GOP Joe

A friend sent me this article today from the Wall Street Journal. A subscription is required to read the whole thing, it is basically one of Joe Lieberman's political buddies, Lanny Davis, accusing the opponents of Lieberman of conducting "liberal McCarthyism," acting like a left version of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter & Michael Savage and, most seriously, anti-Semitism.

He defends Lieberman with the line, "...Sen. Lieberman's record as a progressive (emphasis mine)Democrat and his opposition to President Bush not only on most domestic issues but also on the conduct of the war cannot be disputed..."

I wasn't going to really weigh in on the Lieberman primary race because, let's face it, it has been talked about and blogged about to death. But I couldn't help writing about this jerk-off's editorial. Both for the ridiculous anti-Semite charge and the reference to Lieberman as a "progressive."

So here's my comments on his editorial:

Exactly which "progressive" democratic record of Lieberman's is he talking about? Would it be sponsoring bills to protect Dow and Dupont from being sued over defective medical (mainly breasts) implants? Would it be pushing for similar laws to protect tobacco companies, HMOs and pharmaceutical companies from all lawsuits? No politician in Washington gets as much money from the insurance industry as Lieberman. And he's married to a drug company lobbyist.

What about the time he supported a bill that would deny funds to schools that counseled suicidal homosexual teens with the idea that there is nothing wrong with being gay? Is that considered "progressive?"

Would "progressive" be his attempts to force censorship on the music and film industries? Remember that he was also one of those politicians who tried to blame Marilyn Manson for Columbine.

Was his support for the idiotic Clinton impeachment "progressive?"

Oh wait, maybe he was talking about Joe's support of school vouchers (which would destroy public schools) or his anti-affirmative action stance.

Or maybe he's talking about the "progressive" idea of death penalty for minors, which Lieberman supports.

This article by one of Lieberman's political hacks is utter bullshit. He pulls a few quotes off the Internet and concludes that the anger against Joe is somehow based in anti-Semitism. By the way, all of his quotes that he purports to be "what the liberal blogs are saying" do not come from those actual blog postings but from the comments section that anyone can put something on. These are not "bloggers," they are just some blog readers who took a minute to hit the "comment" button and leave a remark, and they could be anyone from members of the GOP to the KKK to Lieberman's own staffers planting stuff. And to take Ned Lamont to task for not "denouncing" these statements is like condemning him for not denouncing a letter to the editor in the Jackson Hole Wyoming newspaper. He likely has never even seen or heard about these comments.

So because a few random nut-balls say some stupid things about old Joe being a Jew, suddenly it's all anti-Semites and McCarthy-ites that are trying to bring him down. Well that's complete bullshit, through and through. There is real anti-Semitism in the world, and this ass-hole trivializes it by trying to claim that Lieberman is a victim of it. It is an insult to every victim of the Holocaust, and every synagogue and Jewish cemetery that has ever had to clean off swastikas painted on their property. Mr. Davis should be ashamed of himself.

Those of us on the left who hate Joe Lieberman don't hate him because he's a Jew. We hate him because he's a conservative jerk who is in the back pocket of the insurance companies and the chemical industry. He is a Republican in Democratic clothing, and any person who considers themselves liberal or progressive should be ashamed of themselves for supporting him. You might as well vote for Rick Santorum or Tom Delay.

As far as "hate and vitriol" coming from us? Well before he starts accusing others of spewing hatred like Ann Coulter, he should talk to his "longtime friend" Joe about how he once referred to his opponent's supporters as Jihadists.

For some better reading on the Lieberman/Lamont race go to this and this. And these are free, unlike the Wall Street Journal site.