Ted Mann scores some hits on Saint Joe
One of the disadvantages of being a part time
blogger, particularly one that posts at night, is by the time I finish with my
RSS feeder, a lot of the good stories look done to
death.
Take Joe Lieberman. Every time he says something stupid or hypocritical, blogs from here to California descend on him like so many vultures. By the time I turn my bleary eyes to the computer, there's nothing left of his rottting carcass but a few bleached bones.
However, I do want to add my voice to those in the Connecticut community who have noticed that the Day's Ted Mann is perhaps the only journalist in the state who has noticed that Lieberman has not only threatened to welch on a series of campaign pledges not to stop voting with the Democrats to organize the Senate (he's already left the party), but also has espoused some rather un-democratic views about the proper role of a United States Senator and, for that matter, citizens of a free country. As Ted relates here, and has been remarked elsewhere, it is Mr. Lieberman's considered opinion that we should all shut up:
But later, a reporter (this one, actually) asked him what he thought about the potential for further debate in the Congress on the administration's war plans, and the desire of many Democrats to somehow proscribe any further war-making by the executive branch without having to cut off funds to troops already deployed abroad.
The senator's response was a little stunning, particularly upon playing back the tape. The compromise he proposes is essentially for the Democrats to pipe down and get out of the way.
"My own hope would be that, having had both houses (of Congress) express opposition for the increase in troops but their support for the troops, that Congress declare a cease fire for four or five months and let the troops, under their new general David Petraeus in Iraq carry out this new plan, and let’s all hope for success.
"If it doesn’t work, by the end of the summer let’s say, which Gen. Petreaus has said is a time when we’d have a much clearer idea of how it’s going, then there’ll be plenty of time for cut-off of funds and troop-caps and all the rest. I just wish that we could come to a point here where we say, ‘Okay, Congress spoke, they don’t support the increase, president’s gone ahead with it.'
"If in fact we all do support the troops, let’s support the troops by doing something that politicians, including myself, don’t do so well, which is to keep quiet and let the troops fight."
The self-deprecation aside, it's a pretty startling view -- from a U.S. senator -- of the legislators' inability to make decisions in a time of war.
In another article Ted points out that some of Joe's Democratic supporters are put off by his failure to endorse Chris Dodd. It is hard to imagine how anyone who is interested in politics can fail to see that Joe has no sense of loyalty to anything or anyone but Joe Lieberman. He has chosen to tie his fate to the Iraq war and now Iran . He doesn't care about any other issues and he doesn't care about any of the suckers who stuck with him during the last campaign. He will toss them overboard without a second thought as soon as it suits him. How can they not see that? Perhaps because, since so many of them are politicians themselves, they just can't imagine anyone doing such a thing to them, though they can live with such a thing being done to anyone else.
Take Joe Lieberman. Every time he says something stupid or hypocritical, blogs from here to California descend on him like so many vultures. By the time I turn my bleary eyes to the computer, there's nothing left of his rottting carcass but a few bleached bones.
However, I do want to add my voice to those in the Connecticut community who have noticed that the Day's Ted Mann is perhaps the only journalist in the state who has noticed that Lieberman has not only threatened to welch on a series of campaign pledges not to stop voting with the Democrats to organize the Senate (he's already left the party), but also has espoused some rather un-democratic views about the proper role of a United States Senator and, for that matter, citizens of a free country. As Ted relates here, and has been remarked elsewhere, it is Mr. Lieberman's considered opinion that we should all shut up:
But later, a reporter (this one, actually) asked him what he thought about the potential for further debate in the Congress on the administration's war plans, and the desire of many Democrats to somehow proscribe any further war-making by the executive branch without having to cut off funds to troops already deployed abroad.
The senator's response was a little stunning, particularly upon playing back the tape. The compromise he proposes is essentially for the Democrats to pipe down and get out of the way.
"My own hope would be that, having had both houses (of Congress) express opposition for the increase in troops but their support for the troops, that Congress declare a cease fire for four or five months and let the troops, under their new general David Petraeus in Iraq carry out this new plan, and let’s all hope for success.
"If it doesn’t work, by the end of the summer let’s say, which Gen. Petreaus has said is a time when we’d have a much clearer idea of how it’s going, then there’ll be plenty of time for cut-off of funds and troop-caps and all the rest. I just wish that we could come to a point here where we say, ‘Okay, Congress spoke, they don’t support the increase, president’s gone ahead with it.'
"If in fact we all do support the troops, let’s support the troops by doing something that politicians, including myself, don’t do so well, which is to keep quiet and let the troops fight."
The self-deprecation aside, it's a pretty startling view -- from a U.S. senator -- of the legislators' inability to make decisions in a time of war.
In another article Ted points out that some of Joe's Democratic supporters are put off by his failure to endorse Chris Dodd. It is hard to imagine how anyone who is interested in politics can fail to see that Joe has no sense of loyalty to anything or anyone but Joe Lieberman. He has chosen to tie his fate to the Iraq war and now Iran . He doesn't care about any other issues and he doesn't care about any of the suckers who stuck with him during the last campaign. He will toss them overboard without a second thought as soon as it suits him. How can they not see that? Perhaps because, since so many of them are politicians themselves, they just can't imagine anyone doing such a thing to them, though they can live with such a thing being done to anyone else.
Posted: Tuesday - February 27, 2007 at 09:22 PM
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Published On: Apr 17, 2007 07:18 PM
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Published On: Apr 17, 2007 07:18 PM