Or should the title read Christmas in New Hampshire? You have to give it to John McCain - he knows how to continually attract the Geritol vote. In a surprise twist (well not that much of a surprise), turncoat Independent Democrat Joe Lieberman of Connecticut has publicly endorsed the Republican McCain for President. And this has happened before any voting has taken place!
This posting is not about the Arizona Senator. The focus here is on the man from Connecticut. What more can Lieberman do to his former political party? He has paid back Al Gore and the millions who supported the Gore/Lieberman ticket in 2000 with a continual rush to the Far Right. It would be better for all concerned if he just dresses up in a Santa outfit to declare his affinity for the "Red Side".
The venerable men and women who make up the U.S. Senate are living examples of political loyalty. While countless citizens forsake the official parties for the non-threatening Independent tag, the old boys' club stands for a world far removed from the internet flash that most now live in. Whether an illusion or not, one would think that the most veteran Senators (the Rockefellers, Kennedys, Warners, Lotts, and Liebermans) live in a more nuanced slower sphere. One could imagine them pouring through the pages of the Washington Post and New York Times each morning as they sip their non-latte coffees. They probably meet in the Senate gym for workouts and some light basketball. They eat at the most expensive steak houses and dutifully deal with the K Street lobbyists.
The point is that none of the senators are pure and most of them are motivated to one degree or another by greed and power. But it is the essence of the eternal orgy of back door maneuvering that has kept our nation afloat all these years. The loyalty to one's party is the cement that keeps it all together. Two political power groups trading leadership positions every four, eight, or twelve years. An unwritten code to look the other way and to stay anchored in the home of the party that has always helped to bring them to the pinnacle of power.
But once in awhile there is a breach in this protocol. And now Mr. Liberman is the one that is breaking with this system. His defeat in the Democratic Connecticut primary has allowed the Senator leeway to move towards the opposition in ways that just are not tolerated. His undying defense of Bush's War and his votes to give billions of tax monies to the defense industries who profit from the killing fields, has shown how right the Connecticut primary voters were in rejecting the Senator.
No one is praising the lies and hypocrisy that all senators must live with as they navigate their Washington careers. But the beauty of the American system is that the anchor of the political party keeps each senatorial member from straying too far from his or her moorings and keeping the nation closely split so that one side can counteract the other. Senator Lieberman has broken the rules one time too many by going out of his way to vote for McCain. Connecticut recall the traitor and put him out to pasture. Independent or Democrat or a combination of the two, Mr. Liberman you are no Republican!! Or are you?
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