Goodbye to a Guy Named Joe - Sen. Lieberman not all that great :) by Gail Collins

[Mira]

Goodbye to a Guy Named Joe - Sen. Lieberman not all that great :) by Gail Collins




On Wednesday, Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut announced that he won’t be a candidate for re-election in 2012. Normally people look particularly appealing when they’re promising to go away. This time, not so much.

“I can’t help but also think about my four grandparents and the journey they traveled more than a century ago,” he said in his speech. “Even they could not have dreamed that their grandson would end up a United States senator and, incidentally, a barrier-breaking candidate for vice president.”

Lieberman has reached a point in his public career when every single thing he does, including talking about his grandparents, is irritating.

Last month, when he helped lead the fight for the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” some people seemed more than a tad resentful at having to give up complaining about him for the duration of the debate. “Of course, he wants gay people in the military,” wrote Alex Pareene at Salon.com, “He wants everyone in the military.”

Plus, he isn’t really leaving. He’s got two years of his term left, during which he will be looking for “new opportunities that will allow me to serve my country.” Do you think that means something involving a large salary and a chance to make multitudinous TV appearances, or a Peace Corps stint in Burkina Faso? Let me see hands.

When he was not busy comparing himself to John Kennedy on Wednesday, Lieberman denounced partisanship. “I have not always fit comfortably into conventional political boxes,” he said proudly. This is, of course, an old theme for him, but it’s also a cautionary tale.

for the rest of her editorial go to:

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/gailcollins/index.html

[Dogmudgeon]

1. One Cheer for Joe

Gay rights.

That's it.

Door, ass, leave.

--d!

[pacalo]

2. Announcing his departure with 2 years to go = "Which one of you corporations want me?"

[pacalo]

3. Mira, here's a direct link to the article (other one leads to Ms. Collins' bio page)...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/opinion/20collins.html?ref=gailcollins