The Truth About Lieberman
I've been reading the progressive blogs lately and many of them are pretty rabid about the Lieberman vs. Lamont primary race. They are excited today because Lamont is polling ahead of Lieberman in a well-regarded poll. 51% to 47% is a pretty good result for a guy whose last stint at public service was as a city alderman or councilman or whatever the hell they call it up north. They think they had something to do with Lieberman's implosion.
Maybe they did. Maybe they didn't. I tend to think Lieberman did this to himself and ultimately it was inevitable. Here's why:
Lieberman's only true cause is Israel.
Now before some of you go off on that lamebrained "you're an anti-Semite" shit, understand this- I am not an anti-Semite. Nor am I anti-Muslim or Christian or anything else. I am, however, all for calling a spade a spade and let's face it- Israel isn't all it's cracked up to be.
But before I go too far astray, back to Lieberman....
This guy started off with his roots in the Civil Rights movement. He's a Yankee Jew so that is to be expected insofar as stereotypes go. He appears to be the prototypical Northeastern liberal that scares the hell out of the crackers. And scare them he did. He supported largely democratic causes during the first third of his life in the Senate, but now he scares Democrats. I dunno if it was the standard midlife crisis wherein one starts worrying about their mortality so they get closer to their god or if it was the general instability in the Mideast that became very apparent in 1991 when the US helped push Iraq out of Kuwait and stopped the missile attacks on Israel, but something happened that caused him to start tilting to the dark side.
His voting record changed from 100% pro environment and anti-war to one that is damn near completely opposite these days. In the last 15 years, I doubt there has been a single vote, a single committee meeting or two martini luncheon that hasn't been geared towards helping Israel. I don't think Joe Lieberman really gives two shits about helping Iraqis achieve democracy. I believe he only cares about keeping Saddam out of power and doing that which the Israeli lobby in DC wants. They say "jump," he says, "how high??"
Sadly, I also don't think he's intelligent enough to think through what all has been required of him by the Israeli lobby and how his support of the invasion of a sovereign nation and its subsequent occupation would increase anti-Israeli sentiment. I don't think Joe Lieberman has the smarts to understand the history of the region objectively, to understand how every military movement by the Israeli army, or broken promise to free Palestinian lands from occupation, or threat to invade a sovereign, democratic country, or bomb dropped on a an apartment building full of families with children increases exponentially the collective will of those who hate Israel and wish to see it destroyed. In a sense, he's harming his greatest cause.
Joe Lieberman wears his heart on his sleeve like any typical, bleeding heart liberal. His support of the civil rights movement, his desire to be an attorney, his desire to enter politics in an effort to vanquish bad men from holding office, his peace activism, his support of gun control....these are all stances of someone with a gut level reaction to something he has defined as either good or bad in his mind. He doesn't really think about polls or what his constituents think. And that IMHO explains why he jumped the shark after 9-11. And it also explains why he is reacting so poorly to Lamont's challenge and attacks on Lieberman's voting record.
He's not lying, folks, when he states he votes his conscience. He reacts from his gut. His reactions have been quite emotional if you watch recent footage. Look at his anger. Look at his contempt. He really feels this shit and can't stop himself from getting all aggravated. That's all he knows. But therein lies the problem- his emotional attachment to all things asociated with or protecting (in his retarded head) the Holy Land. It makes no sense to him that voters in his district and members of his professed party disagree with him. He sees his work in this regard as a calling and will never, not even on his dying day, understand why people have deserted him. In his mind, he hasn't changed. We have.
Of course, he is dead wrong. Neither of us have changed, he's just been so sly at his true calling that we never saw it before. So long as he voted and supported mostly Democratic causes, we wouldn't see what he was- a zealot of the worst possible type. The "R" or "D" designation means nothing to guys like him. Wearing a donkey or elephant button is merely a means to an end and doesn't define who he is or what his calling is to him in his mind.
I don't know very much about Ned Lamont and I haven't given him money. I can't even vote in that election, but I feel Joe Lieberman has to go. Elected officials in America should represent Americans and American interests. They should not be more focused on their god or their business, or their personal fortunes, or even another country. In that sense, Joe Lieberman is no better than Duke Cunningham or Jerry Lewis or Bob Ney or Ralph Reed or Dick Cheney or any other past or present office holder who puts his or her interests ahead of the people's business. I think Connecticut voters are seeing that to some degree.
I just don't know if they have enough objectivity at this point to keep Joe and others like him out of office. I hope they do. Twice.
Maybe they did. Maybe they didn't. I tend to think Lieberman did this to himself and ultimately it was inevitable. Here's why:
Lieberman's only true cause is Israel.
Now before some of you go off on that lamebrained "you're an anti-Semite" shit, understand this- I am not an anti-Semite. Nor am I anti-Muslim or Christian or anything else. I am, however, all for calling a spade a spade and let's face it- Israel isn't all it's cracked up to be.
But before I go too far astray, back to Lieberman....
This guy started off with his roots in the Civil Rights movement. He's a Yankee Jew so that is to be expected insofar as stereotypes go. He appears to be the prototypical Northeastern liberal that scares the hell out of the crackers. And scare them he did. He supported largely democratic causes during the first third of his life in the Senate, but now he scares Democrats. I dunno if it was the standard midlife crisis wherein one starts worrying about their mortality so they get closer to their god or if it was the general instability in the Mideast that became very apparent in 1991 when the US helped push Iraq out of Kuwait and stopped the missile attacks on Israel, but something happened that caused him to start tilting to the dark side.
His voting record changed from 100% pro environment and anti-war to one that is damn near completely opposite these days. In the last 15 years, I doubt there has been a single vote, a single committee meeting or two martini luncheon that hasn't been geared towards helping Israel. I don't think Joe Lieberman really gives two shits about helping Iraqis achieve democracy. I believe he only cares about keeping Saddam out of power and doing that which the Israeli lobby in DC wants. They say "jump," he says, "how high??"
Sadly, I also don't think he's intelligent enough to think through what all has been required of him by the Israeli lobby and how his support of the invasion of a sovereign nation and its subsequent occupation would increase anti-Israeli sentiment. I don't think Joe Lieberman has the smarts to understand the history of the region objectively, to understand how every military movement by the Israeli army, or broken promise to free Palestinian lands from occupation, or threat to invade a sovereign, democratic country, or bomb dropped on a an apartment building full of families with children increases exponentially the collective will of those who hate Israel and wish to see it destroyed. In a sense, he's harming his greatest cause.
Joe Lieberman wears his heart on his sleeve like any typical, bleeding heart liberal. His support of the civil rights movement, his desire to be an attorney, his desire to enter politics in an effort to vanquish bad men from holding office, his peace activism, his support of gun control....these are all stances of someone with a gut level reaction to something he has defined as either good or bad in his mind. He doesn't really think about polls or what his constituents think. And that IMHO explains why he jumped the shark after 9-11. And it also explains why he is reacting so poorly to Lamont's challenge and attacks on Lieberman's voting record.
He's not lying, folks, when he states he votes his conscience. He reacts from his gut. His reactions have been quite emotional if you watch recent footage. Look at his anger. Look at his contempt. He really feels this shit and can't stop himself from getting all aggravated. That's all he knows. But therein lies the problem- his emotional attachment to all things asociated with or protecting (in his retarded head) the Holy Land. It makes no sense to him that voters in his district and members of his professed party disagree with him. He sees his work in this regard as a calling and will never, not even on his dying day, understand why people have deserted him. In his mind, he hasn't changed. We have.
Of course, he is dead wrong. Neither of us have changed, he's just been so sly at his true calling that we never saw it before. So long as he voted and supported mostly Democratic causes, we wouldn't see what he was- a zealot of the worst possible type. The "R" or "D" designation means nothing to guys like him. Wearing a donkey or elephant button is merely a means to an end and doesn't define who he is or what his calling is to him in his mind.
I don't know very much about Ned Lamont and I haven't given him money. I can't even vote in that election, but I feel Joe Lieberman has to go. Elected officials in America should represent Americans and American interests. They should not be more focused on their god or their business, or their personal fortunes, or even another country. In that sense, Joe Lieberman is no better than Duke Cunningham or Jerry Lewis or Bob Ney or Ralph Reed or Dick Cheney or any other past or present office holder who puts his or her interests ahead of the people's business. I think Connecticut voters are seeing that to some degree.
I just don't know if they have enough objectivity at this point to keep Joe and others like him out of office. I hope they do. Twice.
posted by The Raving Badger at 1:05 PM
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