8 thoughts on “Twitter: Or 3 plus …”

  1. James Young

    Hey, no one told the Dem Caucus to kick the man in the head. Notice the GOP didn’t strip ol’ Wolf-faced Crazy from Alaska of her Senate seat yet? That’s called “hedging your bets.” Maybe the Dems should’ve given that some thought back in 2006…

  2. Brendan Loy

    James, what are you talking about? The Republicans have no ability to “strip” Murkowski “of her Senate seat.” And if you mean committee assignments….the Democrats didn’t do that to Lieberman, not in 2006, not in 2007, not even after he stumped for McCain in 2008! A lot of lefties wanted them to, but it didn’t happen. Hence, Lieberman is still, to this very day, the head of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Oh, I think they might have stripped him of some minor subcommittee or something, but they let him keep the really important committee, the one he actually wanted.

    What did happen in 2006, of course, is that Lamont ran against Lieberman in a primary, and won, and was promptly endorsed by the entire Republican establishment…… which is precisely what has happened in the GOP contests in Alaska and Florida. So again, what are you talking about?

  4. James Young

    Uh, yes, a very Freudian slip and hardly your only error. Let’s take a trip down memory lane. You know, the part where Lamont had just won the primary and every Dem leader was making incessant public threats to take away a Lieberman’s committee seats? Which, you’re right, is not the same as actually doing it. However, it is _far_ from benign behavior. To coin an analogy, I’m sure you would be totally understanding of someone constantly putting a gun to your head as long as they never actually pulled the trigger (well, other than to shoot you in the foot…it’s only a flesh wound after all).

    So, if a couple years later you were provided the opportunity to sledgehammer said individuals vigorously and repeatedly in the groin _of course_ you would say to yourself, “No, I shouldn’t keep swinging until the hammer breaks, I cramp up, or they pass out from the pain. After all, they never actually squeezed the trigger. That would be wrong.” Nope, don’t see that. What I do see is the phrase “major contusions of the groin area” on the autopsy report, followed by some medical examiner going, “Jesus buddy, I don’t know who you pissed off, but maybe in your next life you might consider making them shoot you as you run away.” In other words, if you think Lieberman’s being obsessive obviously you just haven’t been sufficiently wronged in your life.

    As to the “entire GOP establishment” having endorsed Murkowski’s opponent…um, okay, they aren’t helping her run, but I don’t recall seeing Mitch McConnell say it’s time for her to leave gracefully. You know, sort of how Harry Reid said that about Lieberman back in 2006? Moreover, is Mitch McConnell flying up to Alaska to endorse Murkowski’s opponent like John Kerry did in Connecticut? I don’t recall seeing the news story about Michael Steele stumping in Anchorage. So even if you are right about “endorsing,” this is nowhere close to what the Dems did to Lieberman in 2006. Which is why all the wails about how Senator Joe is shafting Clan Donkey now sound rather rich. The fact your leadership wasn’t actually ruthless enough to back up their threats doesn’t make Lieberman a bad person–it just makes Reid an idiot.

  5. Brendan Loy

    Fair enough, I don’t really remember the establishment threatening committee seats in 2006, but if it happened, then that’s a difference. In any case, I’m certainly not suggesting that Lieberman has no reason to feel alienated by his party. I was just suggesting I don’t see a huge difference from what’s happening now with the GOP, as you suggested. That said, your point about the comparison with Alaska is well-taken, although really, Alaska isn’t the best analogy — Florida is, IMHO. Charlie Crist is more the “Republicans’ Lieberman” than Murkowski, who seems to be basically running a pure vanity campaign; she’s not really ideologically out of the party mainstream at all, like Crist and Lieberman, who really are centrists (or opportunists, depending on your point of view). And in Crist’s case, the establishment certainly has thrown its full weight behind Rubio, denounced Crist, etc. If Crist were to win, the GOP would face the exact same sort of thing as the Dems with Joe, except that Crist might simply jump ship immediately and caucus with the Dems. That would certainly be a “hedging your bets” fail.

    The main difference, of course, is that Crist isn’t going to win.

  7. Kenneth Stern

    Don’t think the analogy works with Crist for another reason. Murkowski and Lieberman were (are) incumbent Senators who lost their primary race to (arguably) outsiders. Crist is not the Republican incumbent Senator…just a lame duck Governor who wants to be a Senator.

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