'Lieberman Democrats' Have No Place In an Opposition Party

[LiviaOlivia]

Forward Forum
'Lieberman Democrats' Have No Place In an Opposition Party
By Ari Melber
March 3, 2006

Politicians of all stripes were outraged when news first broke about the Dubai port deal, but not Senator Joseph Lieberman. Declaring that it was "not yet" time to block the deal, Lieberman distinguished himself as one of the few legislators — and the only prominent Democrat — to support the Bush administration in the firestorm over Dubai Ports World's bid to take over terminal operations at six major American ports.

~snip~

To elucidate the substantive cost of capitulation, it is worth reviewing one of Lieberman's most infamous failures. In 2002, he introduced a Democratic proposal for a Homeland Security Department to reorganize government preparation for domestic attacks. It was initially opposed by Bush, who was more interested in using security as a campaign issue than for bipartisan public policy.

When opposing the idea of a Homeland Security Department became politically difficult, Bush reversed his stance and Lieberman naively pursued a "bipartisan compromise" with him. That created an opening for Bush to build credibility on the bill. He stole the idea, stifled its passage to politicize the issue for the midterm campaigns, and lied by claiming that legislation was delayed because "Democrats are not interested in the security of the American people."

And it all worked. The GOP won seats and passed a similar bill after the election. Republicans celebrated, Democrats mourned and Lieberman didn't seem to notice.

~snip~

http://www.forward.com/articles/7438

[MadMaddie]

1. I am so over Lieberman....

[mdmc]

2. I'm not (nice boondocks ava)

I still have a touch of Joementum... It is not like he is enrolled in a true opposition party anyway. I like his soft sell.

Love your avatar, bye the way.:kick:

[MadMaddie]

4. Thanks!!!

:hi:

[Larkspur]

3. The key paragraph in this article is

<blockquote>The grass roots of the Democratic Party see something that all the establishment politicians have not yet realized: Bipartisanship is dead for the moment, and there is no margin in making deals. The rules have changed. When you capitulate to the Republicans for promises of something down the road, you are being a fool. When you make a deal with them for personal reasons, you are selling out your party. When you use Republican talking points to make your argument, you are helping the other side.</blockquote>

[liberal N proud]

5. Can't the Democratic party just kick him out?

He no longer represents Democratic Ideals.

[primavera]

7. That's for his constituents to do

And, from what I hear, there are indeed a great many Democrats in Connecticut who would like to see a Democrat win the nomination for a change. We'll see if they make any headway.

[yurbud]

9. you can throw fruit at him

[depakid]

6. Republican enablers

until the party rids itself of them, and recommits to traditional Democratic values, it's destined to remain irrelevant in national politics.

Forget majority status- that's not even a remote possibility until the Dems clean house and show people that, as a party- they have the courage and political fortitude to stand up to the far right.

[Fiendish Thingy]

8. What opposition party?

I mean, besides Conyers, who else serves in the role of an opposition party with any consistency? Feingold maybe? Two people do not make an opposition party.
Think of:
the renewal of the patriot act
Alito,
HRes 635
Roberts
Gitmo torture
etc, etc,

little or no active opposition from the party...
and on the ports issue, there's no need for opposition, as most of the repubs are with us!
Don't mean to be a downer, I'm just saying, that's all...

Lieberman would be toast already if there was a strong opposition party that he stood apart from...

[Demeter]

12. Two Public Figures....And All of Us!

That truly is the start of a party.

[tom_paine]

10. I like to call them Vichy Dems

Full disclosure: I did NOT invent the term.

Considering how close the Busheviks are to the Nazis in the areas of lie frequency, media control, and propaganda (to name a few of the many similarities), it seems even more appropo.

[beltanefauve]

11. The message:

"If Democratic leaders listened to this insight, they would understand that many of their supporters yearn for confrontational leadership and unwavering allegiance to the party — reasonable requests that do not require major ideological shifts."

"It is a valiant effort finally to give the Democratic Party more discipline, all the more striking because the calls for unity are coming from the bottom up."

I believe they're talking about us, folks.

[mdmc]

13. is he a green? then what opposition party?