Michael Carmichael
|
|
|
archived: 6 - 12 Aug, 2006 Back Next UPDATED: August 8, 2006 LIEBERMAN SPOILS THE PARTY Tomorrow, after serving three terms in the US Senate, Joseph Lieberman will leave the Democratic Party. In a pitched battle for his political life, Lieberman will lose the Democratic primary for senate to Ned Lamont. However, Lieberman has no intention of relinquishing power, none whatsoever. In an arrogant move worthy of Strom Thurmond at the peak of his drive for power, Lieberman will repudiate the opinion of the Democratic voters in Connecticut and declare his candidacy as an Independent for US Senate. Yesterday, Jim Dean of Democracy for America and Lanny Davis of the Lieberman campaign debated the Lieberman-Lamont primary on Meet the Press. Davis argued that Lieberman voted with the Democratic majority 90% of the time, and Dean argued that the Senator from Connecticut was out of touch with the grassroots – especially on the ill-conceived war in Iraq. The truth of the matter is starkly different from that presented so cynically by Davis and Lieberman, himself. Lieberman is the poster child for the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) and all of those who believe that the Party must water down its enthusiasm for social security, international law, human rights and civil rights. Lieberman was one of twenty-nine Democrats who voted for the war. But, Lieberman not only supported the war, he also promoted the role of George W. Bush as an unassailable and supreme commander-in-chief around whose dreadful policy all Americans should rally. Writing in the bastion of right-wing conservatism, the Wall Street Journal, Lieberman stated, “It’s time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge that he will be the commander-in-chief for three more critical years, and that in matters of war, we undermine presidential credibility at our nation’s peril.” In actual point of fact, President Bush and Senator Lieberman have imperilled America more seriously that any previous time in US history – even more than during the War of 1812. Lieberman supports Bush’s energy policy. Lieberman favoured government intervention in the case of Terry Schiavo. Lieberman stated his willingness to dismantle social security in direct collaboration with the Bush White House. Lieberman voted in favor of the death penalty for underage children. When Lieberman’s consistent collaboration with the Republicans reached fever pitch, Ned Lamont rose from the grassroots to challenge him. No single race this year will have a deeper impact on the heart, mind and soul of the Democratic Party. The repudiation of Joseph Lieberman by the people who have elected him and re-elected him to three terms in the US Senate will instantly put a roll call of right-leaning DLC Democrats on notice that their day has ended, and dusk is now settling upon their political careers as collaborators in the dismantling of American greatness on an altar of neoconservativism, jingoism, plutocracy and racism. Joseph Lieberman and his DLC colleagues are the architects of their own ruination. Nothing has been more risible than the attempts of Lieberman and Davis to point the finger of blame at the bloggers who are revivifying the Democratic opposition to galloping neoconservativism that has driven Bush’s America to the brink of cultural and political calamity. On Meet the Press, Tim Russert asked Lanny Davis point blank whether Lieberman would have the audacity to run as an Independent. Davis said, “Yes.” That will be final act of Joseph Lieberman as an American, and his first act as a traitor to everything that his nation and his Party stands for – the democratic tradition that underpins our culture. When Joseph Lieberman commits that outrageous act of political depravity, he will become the traitor of our times just as certainly as Strom Thurmond and Benedict Arnold were the traitors of their times. Joseph Lieberman is a name that will live in democratic and American infamy as a man who rejected the will of the people whom he served. __________________ Michael Carmichael has been a professional public affairs consultant, author and broadcaster since 1968. In 2003, he founded The Planetary Movement, a global nonprofit public affairs organization based in the United Kingdom. He has appeared as a public affairs expert on the BBC's Today Programme, Hardtalk, PM, as well as numerous appearances on ITN, NPR and many European broadcasts examining politics and culture. He can be reached through his website: www.planetarymovement.org
Last Update: 08/13/2006 |
