Joeidiocy

You can watch Lieberman talk about his willingness to kill health care reform over the public option. I don't think you should though. Frankly, I just don't believe him. And I don't believe Harry Reid, either.

I was in the camp of people who thought that Lieberman shouldn't be punished for his endorsement of McCain. I was very wrong. Lieberman now says he will endorse other Republicans in upcoming election. I don't see how you allow a guy like that to remain in any sort of position of power. I just don't see it. If he wants to be an independent, that's fine. But make him an independent.

This isn't about chasing out moderates, or chasing out independents. It's about chasing out sanctimonious politicians who'd rather indulge their bruised feelings, than play their position. It's worth re-reading Rick Hertzberg definitive commentary on what motivates Joe Lieberman. Here's Hertzberg discussing Lieberman's half-assing during the Gore campaign:

Lieberman's seat was up that year, and he decided to run simultaneously for senator and Vice-President. Lyndon Johnson had taken out a similar insurance policy forty years earlier, but there was a difference. The governor of Texas in 1960 was a Democrat, so when Johnson resigned his Senate seat after the election a Democrat was appointed to replace him. The governor of Connecticut in 2000 was a Republican. If Lieberman had made way for the state's popular Democratic attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, who would have won easily, and if the Supreme Court had allowed Gore to take office, then the new Senate would have split 50-50, with Vice-President Lieberman breaking the tie in favor of the Democrats. But, by insisting on having it both ways, Lieberman single-handedly guaranteed that the new Senate would be Republican--either by a 51-49 margin under a Gore Administration or (as it turned out) by the tie-breaking vote of Vice-President Dick Cheney. This was more than just routine political expediency. It was what was known that year as a character issue.

A character issue. Joe isn't out for "real America." Joe isn't out for "the political center." Joe isn't out for moderates. Joe Lieberman is going for delf. It's that simple.