Politico: Lieberman -- Dems didn’t punish me

[Larkspur]

Dear President-elect Obama, the Senate Dems, and all you Obama fans who said that Lieberman was in debt to Obama,

Lieberman: Dems didn’t punish me
Critics complain he got off with a “slap on the wrist,” but Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman said Wednesday that he doesn’t regard his loss of a spot on the Environment and Public Works Committee as any kind of punishment for backing John McCain over Barack Obama in the presidential race.

“I don’t view it as a sanction,” a relaxed and genial Lieberman told Politico as he walked through the Capitol. Instead, the Connecticut independent suggested he relinquished his seat on the committee voluntarily — “in the spirit of cooperation” — after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) asked him to help free up room on the committee for incoming senators.

SNIP

I TOLD YOU SO!! Lieberman is like that scorpion on the back of the turtle in the old tale who stung the turtle who was helping it cross a river and killed the turtle just because it was it's nature to do so.

[political_Dem]

1. It won't be long before Lieberman buries the knife in the back of the Dems.

Can't you just see the squeaky wheels turn inside his head? He's been given a pass without any punitive measures.

[IndianaGreen]

2. Ahhh, the typical mutual admiration society we all suspected the Senate was

Lieberman is poison!

[AdHocSolver]

3. One reason for keeping Joe - If Congress screws up, they can always scapegoat Joe for their failures

I have seen this in the corporate world. Good workers get laid off, while managers will hold on to goof-offs and screw-ups.

For a long time I wondered why keep a loser and lay off a competent worker? Then I realized it was so that the manager could blame the loser for late or poor work. Said manager could also claim he needed a bigger budget to hire more people.

Finally, a loser knows, since he has no saleable skills, he is very dependent on this boss to keep his job, so the loser will never question or contradict what the boss tells him to do.

The problem with this approach to management is that the losers wind up with "seniority", and often rise up in the corporations to fairly high levels (sometimes, CEO's). They intuitively understand that their incompetence and stupidity is what brought them success, and they seldom "improve".

[CakeGrrl]

4. Of course Lieberman will save face so he doesn't look like Obama's beeyotch

I wouldn't expect him to say "It's true - Obama pwned me by being the much, much better man after I acted like such a slimy turncoat."

Nor do I believe that Obama has forgotten who he's dealing with. He knew what he was doing when he allowed the media to report his wish that Lieberman be kept in the Senate.

[SoCalDem]

5. and then he clicked his heels together twice, turned and uttered:

"Neener-Neener"

[TexasObserver]

6. frog, not turtle, in some versions