Lieberman contra Cheney
By Michael J.W. Stickings
Well, at least the post-election pro-Obama Lieberman is a tad more admirable than the pre-election anti-Obama one. Back then, back when he was one of McCain's attack dogs, he took every opportunity to slam Obama and his Democratic colleagues in Congress (to the extent that he was a Democrat, which he really wasn't). But, oh, he wanted so badly to remain in power, and so he struck a deal to keep his desirable chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and the "independent" (i.e., non-, or even anti-) Democrat that he was got to remain in the Democratic caucus, and so got to remain a Democrat, if only a DINO. And while he has continued to be a thorn in Obama's side, if one without much credibility, and while many true Democrats continue to loath him, he has toned down his McCainiac Republicanism and softened his anti-Obama sentiments.
Recent case in point: On Face the Nation on Sunday, in response to Cheney's oft-repeated assertion that Obama has made America less safe, Lieberman said this:
Huh.
Well, I suppose that's the best we're going to get from Lieberman, whom I loathe, and while it's better than what we got from him last year, it's hardly an enthusiastic endorsement of the president. And does he not have a better answer than that? Seriously? And is "being very methodical" really the only praise this quasi-Democrat can give a Democratic president?
Sure, Lieberman is most concerned with himself and his own political survival -- and it behooves him now not to challenge Obama and the Democrat too aggressively -- but, still, it says something that Lieberman has come out against Cheney, if hardly decisively.
For a brief moment, on a Sunday morning in May, Lieberman joined the rest of us in reality against a frothing-at-the-mouth former vice president. It was just a single line -- "no, we're not less safe" -- and there was calculation behind it (and one can imagine him cringing on the inside), but at least it was, as uttered, true.
Well, at least the post-election pro-Obama Lieberman is a tad more admirable than the pre-election anti-Obama one. Back then, back when he was one of McCain's attack dogs, he took every opportunity to slam Obama and his Democratic colleagues in Congress (to the extent that he was a Democrat, which he really wasn't). But, oh, he wanted so badly to remain in power, and so he struck a deal to keep his desirable chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and the "independent" (i.e., non-, or even anti-) Democrat that he was got to remain in the Democratic caucus, and so got to remain a Democrat, if only a DINO. And while he has continued to be a thorn in Obama's side, if one without much credibility, and while many true Democrats continue to loath him, he has toned down his McCainiac Republicanism and softened his anti-Obama sentiments.
Recent case in point: On Face the Nation on Sunday, in response to Cheney's oft-repeated assertion that Obama has made America less safe, Lieberman said this:
No, we're not less safe. I suppose that's the short answer, and probably as good as I can give. I disagree with some of the things the administration has done. Even in the closing of Guantanamo, they're being very methodical at this point.
Huh.
Well, I suppose that's the best we're going to get from Lieberman, whom I loathe, and while it's better than what we got from him last year, it's hardly an enthusiastic endorsement of the president. And does he not have a better answer than that? Seriously? And is "being very methodical" really the only praise this quasi-Democrat can give a Democratic president?
Sure, Lieberman is most concerned with himself and his own political survival -- and it behooves him now not to challenge Obama and the Democrat too aggressively -- but, still, it says something that Lieberman has come out against Cheney, if hardly decisively.
For a brief moment, on a Sunday morning in May, Lieberman joined the rest of us in reality against a frothing-at-the-mouth former vice president. It was just a single line -- "no, we're not less safe" -- and there was calculation behind it (and one can imagine him cringing on the inside), but at least it was, as uttered, true.
Labels: 2008 election, Barack Obama, Dick Cheney, Joe Lieberman
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
8:45 AM
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