Is a real GOP candidate about to jump in to the Connecticut senate race? Okay, a non-Lieberman GOP candidate? Seems like it.
Grover Norquist on the Dems’ iron wall on Social Security: “”The Democrats cannot be bribed, cajoled or threatened into voting for Social Security reform — it can’t happen.”
Here at TPM Media, as many techish companies do, we have a little internal chat system where we discuss editorial business and other topics through the course of the day. And yesterday, after I saw Greg Sargent’s update that Lieberman was going down the ‘A win for Lamont will be a victory for the terrorists’ track, I openned up our chat and wrote something to the effect of, “I’ve always liked Joe, but with this ‘victory for the terrorists’, it’s enough. F–k him.”
Justin Rood shot back, you should write that. And he’s right. So here I am.
Readers of this site know I’ve always had a soft spot for Lieberman. I was ambivalent about the primary race, didn’t have a horse in it, I think I said. And it only became a simple matter for me after Lamont won. He’s the Democratic candidate. End of story. Not because I felt differently about Lieberman necessarily. But I think all Democrats, all progressives, liberals, whatever, should support the Democratic candidate. And that’s Ned Lamont. That and tell Lieberman to get out of the race.
But now Lieberman is not only running as the de facto Republican in the race, he’s running as the worst sort of Republican, going on the trail claiming that any serious questioning of our policy in Iraq is a victory for the terrorists, even pulling in yesterday’s terror plot take-down into his angle against Lamont. With Lamont, those guys might have blown up the plane. Leaving Iraq is a win for the terrorists. A Lamont win is a win for the terrorists. That was after Wednesday when Joe pledged to save the Democratic party from the extremists he seems to think make up the entire Democratic party. Except for Joe.
So questioning the president’s policy on Iraq is a win for the terrorists. The Democratic party is outside the mainstream of American politics. I can go to Republicans for that, right?
So it’s not just about the independent candidacy any more. It’s about him. Enough. Just leave.
Democratic National Committeee spokesperson Karen Finney slams the Republican Party for a picture which appeared on the Republican National Committee Web site of Howard Dean with what appeared to be a Photoshopped Hitler moustache.
A pro-Social Security phase-out alliance?
Phase-out supporter retired Sen. Bob Kerrey signs up with Lieberman.
Interesting background info on an apparent falling out between Olmert and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who seems to have wanted to move to the diplomatic track much earlier and opposed the IDF bombing of Hizbullah HQ in the Dahiya neighborhood in Beirut.
My predilection is to note the Lieberman-Kerrey bond on Social Security phase-out. Kerrey’s a diehard private accounts man. Lieberman flirts with it. But one good friend points out that the real bond, probably very much in play here, is Iraq. Both were big on the Chalabi Iraq liberation front back in the 1990s and they were the chief Democratic co-sponsors of the Iraq Liberation Act.
So while the president was off on a fool’s errand in Iraq, he was out to lunch on this liquid explosives issue, though everyone seemed to know about it. Good job.
Ari Shavit in Haaretz: Olmert cannot remain as prime minister.