A Final Word on Lieberman

Needless to say I was irritated but not at all surprised by the slap on the wrist Lieberman got from the Senate Democratic Caucus. In a word, the 42 Democrats who voted to allow Lieberman to keep his committee chairmanship are pathetic. And weenies. Make that two words. Of course, Joe, knowing he got away with murder, expressed not a syllable of an apology, and was anything but contrite. Indeed, in his televised interview tonight, he was defiant and denied that he was even punished.

If I was a Senator and was able to speak at the meeting, I would have had one simple question for my colleagues: Assuming John McCain had won and Joe was tapped for his cabinet -- which would have been extremely likely -- how do they think Lieberman would have felt, leaving and knowing full well that Connecticut GOP Gov. Jodi Rell was going to replace him was a Republican, in all likelihood Chris Shays? I think the answer is clear: the prospect would have delighted Lieberman, as it would have allowed him to stick a final knife in the back of his former party members.

And that is the man they just rewarded? Brilliant. I said it before, and I will say it again: this episode demonstrates just how weak Harry Reid and Senate Democrats are. When Lieberman threatened them with switching, Reid was terrified of any fight, and backed off instantly, all despite the fact that Lieberman had zero leverage from which to make threats. It's nuts.

A lot of people think that angry bloggers like Markos and others are being over the top in their calls to strip Lieberman. I concede that there have been times where Kos has been over the top in matters relating to Lieberman. However, he is dead-right here. This is not about punishment or retribution, or getting even. Lieberman exhibited continued and outrageous behavior for a Democratic member of the United States Senate. He was a part of the caucus, and he backed not just John McCain, but Republicans up for re-election in key races like Maine and Minnesota. This all is a non-starter. Lieberman should have been tossed immediately. But again, Harry Reid is a weenie.

Given that he may face tough re-election in two years, I wish Reid would be ousted from his perch, but I know that won't happen. He's too entrenched, and besides, if Democrats lacked the guts to toss Lieberman for his behavior, there is no way they would have the stomach to push out Reid.