Bernie Sanders Joins Leahy In Demanding Ouster Of Lieberman From Chairmanship

[babylonsister]

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/11/bernie_sanders_joins_leahy_in.php

Bernie Sanders Joins Leahy In Demanding Ouster Of Lieberman From Chairmanship
By Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld - November 14, 2008, 5:15PM


Okay, we now have a second Senator who's stepped up and joined Senator Patrick Leahy in calling on Democrats to boot Joe Lieberman from his plum slot atop the Homeland Security committee.

Bernie Sanders, also of Vermont, sent us a hard-hitting statement demanding that Lieberman get the push -- and strikingly, he said that if Dems didn't remove him, it would be an insult to Barack Obama's supporters and a betrayal of the change mandate voters delivered to the President-elect.

"To reward Senator Lieberman with a major committee chairmanship would be a slap in the face of millions of Americans who worked tirelessly for Barack Obama and who want to see real change in our country," Sanders in the statement sent our way by his office.

"Appointing someone to a major post who led the opposition to everything we are fighting for is not 'change we can believe in,'" Sanders continued. "I very much hope that Senator Lieberman stays in the Democratic caucus and is successful in regaining the confidence of those whom he has disappointed. This is not a time, however, in which he should be rewarded with a major committee chairmanship."

Rough stuff. The more voices we hear along these lines, the tougher it will get for other Senators not to follow in kind.

Sanders is technically an independent, but because he organizes with the Democrats he is still eligible to vote in the Dem leadership elections -- and he'll be voting against Joe for that chairmanship. More to follow?

Late Update: A good point from Jane Hamsher: These calls from Lieberman supporters like Evan Bayh for him to "apologize" in exchange for keeping his post -- would the "apology" happen in the closed-door Dem caucus, and what good would that be?

[BootinUp]

1. You Go Senator Sanders.

Lieberman is completely unsuited to chair that committee imho.

[Liberal Veteran]

2. Can we also demand we get a new Senate majority leader?

Preferably a vertebrate?

[bobbolink]

4. .

:applause:

[crickets]

5. That would be nice. -nt

[MiniMe]

14. Unfortunately, "we" have no say in it

The other Senators decide. If Reid doesn't agree and runs for Dem Maj Leader, and somebody else also runs, it could split the vote and McConnell could end up the Majority Leader. An unlikely scenario, but it could happen. So whoever runs for the dems, it has to be unopposed.

[bobbolink]

3. Two who are safe to speak against the majority....

knowing their voices won't be heard, because the votes are already there for keeping LIEberman.

I appreciate them for speaking up, but I know it's all about tokenism.

sigh....

[mdmc]

6. Leiberman is as good as the democrats can be

sure he loves him some McCain, but the Dems love a hawk more than anything else.

[cali]

7. yeah, people like Feingold, Boxer, Brown, Leahy, etc. just love

hawks more than anything.

[mdmc]

10. we do have some good folk

but, truthfully, our party is closer to Joementum then it is to Bernie Sanders.
As a liberal, I wouldn't mind kicking Joementum to the curb.
But I am actually a pretty big fan of Joementum. I think he is a good guy that just happens to be a hawk.

[Dragonfli]

13. If You Like Joe, You are no liberal - get a dictionary

[cali]

9. wow. you have inside info. impressive.

funny how you criticize people like Leahy and Sanders and blindly worship John Edwards.

[d_b]

8. Good. Let the Senate run his ass off.

[99th_Monkey]

11. Bernie Sanders for Senate Majority Leader!!!! YAAAAA!! ~nt~

[MiniMe]

15. The right would love that, Bernie is a self-admitted Socialist

I think it has to be a Dem, they would tie Socialism to Obama in a New York second if they elected Bernie. I love the man, I think he is great. But I don't think it is a good idea.

[99th_Monkey]

16. The Repukes already tied Obama to Socialism during the GE, and Obama won by a landslide..

It's a mandate for Socialism baby .. let's ride it for all it's worth.. ;-)

[bobbolink]

18. "self-admitted". That's quite the phrase, don't you think?

"self-admitted feminist"

"self-admitted peace advocate"

"self-admitted Christian"

"self-admitted Atheist"

"self-admitted pacifist"

"self-admitted Indian"

"self-admitted gay"

Sounds like very serviceable RW terminology.

[WillyT]

12. Hey Sis !!! - Did You See THIS From Hamsher ???

Heard this on The Young Turks yesterday.

Senators Supporting Lieberman: “Moderates” Panic
By: Jane Hamsher Thursday November 13, 2008 9:34 am

<snip>

...

...

Evan Bayh was on Rachel Maddow last night, making the completely incoherent argument that the Democratic Caucus had the power to control Lieberman and the Homeland Security Committee:

MADDOW: Joe Lieberman didn't investigate the government's response to Katrina or the Blackwater shootings in Iraq or anything like that. Are there going to be real interparty divisions on security issues, or do you see a united front going forward?

BAYH: Well, I would hope we would have a united front. And you know, if the caucus and the committee feels that there are areas worthy of investigation -- and you mentioned two that I think would warrant investigation -- then there should -- one would need to go forward, regardless of what the chairman happen to think. And we have the power to demand that sort of thing.

Really? So if Bayh thinks that Lieberman should've investigated Katrina after having promised to do so (a promise he abandoned immediately after the GOP helped him retain his Senate seat), why didn't they do something before? They're going to take action and make him do it now?

I'm supposed to believe this?

This isn't about "getting stuff done" or "putting partisan politics behind us" as Bayh claims -- this is about conservative Senators who are concerned that "the base" can do to them what they did to Lieberman. It's about Obama making them comfortable that we can't organize against the war, or FISA, or any of their pet projects in a way that could be threatening to them.

I spoke with a source knowledgeable about Reid's reasoning on the Lieberman matter early on in the process, who said that Reid believed taking Lieberman's Homeland Security gavel away from him was more likely to keep him in line with the Democrats -- not less. Knowing that Lieberman can't get elected in Connecticut in 2012 as a Republican and that the Democrats were ready to crack the whip, it was not unreasonable to make an inference that that Lieberman would stop making so much trouble.

Any action on the part of the Senate Democrats will be unlikely to change the nature of Lieberman's voting, which will continue to be petty and vindictive no matter what the Democrats do.

But the fact remains that over the past 7-10 days all the lobbying has been done by the proLiebermann forces. "We don't have a spokesperson with the courage to speak up and say 'he should not be able to get away with what he's done to our caucus,'" said the source.

It's interesting that they sent Bayh as the messenger on to the Maddow show, despite the fact that someone like Dodd would undoubtedly be more well-received. After Steve Clemons of the Washington Note published that Bayh was at the top of the VP list, vociferous opposition among the netroots dashed any chance of success.

It's also noteworthy that people now think, much like Obama did when he made a GOTV appearance before the election, that the Maddow show is the way to plead their case before the base. (They're right, BTW.)

But Bayh's appearance was for Bayh. His concern -- like that of Salazar and Pryor and other Democrats whose voting records are probably often to the right of Lieberman's -- is for himself. It isn't about putting partisanship behind us.

It's about political payback, and it's just as partisan as it can be.

Call Democratic Senators and tell them -- Just Say No to Joe.

<snip>

Link: http://firedoglake.com/2008/11/13/senators-supporting-lieberman-moderates-panic/

On Cenk's show, she said that Moderate Dem Senators weren't too worried about being attacked by the Republicans... they expect that and are ready for it. But they ABSOLUTELY FEAR being attacked from the left and being "Lamonted".

:shrug:

[WillyT]

17. Sis ???

Sis...

:scared:

:hide:

:evilgrin:

:hi: