Center, my foot

MANIFESTO

Here's the link to the moderately damning front page article the Courant printed regarding Senator Sanctimony this morning.

Here's the letter I wrote in response:

To the Editor:

To describe Senator Joseph I. Lieberman as "at the center" (August 9, 2007 article) is to give the man too much credit.

He has consistently sided with right-wing Republicans in their pursuit of "victory" in the Middle East, going so far as to warn Democrats in 2005 that they "undermine presidential credibility [regarding the Iraq invasion] at our nation’s peril."

More recently, in an interview with The Hill, Connecticut's junior senator criticized Democrats for being "naïve in thinking we can somehow defeat this enemy with talk, or they’re simply hesitant to use American power, including military power.” He added, “There is a very strong group within the party that I think doesn’t take the threat of Islamist terrorism [a Bush mantra if ever there was one] seriously enough.”

During his career, Senator Lieberman has willingly received more than a quarter million dollars from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee--hardly a centrist group.

The senator's contention that he finds his independence "liberating" is somewhat unnerving since it apparently lets him feel that he can consort with whomever he wishes. For example, he recently gave a speech at the national conference of Christians United for Israel--a group whose National Board includes Jerry Falwell and Gary Bauer, both strident Republicans. The group's leader, John Hagee, is a long-time supporter of Tom DeLay, the former Republican strongman from Texas.

Senator Lieberman has preached the gospel of "bipartisanship" for years, but it's clear that his brand of bipartisanship simply allows him to act in whatever way he wishes.

There is, after all, a difference between bipartisanship and selling out.

I don't think it'll get printed because of its length, but writing it was a nice exercise for a beautiful morning in August.

UPDATE — Two letters were published on Friday by the Courant regarding the article; mine wasn't one of them.