Rachel Maddow presents the case against Joe Lieberman in the Democratic caucus

A number of Democratic Senators have recently said publicly that in the Democratic Senate caucus they think that Joe Lieberman should not be penalized for campaigning with the Republican candidate for President, John McCain and for harshly attacking Barack Obama. Rachel Maddow presents the case for why Lieberman should, at the very least, be removed as Chairman of the unique Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.




Maddow gets it exactly right. Lieberman has failed to use his committee to investigate the mishandling of Katrina as he promised during his reelection campaign. He prefers the policies and company of the Republicans who opposed Obama and who continue to oppose the Democratic party. In fact, Lieberman appears to prefer the Republican refusals to deal with the collapse of the American economy. It's also quite clear that if Lieberman remains in the Democratic caucus, he will not vote with the Democrats on high-profile issues.

Lieberman can be offered another committee. The one he is squatting on and not using is too valuable to waste on a man so unreliable and untrustworthy. Besides, inside the Democratic caucus or not, Joe Lieberman is not likely to be a reliable vote when he is really needed to break a filibuster by Republicans anyway.

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Addendum 5:14 pm

Senator Patrick Leahy has come out against Lieberman.

"Every Senator will have to vote the way he or she believes they should," Leahy said, in a reference to the upcoming vote on Lieberman's fate in the Dem caucus next week. "I'm one who does not feel that somebody should be rewarded with a major chairmanship after doing what he did."

"I felt some of the attacks that he was involved in against Senator Obama...went way beyond the pale," Leahy continued. "I thought they were not fair, I thought they were not legitimate, I thought they perpetuated some of these horrible myths that were being run about Senator Obama."

"I would feel that had I done something similar," Leahy concluded, "that I would not be chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the next Congress."

Next, here's a statement from Bernie Sanders, Independent Senator who caucuses with the Democrats and will have a vote on whether Joe Lieberman keeps his committee chairmanship.

"To reward Senator Lieberman with a major committee chairmanship would be a slap in the face of millions of Americans who worked tirelessly for Barack Obama and who want to see real change in our country," Sanders in the statement sent our way by his office.

"Appointing someone to a major post who led the opposition to everything we are fighting for is not 'change we can believe in,'" Sanders continued. "I very much hope that Senator Lieberman stays in the Democratic caucus and is successful in regaining the confidence of those whom he has disappointed. This is not a time, however, in which he should be rewarded with a major committee chairmanship."

I especially agree with Bernie when he says that rewarding Lieberman for fighting against Obama's election was clearly not the way to bring change to the country. It's definitely not what I voted for.