Obama on Lieberman

I know many out there would enjoy seeing Joe take one on the chin for his defection during the campaign. And certainly he did travel off the reservation. But I agree that it would be a good gesture to reconcil with Lieberman and let him keep at least one of his chairmanships. From a politcal standpoint it could be a shrewd move.

While Lieberman palled around with the, eh, enemy his cavalier attitude seems to have been that he stood to reap a windfall if the radical right-wing wins AND if the democrats win then they can't do without him.

Guess what?
Nobody is indispensable. The democrats can do without him - the unreliable wind-vane.

Not that my opinion matters but thats BULLSH!T!!! Joe Lieberman should be run out of the caucus on a rail. This will just prove once again that the Democrats are spineless cowards who can't even keep a guy in line who doesnt have a D beside his name anymore. Seriously if he keeps his chairmanships then Harry Reid should be voted out of leadership. The way I look at it is one of them has to give up something. Either Lieberman's charimanship of Homeland Security or Reids status as Senate majority leader.

queencersei Says:
"it would be a good gesture to reconcile with Lieberman"
Do you believe in crime and punishment?
We do.
That is why we are dishing it out to al-Queda - including innocent village toddlers SUSPECTED of palling around with them. No mercy - and with no regard to, eh, persuasion.

And that is why in the end the Christian God is committed to dishing out some punishment to sinners -including kids thus born in sin. No mercy - and with no regard to, eh, persuasion.

" ..Christian God is committed to dishing out some punishment to sinners .."
And who wants to admonish god for being bellicose?
So may the games begin. Let us hear this Lieber-saboteur whine.

I'm was with the school of thought that Lieberman should be hobbled. But thinking from a president's perspective its going to be pretty hard to welcome McCain back into the fold and keep your promise to work with him while at the same time calling for the head of his supporter. Obama was the subject of Lieberman's betrayal and if he wants to show mercy may be there is something we can learn from this gesture. We say that what the country needs is bipartisanship -- well we know that the GOP in incapable of doing it so we have to lead by example and help them to fake it until they make it. I know its a drag to always be the one to take the high road but that's what it means to be the grown-up.

Dee
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It wont be hard at all. You knee cap him and take away Lieberman's chairmanships but you pledge to work with him just like you would work with any other republican. As you said Obama pledged to work with McCain too but you don't see HIM with a plum chairmanship. So whats the matter?

SG-- May be Obama plans to put Lieberman in charge of getting GOP votes from McCain and Graham otherwise he threatens to campaign in CT for the Democratic nominee. And its not like he wont face any punishment if he loses seniority on all the key sub-committees.

test

Why am I banned from Klein's thread?

Taking away the chairmanship is not about vindictiveness or retribution. It's about the power the committee will have to obstruct Obama in his agenda. It's about the future, not the past.
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People don't seem to understand the full power of the Homeland Security committee. Its counterpart in the House is the Oversight committee, which Henry Waxman is currently using to subpoena and investigate Bush and his policies. We know that Lieberman has strong feelings about Iran. If Obama goes the diplomacy route, don't think for one second that Lieberman will steer the committee to punish or bully Obama. Currently, there are 8 Dems, 8 Repubs and Lieberman as chair. If Lieberman acts against Obama, the Repubs will vote with him.
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Why leave him there to cause mischief? He knows he won't win re-election in 2012, so he will run wild the next 4 years. He won't be accountable to anyone.
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I'm convinced that Lieberman must be stripped of chairmanship and his seniority in the other 2 committees. He can't be left free to cause trouble for Obama's agenda.

Well it didn't take long for the dems to disappoint me. Someone behaves like Leiberman has for hte past year and there are no consequences? None?
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Dems are weaklings, and that's why the GOP has been treating them like weaklings for the past 30 years.
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"Please disrespect me! Please?! I promise I won't be mad!"
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Pathetic.

If you can't keep your own caucus in line from the get, how will you rally them in future?

Oh, God, no. Lieberman is thoroughly untrustworthy. He has never stayed bought, and I don't see him seeing anything except weakness in Obama if he's allowed to keep his chairmanship. Senator Gollum is more dangerous to his 'friends' than to his enemies; better to keep him in a position where he has a goal he wants to reach than a position of power from which to backstab the people who help him (and who he therefore resents and hates). Let him have the subcommittees, but have the whole crew vote on who gets the chairmanships.