Liberman as Secretary of Defense

[erpowers]

It is a small possibility that Bush will try to appoint Joe Liberman as the Secretary of Defense. Liberman does not have any military experience at all. If Bush does try to appoint Liberman does anyone think Democrats can make the arguement that Bush should appoint another Democrats? Can Democrats claim that their are a number of other Democrats who have more military experience than Liberman and are more qualified for the job than Liberman.

Does anyone think Democrats should put forward John Murtha's name for the job? I think putting forward Murtha's name would totally distory Bush's plan. Murtha is a 37 year veteran who possiblly has great relations with the military. It seems that Bush is trying to say that he is a bi-partisan guy. If the Democrats proposed Murtha and Bush turned him down than he could no longer say he was bi-partisan. What could Bush use as his excuse as to why he would not want to appoint Murtha as the Secretary of Defense. I do not think Bush can make the argument that Murtha's support for bringing the troops home from Iraq prevents him (Murtha) from being the Secretary of State.

[asjr]

1. I don't think Bush would appoint Lieberman, but if

he did he would be able to mold him from Play-Dough. I can't recall of any other Dem who would take the job. With most of this Congress it seems it is self before country. There is no one there working for "the people."

[Tom Joad]

2. Or LIEberman will mold Bush. Still, expect hell from this racist,

imperialistic... un-nice man we call Joe.

[ewagner]

3. Nothing to do with the issue...

Bush* has absolutely no interest or intention of appointing anybody who could actually do the job. It's all political and there are several "upsides" for him:

First, he gets to appear bipartisan by appointing Lieberman. He isn't but that's the beauty of "perception management". Watch...just watch ... if Lieberman is appointed at least three prominent Dem's will "compliment the pResident on his efforts to reach out to Democrats". The press, naturally, will be all over that theme.

Second, and probably most importantly, a Republican Governor will appoint a Republican Senator as Lieberman's replacement. That brings Bush one vote closer to making the Senate "filibuster proof". He needs to do this before the '06 elections so he can sneak Alito through without a filibuster.

There's another "upside" in that it makes McCain a better Candidate for President by removing a pro-war Democrat from the running and leaving the pro-war side of the equation with the Repubs...that's a gamble but it holds appeal in certain sectors.

[Tom Joad]

6. I didn't think of your second point, that there will be one more R

vote in the senate (there may be cases where LIEberman does not vote Republican himself)So yes, that is not good in the short run. On the other hand, an appointed one will not really have the incumbent advantage when he has to stand in election, so it may be possible to actually get a Senator who opposes the militarism and racist foreign policy that LIEberman (and a repub successor) supports.

Your last thing point i disagree with. Yes, certainly Joe will see he has no support after losing a bloody war in Iraq (is there any other outcome?) but that still leave the hillary thing.

[MADem]

4. It is customary for Presidents in recent years to appoint a member of the

opposite party to the Cabinet, as a way of showing a bipartisan face to the nation. Monkey got a two-fer with Norm Mineta, a Democrat who is also Asian. Bill Clinton, as you recall, had a former ME GOP senator as SECDEF, Bill Cohen (who is not Jewish, though because of his name is often mistaken as a Jew...and who is married to the very lovely Janet Langhart, a Democrat and former Boston newswoman). He also had David Gergen on his staff.

The reason Bush would NEVER appoint Murtha is because Murtha's views do not, in any way, shape or form, match the priorities of his screwed up administration. You never put a hungry fox in your henhouse, unless you want to kill all the chickens. The chances of Murtha getting that job are about equal to the odds that he would appoint Michael Moore to the position.

[mrhopeforwes]

5. well, maybe Joe will let Clark lead by proxy

...if he had some common sense.

[IndianaGreen]

7. Gordon England as SecDef or as Deputy to Holy Joe

Gordon England is the current Deputy SecDef, Rummy's number two. England is a complete crook! He has been involved in shady deals with Unisys Corp., that cost the government tons of money with little to show for it.

[Dances with Cats]

8. Does Conecticut have a Dem Governor?

If so, PUT Lieberman in a cabinet job. Or a job as a greeter at WalMArt. Maybe a REAL democrat will be appointed to take his place.