foreign and domestic policy. Some examples from the report:

– Said Investigating Response To Katrina Would Be Playing ‘Gotcha’: Lieberman said he was not interested in “looking back, and assigning blame would be a waste of Congress’ time.” Lieberman said he was reluctant to mount an investigation of the failures of the initial response, saying “We don’t want to play ‘gotcha’ anymore.” [Chicago Tribune, 1/20/07]

– Claimed That A Progressive Economic Stimulus Would Lead To A Depression: Speaking at Dartmouth University, “Lieberman compared Democratic presidential
candidate Senator Barack Obama’s economic plan to former president Herbert Hoover’s approach, which he said ‘turned a recession into a depression.’” [The Dartmouth, 10/24/08]

– Supported Attorney General Alberto Gonzales To The Bitter End: Reacting to Gonzales’s resignation, Lieberman commented, “The Attorney General’s resignation
removes a distraction from the important work of the Department of Justice,” but added, “As he leaves public service, the Attorney General deserves our appreciation for his work for our nation.” [Senate Website, 8/27/07]

– Suggested That Obama Could Be A Marxist: When asked if Obama is “a Marxist as Bill Kristol says might be the case,” Lieberman replied, “Well, you know, I must say that’s a good question.” [Fox News, 5/14/08]

Jane Hamsher has more in a blog post titled "The Case Against Lieberman."