Reid's Statement on the Lieberman meeting.

[Ichingcarpenter]

"Today Senator Lieberman and I had the first of what I expect to be several conversations. No decisions have been made," Reid said in a statement e-mailed to reporters after their meeting. "While I understand that Senator Lieberman has voted with Democrats a majority of the time, his comments and actions have raised serious concerns among many in our caucus. I expect there to be additional discussions in the days to come, and Senator Lieberman and I will speak to our caucus in two weeks to discuss further steps."

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Reid_Serious_concerns_over_Liebermans_future_1106.html

WTF HARRY?

[Muttocracy]

1. I hope that means, "We'll announce new committee assignments when we know who the IL and DE senators

will be. Joe will lose his chairs then."

[Freddie Stubbs]

12. A more relevant Cancer is who will be the Senators from GA, MN, and AK

We know that IL and DE will have Democratic Senators.

[blondeatlast]

18. That and when the contested races are decided. Lieberman got his second warning though.

Let's hope it sticks.

[Ichingcarpenter]

26. I Thought I read that President Obama didn't approve of Lieberman's behavior

And also took him to task in the Senate this summer.

So perhaps Reid is just letting him stew. I think the statement could have been
a little more strong with a hint of his disapproval of Lieberman's behavior.

[blondeatlast]

34. Lieberman's own "I'm considering my options" says way more than Reid's statement.

On another thread, I said that is DC-ese for: "I'm a bigwig who was let go but they're letting me have a modicum of dignity whether I deserve it or not."

Reid's a gentleman but he's also a boxer and he knows how to throw the punches without damaging himself.

[jazzjunkysue]

2. And then issue a sternly worded letter, no doubt.

That's what you get for betraying your own party. Lots of one on one time.

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. Wishy Washy statement from Harry

God he's so decisive as the Senate Leader!!

"Senator Lieberman and I will speak to our caucus in two weeks to discuss further steps."

[RiverStone]

17. I'm sick of Harry's wishy washy bullshit on this!

Lieberman slept with the enemy - then became nothing more than McBush's lapdog in every photo shoot during the last 2 weeks of the campaign.

I hope Reid's constituency and others from across the party remind Harry that Joe cashed in all his Dem cards. Keeping Joe associated with the party in any way is an insult to all of us who remained faithfully dedicated to what we stand for!

Will somebody sell Harry a spine!?

[yellowcanine]

20. But surely leaving him out there twisting in the wind is so much more satisfying?

[blondeatlast]

35. For me it is. But lots of our fellow DUers want the deed done quickly

with less pain.

I'm a bit of a political sadist, myself.

[yellowcanine]

39. There is also a practical reason for not hurrying. Reid should know how many Democratic senators he

has before deciding what to do about Lieberman. He likely knows how many pubbie Senators he can depend on for a particular issue. No need to cut Lieberman off at the knees until he knows the lay of the land. Let him twist sloooooowly in the wind.

[blondeatlast]

42. Yup--I'm odd here in that I really respect and like Harry Reid.

He knows what he's doing.

[yellowcanine]

44. Harry Reid is a bare knuckle street fighter. Not above delivering a kick in the nuts.

[Dr Fate]

49. Bush, Cheney, Judge Alito, etc. certainly found that out the hard way.

Or at least its fun to pretend that.

[yellowcanine]

50. Yeah. I definitely want him on my side when the fisticuffs start.

[Dr Fate]

52. Bush, Cheney, Lieberman & Judge Alito are still nursing their multiple bruises & wounds. n/t

n/t

[Geoff R. Casavant]

3. Translation:

"There's still a portion of my ass Lieberman hasn't kissed yet, and there are other asses in line after me. Also possibly some teabagging may be required, we haven't decided yet."

[AlCzervik]

5. Burtwom had a thread about what to with Lieberman yesterday and the more i think about it

the more i'm convinced he should be stripped of his chairmanship. We aren't getting to 60 and there's a better chance of Snowe or Collin voting with the dems then Lieberman.

[Ichingcarpenter]

15. Look who is in line for his chairmanship position

If Lieberman loses his Homeland Security chairmanship, the position would likely go to Hawaii's Daniel Akaka, the committee's third ranking Democrat. Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) has more seniority on the committee than Akaka, but he already chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee.


He has a decent voting record.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/a000069/key-votes/

[SuperTrouper]

6. Lieberman is such a treasonous whore snake. Heck, maybe I'll challenge him here in Connecticut

in 2012.

:shrug:

[DeepBlueDem]

23. Seriously? If yes, Ill have your back.

[TheKentuckian]

7. Reid is kind of like putting Alan Combes into leadership

Seriously, what leadership traits can people ascribe to this guy, high levels of moderation? Not rocking the boat? Inability to draw ire from the opposition?

[TornadoTN]

16. That's exactly right

This guy is not a leader - not even a moderate. He's just weak, period.

[chitty]

8. No Balls!

He should have showed him the fucking door today. Period.

[PretzelWarrior]

10. no. it's better to slowly suffocate him while smiling and humming

that's what Reid looks like to me. A gleeful fighter. Cross him at your peril.

[Dr Fate]

30. So Harry is "keeping his powder dry." We have heard that one before.

I cant wait to be proven wrong, but my bet is Harry will act like he always has.

Who "crossed" Harry in the past and suffered "peril" b/c of it? Bush? Rove? Cheney? Lieberman? Who?

I hope he decides to use his "powder" this time and put Lieberman in his place.

[jgraz]

9. Can we please replace Droopy Harry with a vertebrate?

[TornadoTN]

11. Did anyone seriously expect anything other than this?

I'm surprised Harry didn't give him a promotion and big giant kiss, then issue a statement about how awesome Lieberman is and how he's a friend to Democrats.

[speedoo]

13. Listen to what Jane Hamsher says about this:

via firedoglake...

"My guess? Reid told him he can stay in the caucus if he steps down from his committee chairmanship (a campaign we started shortly after the 2006 election, thanks to everyone who participated with pitchforks and torches). I imagine Reid told him they'll wait to do anything until the other Senate races are decided, but that's the way it's going to go down. Those are the rather well-source rumors circulating, anyway.

Joe now goes to see if he can get a better deal from the GOP, knowing his chances of winning in Connecticut as a Republican in 2012 are about "zero." "

Makes a LOT of sense to me.

[Dr Fate]

14. Noodleback Reid will cave. Bank on it.

If they dont oust him, maybe our best hope is he is as a good a puppet for Obama as he was for Bush.

[dflprincess]

19. Perhaps he will send Liebermann a strongly worded "don't do this again" letter. (eom)

[danalytical]

21. I like Harry Reid

I don't know what you guys expect from him, fire breathing and loud mouthed partisanship all the time? He's quiet and dedicated, we don't need a windbag turning people off at every step on TV all the time. Measured, quiet, and effective. I like that.

Lieberman is my senator, and I worked to unseat supporting Lamont. He's a jerk, but there is no need to piss him off so much that he retaliates in the Senate. I agree he should be punished somehow, but I prefer quietly and restrained, to loudly and over the top revenge.

[Dr Fate]

25. No one asked him to be a wind bag, loud mouthed or fire breathing.

We did have to ask him not to cave in to the conservatives on many, many, many occasions- and he failed almost every time.

Some of us are still hoping that Obama's victory would give him the confidence he needs to stand up to conservatives like Lieberman.

We dont need confuse Harry's inability in being loud and partisan with his demonstrated inability to stand up to Conservatives- some of us know you can have one without the other.

[danalytical]

28. I simply don't agree with your assesment

Reid gets things done, it wasn't his fault the senate was only 51/49. You can't go around expecting everything to go your way when the other side still has huge minority and the presidency. We'll see how he acts from now on with a larger majority, but he still needs Republican moderate support either way.

[Dr Fate]

33. We agree that the DEM Senate needs moderate Republican support.

Perhaps we could also agree that Moderate as well as conservative Republicans have gotten support from Reid from time to time.

We can agree to disagree that Reid truly did all he could do to stand up to conservatives and Bush on Iraq, taxes, bankruptcy, etc. in the past...

I wont ask you to make excuses for his past failures, and I hope none of us will feel the need to make excuses for him in the now and in the future.

Reid could really change his image as a wimpy noodleback if he punishes Lieberman in a meaningful way.

[windbreeze]

55. Technically...it was 49/49 with 2 Independents..one of which is Lieberman....

imo....that's not what I'd call either party having a majority...too many things depended upon the vote of those two independents...wb

[Doremus]

29. I expect him to dole out the punishment he promised before Lieberman gave a speech

trashing Democrats at the RNC.

Joe is a traitorous asshole and Harry Reid is a spineless sob.

If he lets him have his chairmanships, Reid is persona non grata to me and I will gladly donate to his opponent in his next primary.

Until we start demanding that our Democratic representatives behave like Democrats again, this crap will continue forever.

[danalytical]

37. And the infighting begins

We have to support these guys and give them time.

[Dr Fate]

41. We dont have to support Lieberman (I-3rd Party) or any act that aids him in maintaining his power.

Supporting DEMS doesnt mean supporting something that allows a 3rd party, conservative, McCain supporter to maintain power.


Infighting? Since when does opposing a conservative 3rd party member amount to a internal party debate?

[political_Dem]

22. Mr. Reid has to make a choice.

Lieberman hasn't been on the Dems side and Reid knows it. I think it is way past due to send the CT Senator to pasture. It will make a statement that the Democratic party does not cave to turn-coats in an Obama administration.

[No Elephants]

24. Before you judge Reid, this is early November. He has to drag this out until the end of January.

[Dr Fate]

27. Harry also is waiting for outstanding Senate results.

So while many of us really want to give him the benefit of the doubt, dont be suprised if many DUers decide to judge him based on numerous past actions.

Whether fair or not, Harry has a reputation for giving conservatives what they ask for.

[Essene]

43. yes & the dems dont want to start looking ultra-partisan right now

as much as they WILL hand lieberman his epitaph, it's a bit early to be playing partisan vengeance games in the media.

[Dr Fate]

48. Is Lieberman that popular with the public to get them to rally round him? I dont think so.

A Majority leader who was skilled at controlling his message could easily brand this as a practical move and not a partisan move.

Such a Majority Leader might something like this:

"No other Bush or McCain supporters on the other side of the ailse gets to have top committee postitions either-Lieberman needs to understand that there is no exception in his case. We will do all we can to work with the GOP, but it's not unfairly partisan to maintain the tradition that the winning party gets to decide who is on what commtittees.."

[Dr Fate]

54. Also, what is more important- media perception or giving the best person the best positions?

Is there really a practical place w/i the DEM leadership where Lieberman can be trusted?

So if the media jumps up & down and says we have to give every non-DEM everything they ask for, we have to comply? Why?

This is about being PRACTICAL, not being partisan.

[Ichingcarpenter]

56. Lieberman refused to look into Homeland Security oversight

and he chairs the committee.

[Dr Fate]

57. Right- so a competent leader could easily frame this as an issue of QUALIFICATION- not partisanship

We need a competent Senate Majority Leader.

[BigD_95]

31. If Reid cant dump Lieberman

then Reid needs to lose his position. He is too weak.

[Barack_America]

32. Reid's statement and Lieberman's statements don't jibe.

Why would Lieberman be "considering his options" if "no decisions had been made"?

Did Reid offer him the ability to keep the chairmanship if Lieberman bows out of the Senate entirely in 2012? The only other "options" I can think of for Lieberman to ponder is whether or not he'll stay in the caucus.

[tbredbeck]

36. A little practicality please

I think Reid is playing this fairly cool at the moment for good reason. The final composition of the senate needs to be known.

While enjoyable to think about, exacting excessive revenge on Lieberman really doesn't do anything for anyone. The election is over. The business at hand is ensuring that Congress is able to advance the agenda of the Obama administration and the new democratic majority.

[Dr Fate]

40. I agree with that. But we already know Reid will cave. You seem to know it too.

I agree with you that Reid should be given time to see the final outcome of the outstanding Senate races.

However, based on past actions, it's somewhat safe to predict that Reid will ultimately be "forced" to cave as he always is.

Also, this isnt about hot-headed revenge- it is about maintaing party loyalty, party unity and keeping DEM strategy away from known, open traitors.

[Hieronymus]

38. Perhaps this is an occassion for Emanuel to put his skills to work. Dump

Lieberman. :hi:

[Alter Ego]

45. GROW SOME GODDAMN BALLS, HARRY! THROW HIM OUT!

[rufus dog]

46. I will actually defend Reid here

and I am one who thinks Lieberman needs to be publicly humiliated.

Obama is pushing a spirit of bipartisanship. If Reid kicked his ass out the talking heads would be all over the firing. Saying Obama can't control his people.

Based upon statements from Reid and Lieberman, I am guessing that a whole shit load of conditions were put on Traitor Joe, thus his need to think about his options. So if Joe runs to Faux News and starts running his mouth then Reid can whack him pointing to Joe's public outbursts. They are giving Joe a choice, get in line or here is the rope, pull some out. Seems to be playing out a win for the Dems either way.

[Dr Fate]

51. Since Reid has proven he does not know how to control a strong DEM message, you might be right.

I think a competent Majority Leader could easily get out a message to the media that keeping 3rd party Senators such as Joe in their places is a practical, not a partisan issue.

But, it is Reid afterall, so you are probably right.

We do agree that Reid should be given a little more time to figure this out- it's just that some of us already have a good idea as to what he will do (or not do).

[bigwillq]

47. Kick him out!

:mad:

[budkin]

53. Reid needs to go too... NOW.

[Two Sheds]

58. Reid is in a quandary because...

he's dealing with a man who has absolutely no dignity and self-respect at all. If Lieberman had those qualities he'd have not run for re-election after losing the CT primary to Lamont. If not then, then after he spoke at the RNC.

That being said, I would keep him around if he wants to keep humiliating himself. Tell him he can stay on so long as he votes as he's told. Every time the administration needs a vote, they call him and tell him what to do. If he deviates once, he's out. I think he'd crawl enough to do that. Make it clear that you consider him to be less than a man.