On Vermont Public Radio —
I’m one who does not feel somebody should be rewarded with a major chairmanship after doing what he did.."
But I felt that some of the attacks that he was involved in against Senator Obama …. I thought they went way beyond the pale, that they were not fair, that they were not legitimate, that they perpetuated some of these horrible myths that were run about Senator Obama
I would feel that had I done something similar that I would not be Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the next Congress
Imagine that, someone leading — instead of acting like a spineless mush-mouth. Here’s the audio (courtesy ThinkProgress):
Update: Greg Sargent has the transcript.



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Who Hoo go Leahy.
Git ‘em Pat!
Ha! Here’s my comment from down stairs:
And speaking of 60 votes, Leahy opens the “fuck slowride” gate a little more:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/…..erman-out/
See there? Adult talk.
More like this, please.
leahy’s my man. see, the flood gates are opening. it’s going to be a wonderful ride for ol joe.
And Pat is absolutely correct: he would not be Chairman of the JComm had he done the things Lieberman did. Will the Senate Democrats admit that Lieberman is a spiteful, bitter man who they fear will never vote with them if they take away his gavel? Will they admit that their arguments that he will abandon the Democratic Senate caucus presume him to be an unprincipled ego-driven hack?
Will they just admit that Cheney’s given Joe the goods on most of them, via his extensive wiretapping?
A real Democrat, that Senator Leahy person is.
they know joe is a cancer. only one way to deal with it.
This article says it all about the dems and Lieberman:
http://www.mediacurves.com/Blog/Stu/
Great News!
digg
Thank you Senator Leahy. Anybody else wanna step up?
more than that he is a STATESMAN! very rare now in the senate.
He should lose his chairmanship based entirely on his non-performance. If he was installed specifically to protect Chertoff’s ass (which he most certainly WAS), he’s been a complete success.
Send Chertoff and Lieberman packing, to the country where their loyalties will be most appreciated.
Leaving these two in their present positions is NOT “change.”
it will be an interesting weekend. decisions have been made.
Senator Feingold, you listening?
Oh, the linky say 404 not found :-(
Oh, the linky say 404 not found :-(
This was meant as a reply to puravida @3 sorry.
I just got off the phone with Leahy’s DC office to thank him. Guy who answered the phone new all about Leahy’s comments, that it was on Vermont public radio, and that I was grateful for the Senator’s remarks. Apparently, I was not the only caller.
Reddit this story too. Help get the word out that Joe must go!
Feingold is not on the Senate Caucus.
Way to go, Senator Leahy. Let’s hope this is the beginning of a
bandwagonpaddywagon.Sorry ’bout that:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/…..erman-out/
sic’m Pat -
Please explain…is it only the caucus or the full Senate that votes on Chairmanships? And who IS on the caucus?
I liked that Leahy was responding to a caller who told him that his daughter and he worked hard to help Obama get elected, and rewarding shameless Joe Lieberman with a chairmanship would feel like an obvious betrayal.
What? Of course he is. The Caucus is all the Dems in the Senate.
1,826 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
Citizen Hamsher and the Firepup Freedom Fighters:
Wow Citizen Hamsher, you and Sister Maddow are a veritable juggernaught against the fascism of smoke and mirrors that seems to have fightened the Democratic leadership right out of their underwear. Now tell me, has the willingness of the oligarchy to allow the “Big Three” to file bankruptcy in order to break the unions finally scared the Democratic leadership straight? And do you agree with me that Obama is playin the Liebermann scene out in order ta get Reid down ta the mat too?
You and Rachel rule our world, Sister Jane!!
KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION, THEY ARE PLAYIN’ THIS ONE OUT TO THE END!!
only controlling party votes.
pat makes me proud sometimes but then he seems to stop short of the goal post
the fact that joe is even considered as keeping his chairmanship is not only a reward for the damage he caused obama and down candidates, the damage he caused the entire democratic party
and the damage he brought to his oversight committee in it’s lack of oversight
joe, this door’s for you
I believe this is the list, could be wrong.
Click on Jane’s “Just say no to Joe”
Baucus, MaxDMT (Senate)
Biden, Joseph R., Jr.DDE (Senate)
Bingaman, JeffDNM (Senate)
Boxer, Barbara DCA (Senate)
Byrd, Robert C.DWV (Senate)
Clinton, Hillary RodhamDNY (Senate)
Conrad, KentDND (Senate)
Christopher J.Dodd CT (Senate)
Durbin, RichardDIL (Senate)
Harkin, TomDIA (Senate)
Inouye, Daniel K.DHI (Senate)
Kennedy, Edward M.DMA (Senate)
Kerry, John F.DMA (Senate)
Kohl, HerbDWI (Senate)
Leahy, Patrick J.DVT (Senate)
Levin, CarlDMI (Senate)
Pryor, Mark L.D AR (Senate)
Reid, HarryDNV (Senate)
Stabenow, DebbieDMI (Senate)
Yes, that’s what I meant.
You may be right.
I thought it was the list of 19 on “Just Say No to Joe”
?????
That’s the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, not the Democratic Caucus. They’ll be voting on Short Ride, but they’ll all be listening to the rest of the members of the caucus.
There is a dem caucus and a repub caucus
The 19 are the steering committee.
Let’s see Lieberman was chairman of a powerful committee that did not investigate abuses; he campaigned not only against Obama but against Franklin; and he indicated that Obama could be a danger to Israel. Why is this even a question. Lieberman, of course, can caucus with the democrats but a chairmanship of Homeland Security, I think not. We’ll see how Joe feels about the democratic party with his chairmanship stripped.
There should be 51 on the dem caucus until the new congress (including Liarman and Sanders)
yes, and the controller selects the committees. it’s dems.
Linky:
http://democrats.senate.gov/st…..x.cfm?pg=6
Citizen Hamsher and the Firepup Freedom Fighters:
Does anyone else think that the “magic 60″ number is jest a ploy to keep folks energized until the final numbers are in…nobody really thinks that a majority of 60 Democrats in the Senate, with or without Likuderman, is enough to stop a fillibuster, do they? Democrats are gunna need a few Republicans for any cloture with the 4 or 5 Blue Dogs masquerading as Dems.
Well, if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that the Democrats are always united on every issue that comes before them.
/s
I think the rethugs get to appoint their membership based on a lesser percentage. Dems will choose chairmen and rethugs ranking member
50 – Unless Obama’s replacement is named and sworn in immediately on Monday.
that’s the way it works. numbers are everything. one reason the congress has been stalled for a couple of years.
You are right
Ok, so what I don’t understand is why it is so important to the dems to appease Lieberweasel so that he will “continue” to vote with the dems, particularly when he has already said outright that he has no intention of participating in a filibuster-proof majority. Obviously there is something else going on. . .
there is. have you heard of the israeli lobby?
OT
Induction of first 4-star army general (Dunwoody) just conclusing in cspan.
Oy, make that first FEMALE 4-star.
wish we had more of em. maybe less wars.
Please tell me Leahy is the good cop to Obama’s bad cop.
mixed up “good” and “bad”.
She’s to be in charge of materiel, ie arming & equiping soldiers.
I assume that glass ceiling breakers must be even more militant than comparable males, just like they have to be more compentent in every area of their jobs. So I agree that with more women leaders in the military we will have less wars only when some tipping point is reached: 50%?
right on. bama wants to be able to stay above these issues. he’s gonna play ole joe for all he is worth. poor joe.
Elaborate, please? I don’t see how appeasing Lieberweasel benefits the dems at all. And, although there are plenty of pro Israel dems, the outgoing neocons are the center of power for pro Isreal crowd. No benefit to dems that I can see.
If O wants to stay above the fray, why is he interfering?
FINALLY ONE leader…Go Senator Leahy
exactly, it’s a “support” function. that’s as far as women will get. better than nothin i guess.
Another Q. If it’s the 60 seat thingy that makes some want Lie to remain in D caucus (I dispute that logic but that’s another story), why don’t the Ds WAIT until the other senate races are decided before holding the vote on Lie?
who said he is? just takin the high road for public consumption that’s all.
Obama is certainly interfering by making statements favorable to Lie. Keeping above the fray means keeping his mouth shut, which he certainly hasn’t done.
Yeah. Something else is going on. . .
A central tenet of modern Republicanism is that no matter how badly you act there are no consequences. Bush, Cheney, Libby, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Addington down to the Goodlings and Sampsons, nobody is called to account. That Lieberman should lose his chairmanship should even be in question shows how much this idea of impunity has penetrated all aspects of the political process, including the Democratic Party. We should not have to be talking about this. It should have been communicated to Lieberman the day he endorsed John McCain that come the new Congress his chairmanship was gone and his place in the caucus in jeopardy. That it is all still in play 10 days after the election is a joke, one that reflects increasingly badly on Democrats generally. Is Lieberman really worth the price of tarnishing the Democratic brand before the new Congress and President even begin?
this election was not a mandate. this country is christian. there is still a huge religious undertow. why do you think gore chose him? for his looks?
that’d be President-Elect Obama ..senator …
Any hypotheses (or wild guesses) as to what it might be?
okay, in your opinion. it is not going to affect the outcome and just might put him on better terms for future relations. he is still mighty dangerous.
There is a law or rule prohibiting women from being in combat units. It is causing problems in that women are “temporarily assigned” to combat units and are being screwed out of benefits etc. Law needs to be changed.
Women continue to be excluded from combat arms which is traditionally the route to leadership positions in the Army. This is an increasingly tenuous and hypocritical distinction in theaters like Iraq and Afghanistan where all soldiers can find themselves in combat despite their rating.
Its much worse than that. I understand there are a lot of women drivers and drivers have been very much the targets of IEDs. In an insurgency/civil war there is no specific combat units or battlefields.
Heh. I owe you a coke. My comment would have been posted before yours if I weren’t stuffing my face with potato chips.
you are serious?
obviously this election was a mandate, of that there is no question
the question is how many people fall for the propaganda from right wing media, that is the only question
i’m with ya. don’t see it happening.
Isn’t it better to keep a sanctimonious backstabber in front of you than behind you?
al gore chose lieberman to his own peril, lieberman cost al the election, of this there is no doubt
he chose al because he wanted to appease the “anti clinton” rubbish right wing media was promoting.
go leahy
that’s leadership we can believe in
as crazy antsy as any chance of lieberman hanging on to his chairmanship makes me feel … until proven otherwise by hard events i cannot rule out obama is probably *still* playing chess and will continue thusly
my gut is now telling me joey is in really big really real trouble
They are also going out on footpatrols so that if they encounter women that need to be searched etc. they can do it,
absolutely. we need the next election or TWO to get enough power to do what needs to be done. hearts and mind of thugs are not even close to being reasonable.
bingo!
ya, I believe the saying goes, keep your friends close, your enemies closer.
that’s why I would not mind one bit to see joe in some cabinet position, or possibly ambassador to israel
*sigh* I remember thinking that Lieberman was such a bad choice for Gore. Not saying that pro Israel candidates aren’t important to both parties (right or wrong), but I don’t see that it fits in with the weasel getting to keep his gavel.
thank you california
off to more work all, see again L8tr
Joe’s response to Leahy, “Go f*ck yourself.”
Wow, he really is a Dick.
sorry, al cost al the election. he is just now becoming a decent person. hell, informed people knew he couldn’t win. losing his own state? comeon.
Lieberman was campaigning for the GOP hoping to be rewarded with an important cabinet position in the Mccain administration. He threw his lot in with the republicans and they lost. Joe Lieberman lost campaigning vigorously for all the GOP candidates running for office in the last election. Joe was looking out for Joe, he gambled and lost, so why should he be rewarded with a committee chairmanship in the democratic controlled congress? His senate caucus vote is not as important as the principles Obama campaigned on. if the democrats believe in these principles they should be confident they can pull moderate republicans over to support them and the new president to vote with them on critical issues that their constituents care about getting passed. Time for the congress to grow some nuts and prove they can work together to bring about change. If Obama is the leader he claims to be, this should not be a huge hurdle to jump.
Dexter Filkins suggested that women soldiers are also, “cleverly”, as he put it, being used as ‘distractions’. Especially if they are blondes.
… and politico is reporting that summers is off the list now for treasury, so the tea leaves say obama & co are listening to the drumbeats of the people
and, yeah, obama has the biggest mandate in years, as i hear tell of it, regardless of religious red herrings
it doesn’t fit now at all. political winds shift quickly in dc. joe is toast. he just doesn’t know it. yet.
I was gonna say…
Hell, I’ve flipped off more than one 4 star. Not that they could see me. *g*
Meant to say, eCahn, that was the first time this morning that I heard Kashkari speak. I was seriously unimpressed. I wish they had hit even harder about the lack of transparency, backroom deals, and cronyism. Why for instance was Goldman that very recently became a bank holding company included in the bank bailout right away?
Given Joe’s obsessions, I would think he would prefer being Israel’s Ambassador to us.
Oh thank you for reminding me of that particularly disgusting revelation. Found Filkins to a surprisingly empty suit. Had previously found his reporting fairly good. No more.
amb would be perfect. out of the country. good bye joe.
Not sure how someone could distinguish sex or haircolor when they are wearing body armor and helmuts unless they are on our side.
Safer that way. What would the likely punishment be for flipping off a general?
Lieberman has the stature of a dust mite.
oh, how the mite-y have fallen.
Unfortunately, no. Jane made a good argument yesterday for incumbency protection and to mitigate the growing power of the netbase. The Dem party is basically telling us to go Cheney ourselves. But that can’t be all, IMO.
Ambassador to Fenwick?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or9C-gt4TpA
I seem to recall doing that a few times myself.
Hell, I even complained about an admiral (CinCPAC) ripping off the Air Force loud enough that he had to re-pay some funds.
you mean that you dislike sex being used as an instrument for war? see, that’s why the military can’t use women in combat./s
There are some jungle islands in the pacific that I would prefer.
We are hardly on their radar screens. That hypothesis reminds me of the flee floating down the river on his back, saying: Raise the drawbridge, I’ve got a HO.
Lose a stripe. Insubordination and conduct unbecoming.
This is known as the Paulson exception. See if you are totally wrong and really screw things up, you should be handsomely rewarded. If you are a bank, you get billions. If you are a WATB, you get an important Senate chairmanship. Sort of reminds of the planet Bizarro in old Superman comic books but there you are that’s what our government has become.
Showin’ yer age with that one.
It wasn’t so much what the military was doing, because I wouldn’t expect any less from them. It was Filkins attitude toward it, which was: What a clever idea.
New post
i remember peter ustinoff in that role. joe wouldn’t be interested.
i wish it were true.
Oldie but goodie.
are you kidding, perris mio?! how is that good for Middle East peace making the warmnonger Lieberman ambassador to Israel? please reassess your position, amigo mio.
i know. took me by surprise. see, that is what happens. it’s called Desensitization.
We had a old VN fisherman who’s info was always good. We got a new Lieutenant (Captain in the Army) who was convinced the old man was a double and was gonna take him out. Couple of us told him if anything happened to that old fisherman we’d shoot him. He ran to the CO whining. The skipper told him if anything happened to that old man he’d let us.
Well, however it was ‘managed’, Filkins felt that the ‘display’ an effective ’strategy’. He did not elaborate.
I am merely reporting.
I take no moral stand.
It is too confusing.
;~D
Good on both of you.
Heh. Thought sock puppeting here was forbidden. *g*
Maybe I’m not representing Jane’s argument well.
http://firedoglake.com/2008/11…..tes-panic/
If that Lieutenant had been army, he probably never would have made it beyond Butter Bar status.
He didn’t last long. Tried playin’ John Wayne and Charlie ended his career.
Has anyone involved the CT Dem party in the decision on “what happens” to their “quasi-Dem” Lieberman? Bc it seems to me that the Dems in the state he purportedly represents should have some say – and they may very well want him to stay on, I don’t know. But he is a Senator from CT and the CT Dem party should be prominently involved in the discussion IMO. fwiw.
Sounds like what would have happened to him if he’d been Army.
The gung-ho types always seemed to forget that John Wayne was an actor.
Have to agree. The netroots are barely on the radar screen of public opinion unless of course it’s to raise money. Flea
I’ve heard John Wayne accused of many things but acting wasn’t one of them. *Insert rim shot*