For your consideration: Lieberman Looks to Make Detainee Photos Indefinitely Secret Sen. Lieberman (I-CT) has submitted an amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009 (S. 2346) which would withhold any “photograph relating to the treatment of individuals engaged, captured, or detained after September 11, 2001, by the Armed Forces of the United States” if the Secretary of Defense certifies that the release of the photos could endanger citizens or the armed forces. This incredibly broad statement could cover photos of all detainees captured in any future actions taken by the U.S. military. If passed, these government records which belong to the people would no longer be available under FOIA ... http://www.ombwatch.org/node/10028 Of course, Joe would have us hide pictures of Katrina victims, Jewish holocaust victims, and deaths in Darfur... or would he? We've really got to reconcile our responses to fear with hate and loathing with how we can once more stand tall in the world's court of public opinion. Nobody said it would be easy.
One other interesting point from Culvahouse's talk: Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, a prominent supporter of McCain's during the campaign, was apparently a serious contender for the vice-presidential nod. But, because Lieberman is not a registered Republican, there would have been legal issues in some states. "Five states have sore loser statutes... [making] it very difficult for someone who's not a member of the Republican Party to become the vice presidential nominee if they only switch parties to become a Republican shortly before the convention," Culvahouse said, according to Politico's Jonathan Martin. "So you were looking at going to the Supreme Court, which is not particularly appetizing."
Just saw his name listed on the Rachel Maddow show along with other conservative Democrats. Lieberman is back to his usual self -- obstruct change in favor of Main Street.
Lieberman, Meet Lieberman By now you know that Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, did in fact play king-maker in the Israeli election and, after much maneuvering, threw his support to Netanyahu which resulted in Bibi being asked to form the Israeli government. (Livni's Kadima courted Lieberman as well and in doing so, lost the support of Labor and Meretz. )
So what's Avigdor's next move? Campaigning for Minister of Foreign Affairs. Step one in that campaign is what Ha'aretz calls a "global charm offensive." This PR effort is aimed at convincing us that, in the words of Daniel Ayalon, Yisrael Beiteinu member and former ambassador to the US, "Lieberman is not a monster."
And guess who is the first US politician to help out this new rebranding effort? None other than our very own Joe Lieberman!
SNIP
Oh boy, we have 2 scumbag Liebermans to deal with now!
Juan Cole thinks that Netanyahu's election could spell the beginning of the end for Israel, if it keeps listing to the right...
Netanyahu has vowed to abandon negotiations with the Palestinians, and says he will expand the program of Israeli colonization of the Palestinian West Bank.
Netanyahu is a train wreck for the Middle East. He is willing to ally with Avigdor Lieberman, an open racist who is gunning for the 20 percent of Israel's citizen population that is Palestinian. Netanyahu wants a war with Iran, and when the Israeli Right wants a war nowadays, they usually want our children to fight and die in it for them. The 1996 "Clean Break" Neoconservative policy paper advocating a war on Iraq was written for Netanyahu. (They are not satisfied with picking our pockets for their weapons and colonization projects). Netanyahu will further oppress and brutalize the Palestinians, which he will keep in a slave-like condition of statelessness, and from whom he will steal what little property they have left. Last time he was in office he went around poisoning his enemies, for all the world like the Bulgarian KGB in the old days.
Netanyahu is the devil's gift to international terrorism, which his policies will provoke. Fifty years from now, the turn of Israel to the hard right will be looked back upon as the beginning of the end of Israel, the time when the crucial decisions were made that rendered it impossible for the Israelis to stay in the Middle East in the face of the increasing popular anger Netanyahu will have provoked in 1.5 billion Muslims. No, Israel cannot be defeated on the battleground. But the French colons in Algeria were never really defeated on the battleground, either, nor were the thousands of Britons who had ruled India.
Bysiewicz and legislative leaders call for special election to fill future U.S. Senate vacancies in Connecticut
By Secretary of the State's Office
Secretary of the State Points to Senate Vacancies in Illinois, New York as Evidence of the Need for Long Overdue Election Reform.
Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz today joined the incoming House Chair of the Government, Administration and Elections Committee, State Representative James Spallone (D-Essex) in calling for the adoption of a law designating a special election to fill any future vacancies in Connecticut's U.S. Senate seats. In the case of a Senate vacancy, current law provides for the governor to appoint a successor to fill out the remainder of a term or until a special election can be called on the date of the next even-numbered general election.
Every few weeks The Day prints a notice on the editorial pages titled "How to contact your elected legislators in Washington." Sen. Joe Lieberman is always listed in the notice as a Democrat.
On Nov. 19 The Day ran a story on Sen. Lieberman in which reporter Ted Mann referred to "Joe Lieberman, D-Conn." And in Morgan McGinley's column last Sunday he also referred to Joe Lieberman as "Connecticut's junior Democratic senator."
Although Joe Lieberman caucuses with Connecticut's Democratic senators, he ran for the Senate as an independent, not a Democrat, and he's not a member of Connecticut's Democratic Party delegation. The least the Day could do is acknowledge this fact and change the (D) after his name to an (I) when doing a story on him.
EDITOR'S NOTE: SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN REMAINS A REGISTERED MEMBER OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. AS LONG AS SEN. LIEBERMAN IS A REGISTERED DEMOCRAT, THE DAY PLANS TO IDENTIFY HIS PARTY AFFILIATION AS DEMOCRATIC.
The Day newspaper is posing this online question. There are many replies, but for some of you it too may be a place to vent a bit and put in your two cents.
...with a poll in the field this week in Connecticut, we'll soon see how much his embrace of Bush/McCain has affected his job ratings back home. Results due Friday.
And Kos sees that Obama is using the term "compromise". That means that Lieberman can stay in the Dem Caucus but he must give up something in turn. Kos cites a Washinton Post article mentioning a compromise solution.
A possible alternative would be to give Lieberman the chairmanship of the Small Business Committee, which has one of the lowest profiles on Capitol Hill. Its current chairman, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), is set to move into a more prestigious chairmanship. Other senior members of the Small Business panel already chair more powerful committees, which would allow Lieberman to become chair if he is removed from his current post.
While that chairmanship would be a step down for Lieberman, he still would receive an annual budget that would allow him to maintain additional staff and would continue to participate in important meetings, such as the weekly gathering of committee chairmen hosted by Reid.
I bet this reporter got a "trial balloon" leaked to him to test the waters.
Kos has a diary, Obama team leaves Lieberman decision up to Reid, that makes me think that Obama and the Senate Dems are using Lieberman as a measuring stick to judge Harry Reid's leadership. If Reid does not punish Lieberman in some significant way, then Reid is basically saying that Democrats can trash Democrats and betray the pary with inpunity. Rewarding treachery by allowing Lieberman to retain his plum committee chair and act like nothing happened sends the signal that Harry Reid is no leader.
Here's the excerpts from linked articles in Kos' diary that make me think Lieberman is really a test for Harry Reid's leadership abilities
Obama's spokesperson
"We aren't going to referee decisions about who should or should not be a committee chair," Obama transition spokesperson Stephanie Cutter emailed me, in response to questions about Obama's stance on Lieberman's future.
here's Hillary Clinton
Two Clinton aides said she is not making calls on Lieberman's behalf. "Hillary isn't doing anything," one said. "She is leaving it up to Reid."
Kos: So Obama's team has left the decision up to Reid. Clinton -- who serves on the steering committee that decides committee leadership -- has left it up to Reid.
It's on Reid's plate. If Lieberman keeps his committee leadership, it'll be Reid's fault. Everyone has dumped the decision on his lap, and it should be an easy enough one to make.
More from Greg Sargent
My take: By taking no position, Obama is in effect throwing the decision over to Senator Harry Reid, making it possible for the Senate to take action against Lieberman. But his statement -- paradoxically -- could also give cover to those who want to do nothing about him, making it easier for him to hang on to the post.
And Jame Hamsher has the key analysis.
One point I think needs to be made. This isn't about Joe Lieberman maintaining membership in a country club as a matter of feel-good "bipartisanship." There's actually a job that needs doing here, and when Chris Dodd and Evan Bayh say that they want Lieberman to retain his chairmanship, they are saying that the extraordinary waste, graft, greed and cronyism that have built the Department of Homeland Security to a bloated, ineffectual taxpayer-funded behemoth under Joe Lieberman is just fine.
According to Dana Bash of CNN, Lieberman was not offered a subcommittee by Reid as was earlier reported, but rather Chairmanship of Veteran's Affairs.
SNIP
Firedoglake shows that Lieberman would have been a terrible VA Chair. He either opposed or missed votes on bills that would have helped our vets. Glad Lieberman, the man who got more deferments from military service in Vietnam than Dick Cheney, thought this chair was "unacceptable".
Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) has taken on a more forgiving approach. Interviewed on Fox News yesterday, Bayh said he disagreed with stripping Lieberman of his chair. "No, I don't think there should be retribution," he said. "I think reconciliation is in order, not revenge or retribution." Bayh suggested that Lieberman apologize and "let bygones be bygones":
BAYH: And I think if Joe came before the caucus and said look, if I said some things that came as offensive, I'm sorry, but they were, you know heartfelt in my support of John McCain. I think we had to just let bygones be bygones. We're going to need him on healthcare and energy independence and education and a whole lot of other things.
Bayh said Lieberman may have "perhaps crossed the line" in questioning Obama's patriotism. But he maintained, "I think everybody understands that supporting your friend [McCain] is perfectly legitimate" and that "we should have a spirit of forgiveness with regard to Joe Lieberman and reconcile and move forward." Presented with some of Lieberman's more notorious comments, Bayh countered, saying Lieberman "votes with the majority of Democrats, a vast majority of the time."
"I think Joe Lieberman got caught up in the emotions of the moment and went too far.
This week's edition of The Onion took aim at Sen. Joe Lieberman's disastrous party surfing exploits with hilarious effect:
EIGHT MILES BENEATH THE EARTH'S SURFACE-According to reports from deep within the secret underground lair of the Tributon IV Project, the nine executive overlords of Sen. Joseph Lieberman are most displeased with the Connecticut lawmaker's repeated insolence. "We asked the earthling Lieberman to secure the American vice presidency, and yet again he has failed us," Overlord Xinos IV said in a statement issued telepathically from his prefrontal cortex. "Rest assured, this lowly worm shall pay dearly for his incompetence. That is all." While the Elders of the High Council of Minerva have not yet settled on an appropriate punishment, they are reportedly considering some combination of spine extraction, laser eye-immolation, and a highly complicated process whereby the four-term senator's pathetic earth body would be condensed into a small pellet and shot at high speeds into the planet's molten core. Despite these reports, representatives for Sen. Lieberman said he is still scheduled to attend Saturday's Nook Farm Harvest Festival in Hartford.
The Washington Monthly Saturday reports that Joe Lieberman is starting to try to rewrite history as he begins to backtrack on his criticism of his party's nominee, Barack Obama. Steve Benen in his Political Animal column says:
LIEBERMAN HASN'T BEEN PAYING ATTENTION TO HIMSELF.... Joe Lieberman adopted the role of Republican attack dog early on, but as the election draws near, he's hoping the political world has a very short memory.
Lieberman, a self-proclaimed "independent Democrat" who was chosen by McCain to make the case against Obama at the Republican National Convention in early September, said his comments have been within bounds.
"When I go out, I say, 'I have a lot of respect for Sen. Obama. He's bright. He's eloquent.'"
My hunch is, Lieberman sees the direction of the political winds, and hopes to convince Democrats that while he's been a McCain sycophant, he's always been "respectful" towards Obama.
Lieberman, in other words, has to hope Democrats haven't been paying any attention at all. The party is supposed to forget, for example, when Lieberman argued that Obama doesn't put "country first."
And the time Lieberman said it was a "good question" to ask whether Obama is a "Marxist."
And the time Lieberman ironically accused the Obama campaign of "sleazy tactics."
And the time Lieberman, at the Republican National Convention, falsely accused Obama of trying to undermine the troops
"Respectful"? Nice try, Joe.
The article is here. The comments alone are worth the visit!
UPDATE ctblogger: Last night, Keith Olbermann calls out Lieberman for his new fond "respect" for Obama.
It's amazing how circumstances have conspired to make Joe Lieberman a chief surrogate for those who would stand in the way of the very ideas he spent his life fighting for. I've never much liked Joe Lieberman, but at least once upon a time he was an advocate for progressive economic and social policies, things like universal health care, fairness in the tax code, sensible regulation, a woman's right to choose, civil rights, etc.
When Lieberman decided to cross parties and endorse John McCain back in December of 2007, he justified his action by saying that he considers McCain "the most capable to be commander in chief on day one of his administration, and the most capable of uniting the country so that we can prevail against Islamic extremism." In other words, Lieberman essentially conceded that his decision was all about foreign policy. He might disagree with McCain on most domestic policy issues, but his top priority at this point was the War on Terror.
I wonder what Lieberman would have thought that day if he had been told that less than a year later, he would be stumping in Florida for a half-term Alaskan governor with no foreign policy experience (or knowledge) and far right views on social issues, and that he would be doing so in an environment in which differences over economic policy have become far more significant and pronounced than differences over foreign policy.
This morning in Clearwater, Florida, Lieberman introduced Sarah Palin at a campaign rally. Here's Michael Crowley at TNR:
It was jarring, however, to hear Lieberman's full-throated endorsement of Sarah Palin, a woman with whom he has no prior relationship, and whose policy credentials you have to think the wonky 20-year Senator would find suspect in any other context.
"She's so strong, she's so capable, she's so competent," Lieberman told the cheering crowd. Emphasizing her "faith," he added that she is someone who "with your help--and God's help--will be the next vice president of the United States." More big cheers.
The religiousity continued when Palin bounded onstage. She commented right away on the number of American flags in the crowd, declaring: "God bless America--you guys get it!"
It really is sad. I have no doubt in my mind that Lieberman considers this woman to be a joke. No one as manifestly unqualified to be president has ever come this close to the White House. Indeed, Lieberman's stated rationale for supporting John McCain in the first place only underscores the absurdity of putting Palin on a national ticket.
SNIP
Lieberman's fall is equivalent to one of those Greek tragedies. Hubris replaced commonsense and convictions.
I will enjoy the day when McCain is crushed and Lieberman loses his committee chairmanships.
It wasn't until Sunday night that John McCain, after meeting with his four top advisers, finally decided he could not tap independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to be his running mate. One adviser, tasked with taking the temperature of the conservative base, had strongly made the case to McCain that it would be a disaster for the party and that the base would revolt. McCain concluded he could not go that route.
I wouldn't "tap" Lieberman with a ten-foot pole and glad McCain decided that he couldn't go that route either.
The next day, McCain studied the three men at the top of his shortlist: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge. All had different strengths and negatives, but McCain was not satisfied. None of them had what McCain believed he needed to do -- and would have done -- with Lieberman.
Not sure what McCain would have done with Lieberman. I shudder at the thought.
The campaign secretly flew Palin into Dayton last night. She and McCain met privately for a couple of hours. McCain concluded she would "shake up the system" and was "a maverick," qualities he believed Lieberman would have brought to the ticket. But she also would appeal to conservatives -- which Lieberman most certainly would not have done.
Anyway Joe, I am sorry that when the Repukes get what they need from you that you're tossed aside. I am sure if the McCain marriage is voted on by the American people that you will become one of the bridesmaids in his cabinet. As you are aware, I am one of those fringe liberal bloggers that will do everything that I can to ensure that never happens.
Bob Novak weighs in on the Lieberman for veep rumors (as Novak is convalescing from health issues I will transfer the title of Douchebag of Liberty to Bill Kristol, at least for now).
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Reports of strong support within John McCain's presidential campaign for Independent Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman as the Republican candidate for vice president are not a fairy tale. Influential McCain backers, plus McCain himself, would pick the pro-choice liberal from Connecticut if they thought they could get away with it.
But they can't get away with it -- and this has been made clear to McCain by none other than Joe Lieberman himself.
Lieberman surely doesn't know that much about Republican politics, but he has close Republican friends. One of them prevailed on Lieberman to tell McCain that a McCain-Lieberman ticket would be a disaster for all concerned, and especially for the GOP.
And especially for the country.
At this writing, nobody knows McCain's choice. He is keeping the selection process secret, and his closest aides are in the dark. Could he still name Lieberman after being told by Lieberman himself that it is not a good idea? Nobody absolutely rules it out.
If he does settle on Lieberman, I'd like to see the press ask Joe if Novak's reporting is true - that he urged McCain not to pick him. It would make for some uncomfortable moments, at least.
Best editorial cartoon in a while. A picture is worth a 1,000 words. So I won't say anything other than if McCain is crazy enough to pick Joe as VP, you will see a revolt with the far-right like never before. It would be a slap in their face. The far right doesn't want him, the Democrats don't want him, I don't think there is anyone left who wants him.
It was 2 years ago today that we helped Ned Lamont overcome a 60 pt deficit to defeat Joe Lieberman by 4 pts in the Democratic Primary. Daily Kos salutes Lamont, the Kiss float, and those of us who volunteered for the Lamont campaign.
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