Did you see THIS on C-SPAN today when the House was in session??? IMPORTANT!

[in_cog_ni_to]

The bottom scroll for Capitol News read: JOE LIEBERMAN WILL NOT RULE OUT A SWITCH TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY."

He's doing EXACTLY what we knew he would do! He's using his position to FUCKING BLACKMAIL the Democrats! I-am-so-pissed-off-right-now-my-head-is-ready-to-explode!:grr::nuke::grr::nuke:

WTF can we do about this SOB? NOTHING! We are stuck with this albatross around our freakin' necks now!

[Nite Owl]

1. We knew that this could happen

so why did the dem leadership treat him like his word was good, that he would caucus with them? How could they not know?

[silverweb]

2. I hope he does switch.

Then there will be no way to cover up his real loyalties or intentions.

He belongs with the reTHUGs.

[wryter2000]

6. That would make the Republicans the majority

Unless Bernie Sanders became a Democrat, and I honestly don't know what happens in case of a tie, but I suspect we wouldn't like it.

[MoonRiver]

8. In case of a tie, Darth gets to make the deciding vote.

Not a pretty picture, that.

[wryter2000]

11. Does that count for committee chairs and such?

I know he gets the tie breaker if the vote is tied on a bill.

[MoonRiver]

25. Good question. I don't know.

Anybody?

[davidwparker]

36. there would be co-leaders of the committees, one from each party.

You know bi-partisanship. Who thinks the voting isn't going to be 50-50 anyhow with Judas Joe still in there.

Want to play hardball? Impeachment is back on the table after the first 100 legislative hours are up.

Dems, don't cave. Don't cave. Not to this bastard. Never again.

[wryter2000]

54. Thanks

Lieberman isn't the only Dem whose vote on bills can't be counted on. There are also the Nelsons and Landrieu. Sometimes, Chafee would go along with us when those three wouldn't.

[silverweb]

32. OH!

That's what I get for not giving the numbers my full attention.

I thought we won enough seats with or without Holey Joe and that's why we were so jubilant.

:(

[davidwparker]

33. Darth could always vote to break the tie, but there would be co-leaders

of the committees.

Switch Joe, Switch. You'd get so hung out to dry for 6 years that CT will be begging to get rid of your ineffective ass.

[RiverStone]

22. Yea, I saw him on Meet The Press. With all the publicity his wishy...

washy B.S. has been getting on todays blogs; one might have hoped he would make a further statement to clarify. NOT! This is what he wants and the sad irony is he will use the position to manipulate even more power. Any cure for the Dems who will be kissing Joes ass? :grr: :shrug:

[underpants]

3. Eh sounds like someone won't give up hope

We'll see

[lutefisk]

4. At least he'd be representing who voted for him.

He is a jerk.

[WI_DEM]

19. too bad 25% of Democrats and 55% of Independents also voted

for him. But I agree he's a jerk and totally unreliable.

[eleny]

5. Will he go to the highest bidder?

I wonder.

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. That's what it's seeming like to me.

He's keeping all his damn options open.:grr:

[sleepyhead]

16. Agreed.

Even if he doesn't end up changing parties, this is a great way to keep everyone's attention focused on him.

[bdamomma]

9. what a slime ball he is, even

if he does this we still have a majority won't we???

[tblue]

10. It will be 50/50, with Darth as the tie breaker. Not good. Not good at all.

I don't doubt the Repugs will hound him for the next 2 years. They will threaten and blackmail and bribe him. It all depends on what Lieberman is made of.

[wryter2000]

14. Oh, oy!

It all depends on what Lieberman is made of.

That's what I'm afraid of.

[eleny]

15. This is starting to feel like Shakespeare

Yup, this could be a fatal mistake He thinks he's in the cat bird seat, man of the hour. If he switches, who knows - a Repub could switch parties and then he'd be sort of worthless.

He's the man of the moment. Accent on "moment". It's so close, he could be poop on a stick from one day to the next.

[Marr]

28. But- 50/50, with a 35% Bush approval rating, and investigations in the House.

They wouldn't be able to exercise that famous Republican unity in an environment like that. Let Lieberman switch, I say.

[davidwparker]

39. There will be co-chairman of the committees. Joe is going to cause 50/50

anyhow. He'll be like K to the J to IL in the hissy. Whenever he isn't getting the love he thinks he deserves, he'll do another nuclear test.

Let him go. The real prize is the House and they can use that to keep the Repugs/Joe in line.

[bdamomma]

58. now what would happen if Jeffords went Democrat, could we

remain a majority? I do not trust Liebermann at all this would be his idea of payback.

[in_cog_ni_to]

59. The Independents are already counted in our Majority.

:( That includes Lieberman and Bernie Sanders who took over Jeffords' seat. Jeffords is retiring. Bernie Sanders is a Socialist and will caucus with the Dems.

[in_cog_ni_to]

17. NOPE...Mr. "Go F*** yourself" will be the tie breaker.

This would be horrible for us and LIEBERMAN KNOWS IT!:grr:

[davidwparker]

41. Agreed.

Let him go.

[Mojambo]

12. Call his bluff

Because that's what it is. HE has FAR less power on the Republican side. He may give them the majority, but he'll lose his senority.

If we know anything about Lieberman it's that he puts HIMSELF first. There's more for him on the Democratic side.

Call the bluff.

[Marr]

30. Agreed completely.

[MGD]

49. Make our offers to Connecticut voters, not to him. He said he represented them first after all.

What's good for Connecticut is good for Joe, right? Better yet, break out the pictures of him in bed with the dead prostitute and hang them over his head.

[Tatiana]

56. Hell YES! Call his bluff. n/t

[WI_DEM]

13. I'm surprised the media is not talking about this development

I found an article on Goggle saying that he wouldn't rule out Republican entries if he begins to feel boxed in. Yep, it's going to be two years of kissing his ass just like I thought.

[I_Make_Mistakes]

20. After watching him today on Face the Nation, he is so full of

himself. He is so self righteous, it wouldn't surprise me, if he used this to black mail (politically the Dems.) us.

After seeing that show, SCAB is his new nickname, he is a traitor and history will record the FOOL as such. Both, he and Bush, egomaniacs, have ruined any legacies they'd hope to establish!

Edit: It was MTP, not Face the Nation!

[in_cog_ni_to]

21. This man is blowing my mind! He seems so EVIL to me now.

Can you believe Al Gore chose him as his running mate in '06? I wonder what's going through Gore's mind these days...watching all this unfold and Lieberman's blackmail-ish behavior?

[Pastiche423]

18. If he goes repuke

doesn't that mean he gives up his senority and committees?

[in_cog_ni_to]

23. Yes, unless the repukes are making him an offer that he won't lose his seniority

if he would switch parties? Do you doubt they would do that?

[I_Make_Mistakes]

24. Oh,the man with such integrity, he just sold his soul to the Devil

Integrity Joe, What integrity do you have now?

[in_cog_ni_to]

26. Hearing this, I wonder if the BIG GUN Democrats who REFUSED to help Lamont

are kicking themselves in the ass? WE KNEW HE WOULD DO THIS, surely THEY had to know, right? How I would love to be a fly on the wall in Harry Reid's office right now!

[Marr]

27. So let him switch sides. The only difference will be

that he'll actually be announcing his true loyalties for once, and he may well be kicked out of office next time.

Cater to Lieberman, and you may as well not have a Democratic majority anyway. This reminds me a bit of the arguments against fillibustering Bush's judicial nominees. "But if we fillibuster", said the opponents, "we may not be allowed to fillibuster anymore!".

There's no point in having a fillibuster if you don't use it. There's no point in having a Democratic majority if you don't use it.

[in_cog_ni_to]

34. We MUST retain a Majority for the Judicial Committee and Intelligence Committee..for investigations.

If we don't, the fundies may get another chance to nominate another RW radical to the SCOTUS. We CANNOT let that happen. Justice Stevens is VERY ill.

Also, the Intelligience committee, headed by Jay Rockefeller, will investigate all the corruption. A repuke heading the Intelligience committee will not investigate.

I'm not sure how the committees are run with a 50/50 Senate though. Do they share the chair? I don't know.

[patricia92243]

43. I'm afraid you just gave us the answer - In order to stop investigations, the Republicans will do wh

whatever is necessary - including giving Joe a deal he can't refuse. Can you blame them - they're scared of what might be found out!

So long, Democratic majority - sure was short lived!

[davidwparker]

29. Let him go. The Senate will have co-chairman, one from each party.

Take away EVERYTHING from Joe: senority, chairmanships. Leave him and CT with nothing.

Then, use the House, which is Dem controlled to keep the the senate in line. Where does impeachment begin? Who holds the purse strings?

I'd explain to Joe that he needs to keep his mouth shut. He THINKS he is in the catbird seat. I'd leave that Judas bastard with nothing. 6 years of no seniority. 6 years of no chairmanship. I SWEAR I'D DO IT. He's a piss ant.

[in_cog_ni_to]

37. BUT the repukes may make an offer to keep his seniority if he switches parties

what then?

[eleny]

47. Won't some Repubs be really pissed when he jumps over them?

Especially since they won't have the majority, just like the Dems.

50-50 means he's the one that castrated both Parties. Some legacy.

Then we get to try and increase Dems in the Senate and if we pull it off, Joe is a nobody.

[davidwparker]

50. It's really not about his seniority. He was promised that by the Dems.

He is going to vote R and cause 50/50 anyhow. The control is only who has outright control over the committees. I'll take joint-leadership in the senate if it means getting rid of the Joe's threats. You can never get rid of a blackmailer.

Reid needs to say, this is your deal, take it or leave.

I'd prefer to be a joint chair of a committee than be blackmailed by that cockroach. I'd keep the Repugs in line with the impeachment stick.

Call Joe's bluff.

[KharmaTrain]

31. He Also Won't Rule Out Eating Pork, Too

On paper plates I'm sure...

I get a feeling there's a self-fulfilling prophesy around here hoping Joementum turns Repugnican and somehow this will prove some right without looking at the realities of betlway hardball.

As several of us have stated, all that matters is Liebermann's vote for Majority Leader...one that Liebermann says he will honor. If there was a hint that LIEbermann would switch parties, the corporate media would be all over it...Faux would have LARGE banners touting it and we'd be hearing about Majority Leader McConnell and his agenda by now. I'm sure not hearing that. If anything Liebermann is boxed in to behave and not make waves. No, I don't trust the asshat, but I also have heard from several sources now that Reid, Schummer and Liebermann struck a deal after Joe's primary loss that they'd stay out of supporting Lamont if he'd remain a D vote on key issues...including the selection of Reid as Majority Leader.

Let's see if we read about Joementum openly talking about not voting for Reid...then you may have some serious smoke here. In the meanwhile Joe claimed yesterday that he was an "Independent Democrat"...which means when the votes are tallied for Majority leader...the MOST important vote over the next two years...he will vote with the Democrats. He also will on a lot of issues...and the ones he doesn't, there will be Repugnicans who will cross over.

[I_Make_Mistakes]

46. Did you watch the MTP interview? It's avail. online, I suggest

you do! He is drunk with with power, it was amazing to watch his self anointed self, say that he is going to bring the Dem. Party back to it's roots.

[KharmaTrain]

53. Yes,,,Several Times

CNN just ran a bit on him as well. I still stick by what I've been hearing ever since he lost the primary. A deal was struck and that Liebermann was able to keep his "independent Democrat" label. He DIDN'T say he wouldn't vote for Reid...and even as a Repugnican he could.

As stated, I don't trust Joementum, but it's like there's a goading here for him to switch. All but daring him. Instead of isolating him, Democrats have to deal with him...and unfortunately this is what the voters of Connecticut decided to be their choice in the Senate. We have others in our party that aren't gonna be a sure vote...Salazar and the Nelsons come to mind.

The endgame right now is Liebermann's vote for Reid. Now if he comes out and says he'll support McConnell or someone else for the Majority position, then I will gladly allow to be publically flogged here and betray my Jewish roots and eat a ham sammich.

[patricia92243]

35. Can he switch parties any time he wants to? 6 monts or a year from now?

[elocs]

38. I thought this was a possibility weeks ago given the right circumstances.

You can't get much better circumstances for Lieberman to call his shot than this.

[tnlefty]

40. I saw it while Rep. McDermott (sp?) was speaking on the floor.

I think that one thing that a lot of people don't understand regarding the anger surrounding what he did (disregarded the results of a legitimate primary) is that people have to sign loyalty oaths within their local parties. In my county precinct chairs, vice-chairs, members of the executive committee, the executive council, etc. have to swear to abide by the results of a primary and support the winning candidate whether one likes the candidate or not and that applies to local races, statewide races and federal races.

I met a woman who moved here from Destin, FL and it was the same for her and she was also angry about what Lieberman did because us rank and file democrats have to sign these friggin' oaths.

[MoonRiver]

48. Do you know if CT citizens would have any recourse if he caucused with the Pukes?

Is there any mechanism for recalling a Senator?

[Zhade]

42. I told you so.

(Not YOU, exactly - all those idiots who said he'd NEVER even THINK about doing it.)

[MGD]

44. His promise was to represent Connecticut, not a particular party so...

we should offer him things that Connecticut can't refuse and he will be hard pressed to refuse. Let him put up or shut up IOW. What does Connecticut want though?

[shireen]

45. GO AWAY, JOE, GO AWAY.

Let him switch, let the damn Republicans have the senate for the next 2 years. The real action is going to be in the House for the next 2 years. People like Waxman and Conyers will be exposing a lot of outrages from King George's regime that will piss off even more voters. That will better the chances for a Democratic president in 2008.

[MoonRiver]

51. But they will likely force feed US another extremist Supreme Court Justice.

which is a lifetime appointment, remember.

[Hubert Flottz]

52. If lieberman does switch, he will prove that he is not loyal to this

country.

[INdemo]

55. He didn't really say that but the media is certainly taking it that way

The media will be using this every single time they think the Democrats are screwing over Lieberman.This is the kind of BS Insanity and Slimebaugh will be preaching from now till 2008.

[in_cog_ni_to]

57. C-SPAN reported he DID say that. Do you have proof he didn't?

What did he actually say then?