During an informative MSNBC political talk show Thursday the subject of Joe Lieberman was discussed.  The political journalist being interviewed delivered a cautionary note to Senate Democrats regarding Lieberman that dessert is better digested and enjoyed when cold.

The point being made was that efforts to impose party discipline on Lieberman for his recent activities on behalf of his close friend and Senate colleague John McCain could produce negative results for Democrats.  The issue deemed as potentially thorny related to evicting the Connecticut senator from the Democratic Caucus.

As I sat watching with interest, the reverse of that same question surfaced in my mind, to wit, "How can the Democratic Caucus, considering all that has happened with Joe Lieberman from the period of the Republican National Convention to the recently concluded presidential election, allow him to remain within their operating framework?"

Consider the following.  Lieberman, who can sound very soothing in the midst of nefarious activities, was said to have assured his Democratic senatorial colleagues that he would be speaking at the Republican Convention in a purely supportive manner relating to a close friend, Senator McCain.  

July 6, 2007

Each year, it seems, the Grand American Puppet Show is getting longer, and the assortment of characters more diverse and talented. This time the curtain was lifted in the middle of 2006, more than two years before the Grand American Puppet Choice Day--er, excuse me, Election Day. The first two characters to appear on stage were New York Senator Hillary Clinton, representing the Democratic Party, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, representing the Republican Party.  

Joseph Lieberman's declaration in the wake of his Connecticut Democratic Party Primary defeat on Tuesday is reminiscent of an event linking President Richard M. Nixon and Secretary of the Treasury John Connally in 1972.  The cases are particularly intriguing in view of the ideological strategy ploys invoked in each case.

It was later learned that Nixon, who had been given the nickname "Tricky Dick" for a reason, was disenchanted with Vice President Spiro Agnew, his reelection running mate in 1972 in his race against Democratic presidential nominee Senator George McGovern of South Dakota.  

Nixon, who had handpicked Agnew four years earlier for his 1968 race against Vice President Hubert Humphrey, had privately lamented that "the guy doesn't have it" and jokingly referred to the man residing one heartbeat from the presidency as his "insurance policy against assassination."

In 1971 Nixon, one year removed from a pivotal election, tapped former Texas Governor John Connally, a protégé of Lyndon B. Johnson and leader of the state Democratic Party's conservative wing, to become his Secretary of the Treasury as America was mired in a recession.  

No other cliché fits what George Bush has done to America during his reign of incredible error than this time-worn but timely cliché: The road to hell is paved with alleged good intentions.

There is nothing any world leader can do that is worse than to wage a war minus clear and convincing proof that the nation he represents is under immediate attack.

That is precisely what George Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, and Donald Rumsfeld, did, using the infamous forged document that Colin Powell read in lambasting Iraq at the UN to scare everyone into the Iraq War.

Remember when Republicans and Democrats made such a sick spectacle of themselves, carrying on as if they were saving the entire world by launching the war against Iraq?