Irregular Joe

Greenwald goes in for the kill:

Our political system is afflicted by many, many problems.  A lack of bipartisanship hasn't been one of them.  At least during the Bush era, the Beltway political establishment has been fueled by trans-partisan cooperation and internal allegiance far more than by any ideological differences, policy debates, or partisan warfare.  Do the last eight years -- defined by George Bush's virtually unimpeded political agenda -- leave any doubt about that?   

That's why the outcome of this Joe Lieberman "controversy" is anything but surprising.   Having Democrats overlook Lieberman's extremist views and reward him is anything but "change."  That's perfectly consistent with -- not a departure from -- how Washington works:  political disagreements can be expressed on the rhetorical level but they're virtually always subordinated to the far greater imperative of bipartisan harmony within the political class.