The sliver lining of the Lieberman vote

[JohnnyCougar]

1. Lieberman will have pressure to side with Democrats even more than he has in the past now that they have forgiven him for his unacceptable behavior. If he doesn't fall in line now, it makes him look really bad and obnoxious.

2. 60 Senate seats is looking more and more attainable each day. It looks like Alaska is in the bag, there are some good signs for Franken, and Chambliss is now getting hit with a scandal. While getting exactly 60 Democrats in the Senate doesn't mean all of them will vote to end a filibuster all of the time, it's one less vote we have to win over, and it's one less Democrat in a conservative state that has to put his butt on the line to vote with the party on a controversial issue.

3. It's only for 4 years. After that, we can and will vote Lieberman out completely and replace him with a real Democrat.

This move is about moving forward and not looking back. It's about passing the legislation we need during the next 4 years. While Lieberman is a jerk of the highest order, he can currently help us.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. It may be only for two years...if the mid-term elections go well.

[Cha]

2. A "sliver" of a

lining? Perhaps. lie-berman is a pawn and I take the Dems have him right where they want him?

[KharmaTrain]

3. Not 4 Years...Only 2...

And there's no guarantees he keeps his chairmanships for the entire time. If he were to really screw over the party, he could be stripped of his committee. This deal is only good through the next Congress that ends with the 2010 elections.

Obama now has a big marker on Traitor Joe...let's see if this gamble pays off. Will Joey vote with the Democrats 90% of the time as Reid claims? Will he sit on his hands if a vote comes up about Iraq or Israel or create trouble?

I've long said Joementun was irrelevant and nothing that happened today says any different.

[CTyankee]

16. Uh, he was re- elected in 06, I know. I worked for Lamont. n/t

[KharmaTrain]

18. This Is About His Chairmanship, Not His Seat

Yes, his seat is up in 2012 and it's up to the fine folks of Connecticut at that time to determine if he's redeemed himself. I donated to Ned Lamont and hope he makes a run again in 2012, but the thread is about his "exonteration" today. His committee chairmanship is only for the term of the upcoming Senate, 2 years. If he steps out of line, we'll be back to this song and dance in another two years.

[CTyankee]

20. Right, sorry. I am in great pain today. Just too much. Please forgive.

I basically want to forget this guy. He's never here anyway. He doesn
I am sick at heart...

[KharmaTrain]

27. No Probs...

I'm pissed as well...I just fake it better on here than others.

He should have been stripped of Homeland Security, but c'est la vie...neither of us were present to know what real deals were made and time will tell if this is a new page or if our suspicions were correct. At least he will be on a short leash.

Be assured I will not forget his traitorous acts and will gladly work to kick is sad ass out, once and for all, in 2012.

Cheers...

:hug:

[CTyankee]

28. Ya know, Lamont was such a "children's crusade" when I think about it.

All those kids, the Yalies at his hq in New Haven and some French kid who was in New Haven just for the summer (???) who just did data entry cuz his English wasn't good enough for calling...

I called on weekday afternoons so I got the Senior List. Great. It was intersting trying to explain Ned Lamont to those folks. Thank god I'm so old myself, it helped tell those cogers what for...

Oh, old war stories. Here we are with realpolitik. The way the cookie crumblies.

OK Joe, as long as you vote to assure choice for my granddaughters...

[KharmaTrain]

29. We All Learned A Lot

And that campaign was a big step in what turned into a large Democratic win in Nov. 4th. Yep, I look back on Ned and Hackett's race in Ohio as growing pains...the first steps in the power of the netroots in flexing some muscle. A lot of valuable lessons were learned on the streets of New Haven and Hartford that paid big in dozens of campaigns this year. So while it seems for naught, I'll always look back on Ned's run in '06 as being a transformational one...the problem was the DSCC sure didn't, nor did the corporate media, they saw him as someone crashing the boys club. Hopefully we get another shot at this one and do it right. The bench in the state will be deeper in '12 with the three CDs in firm Democratic hands. It's such a delight to see that weasel Shays gone.

The deal now is to pivot from campaign to governing mode. Many here can't differentiate...and it's a mistake the GOOPers made that has all but destroyed their corrupt party. This new administration needs to show results and the first 6 months will be crucial. We saw Clinton make a lot of mistakes during that time that cost him the Congress in '94, I see Obama trying to avoid making both mistakes. I hope his new dynamic works...we can't afford for it not to.

I'm an old campaign warhorse myself. The other day I saw Abner Mikva, a close Obama confidant, on teevee...I worked on his campaign in 1972. It kinda brought things full circle for me. I also saw my son become very politically active in this past election, as well as many of his friends, and I feel real good about the generations up and coming. Many have that same fire and dedication we did.

Cheers...

[yourguide]

4. what chambliss scandal???????

[JohnnyCougar]

7. I don't know how huge it is, but it looks bad for him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXlrRyvCsj4

[AlCzervik]

8. no way!! What a douche.

[AlinPA]

5. I don't see what can keep him from voting with McCain/republicans on everything.

[JohnnyCougar]

6. Democrats can still drop him like he's hot whenever they feel like it.

And effectively end Lieberman's career as an elected politician.

[Upton]

10. Yeah, but they won't

they'd rather kiss his ass.

[JohnnyCougar]

11. It doesn't hurt to give him another chance to come home.

You may win, or you may lose. Kicking him out of the caucus means you guarantee that you lose with the only positive coming out of it is that you got revenge. That's not the change we need.

[Voice for Peace]

9. I only want to read silver linings threads these days.

thank you. :fistbump:

[Overseas]

12. Beautifully said! A brilliant 1-2-3 on it. And the big 60 would be great.

60 seats would allow the Obama Administration to get their basic outline passed. The structure they need to move the country forward. Get the framework passed to move us all forward quickly, to bypass some of the dire side effects of the reckless Republican years.

So I liked your encapsulating the whole drama into a sled, moving the agenda forward ASAP, with the least friction, so it's a luge sled-- Joe can hop on and help propel us where we all know we need to go.

So even too, dragging along the Ducky Penguin McPanic could help. He knows we need to leap frog technologies to jump-start alternative energy because the glaciers have been melting at a far accelerated rate and change is urgently required.

We've always been talking about the more genteel versions of global warming, where things heat up gradually, and climate change is more subtly occurring. But sadly, the effects seem to be accelerating. Glaciers we expected to hold for longer have cracked and broken and melted faster than expected. We were hoping to avoid the jolting of the ocean currents into a halting pattern. They seem to have driven the climate and could jerk to a halt and unknown next pattern. I'll have to get my update on An Inconvenient Truth at TED's website.

At any rate, McPanic was welcoming that sort of action and could thereby redeem his legacy by forthrightly passing landmark legislation to move the USA into a new era of sustainable resource use. Alternative energy and music and art classes back in the schools. To illustrate the ways entertainment can be greened-- dance for one another. belt out some tunes together.

And make those green beans look darling on the plate.

[scarletwoman]

13. Edit: I was wrong about how many years until Joe faces re-election. And I STILL love your post.

Great points all. I feel much better for having read what you wrote.

Thank you,
sw

[LynneSin]

22. it's 4 years - Joe won back in 2006 when we got our majority

which means we're stuck until 2012 (and I believe that Joe was also running for senate when he was Gore's VP pick too - which keeps it on a 6 year cycle

[scarletwoman]

24. Seriously? Oh, man... I could have sworn it was the 2004 election, but you're correct. Oh well. nt

[mokawanis]

14. Reagrding your first point

Since when did Joe Shithead mind looking "really bad and obnoxious"?

[BlooInBloo]

15. There is no silver lining. It's complete unmitigated bullshit.

[LiberalColombian]

17. Lieberman doesn't support us on the only issues that matter

The War in Iraq and the Patriot Act.

He's a shrill for the Neocons. Nothing more. Nothing less.

[CTyankee]

23. He IS prochoice. The ONLY silver lining and one that I HAVE to

support (I have 2 granddaughters) but I just detest the guy. I worked for Ned Lamont and that was a great experience but I learned a lot from the experience...

[AndyTiedye]

19. Lieberman Will be a Reliable Vote to Sustain Republican Filibusters

We haven't got 60 votes, even if all the contested Senate elections go our way.
Lieberman will vote with the Republicans on cloture every time.
He has already said as much.

[JohnnyCougar]

30. Just remember

The last two years, Lieberman held all the cards because he was the one vote that sustained the Democratic majority in the Senate.

These next four years, the rest of the Democrats hold all the cards. If Lieberman wants his Senate career to continue, he's going to cooperate with the party. Letting him keep his cherished chairmanship also gives the Democratic caucus power over him, because they can take it away at any minute if he doesn't fall in line. And without that chairmanship and four years of mending fences, he's definitely toast in 2012.

[LynneSin]

21. Just remember what's going to hit us right away - Stevens & Ginsberg retirements

and Joe has a strong rating with Naral.


He may stick with us or he may screw us - but if we can get that 60 and stick together on these nominations then it was all worth it.

[COLGATE4]

25. He'll vote to sustain a Rethug filibuster on the USSC appointments

and there's not a damn thing we can do about it.

[scarletwoman]

26. We can't know that for sure, not without functioning time machines, anyway. (nt)