That's what he is. He's a textbook example.
A fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group, such as a nation, from within, to the aid of an external enemy.
He infiltrated our caucus, but he was willing to sell out his own reform idea, the Medicare buy-in, to achieve the larger goal of serving his insurance industry bosses. I've been reading a history of the CIA and just last week finished a chapter on a case where a KGB mole wormed his way up the ranks of the CIA in order to serve a different Red State's masters.
The gullible fools with the bureaucratic mindset fell for it hook, line, and sinker. They didn't understand that their logical world view their faith in "playing by the rules" wasn't going to be shared by a true believer with a grudge and a fat financial incentive for delivering a coup de grace. A lot of American spies and field assets died because of that mole.
In the years ahead, and outside of my little analogy, a lot of Americans are going to die because our Senate leaders trusted Joe Lieberman. Never again. Kick him out; kick him out now. We're at war over healthcare and he's working for the enemy. Kill the 60 vote rule, enact the nuclear option, and make our remaining 59 caucus members fear crossing the leadership.
I hate saying this. I believed in a civil process; I believed in reasoning with those Americans I disagreed with; I believed in the rule book. Hell, I still believe in the rule book. I still believe in reason, but it can only happen with reasonable people. Joseph I. Lieberman just rewrote the damn book. He showed he's not a reasonable person. He's using his position of trust and power to exact petty revenge, even if it kills a few hundred uninsured people who might've gotten diagnosed and treated had he played by the old rules; the rules he was pretending to play by.
He's our
Aldrich Ames, our
Robert Hanssen. I wish him well in the Republican caucus. I don't think he'll have much trouble embracing their new Ten Commandments. Back over on our side of the planet, I'm personally looking for a way to get more involved in this fight. Someone give me a suggestion.