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TPM Reader DO chimes in on Lieberman …

Have you ever actually READ the things left-wingers are saying about Lieberman on sites like Democratic Underground? Sure, Kos’s daily rants against Lieberman are bad enough. But look at what the rank-and-filers are saying. You don’t have to look hard to find someone wishing Lieberman an untimely death, or expressing anti-Semitic sentiments. And while this may only represent a fraction of the anti-Lieberman crowd, the majority who ought to know better chooses to remain silent rather than confront the bigotry in their midst. I don’t have a problem with people not liking Lieberman, or even supporting a primary opponent. It’s a free country. But the obsession that the far left has with Lieberman (which actually predates the war in Iraq by several years) borders on the psychopatic. Everything Lieberman says or does is scrutinized far more closely by the left-wing blogosphere than the actions of any other Democrat I can think of, and he’s presumed to exercise an influence over the body politic far out of proportion to reality. And then there are the lies. Sorry, but no rational person would assert that Lieberman is a right-wing Republican, but that’s become gospel among the far left. The fact of the matter is that Lieberman’s voting record puts him well to the left of any Republican in the Senate, with the possible exception of Lincoln Chafee. And with the exception of Lieberman’s enthusiastic support of the Iraq war, it’s hard to see how Lieberman’s policy preferences are markedly different than his Democratic colleagues. But none of this seems to matter to the far left, which regularly brands Lieberman a DINO.

You ought to read today’s post by the Bull Moose, who really hits the nail on the head. The comparison to the New Left’s smearing of Hubert Humphrey, one of the greatest liberals this country has seen is particularly apt, since I’ve always considered the New Left to be the spritual forerunners of today’s left-wing blogosphere. And no, I don’t mean that as a complement.

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