Gain Without Pain

Indications are that Senate Democrats will cave and allow Joe Lieberliar (Party of Me-CT) to retain his chairmanship of the Homeland Security committee. He's likely to be stripped of at least one subcommittee chairmanship, a slap on the wrist considering his behavior over the past year in opposing President-elect Obama's candidacy.

The Democrats will hold at least 57 seats in the Senate by January, so Lieberliar's not essential to hold a majority in the Senate, and he'd be totally unreliable if needed to break a filibuster by Rethugs. So why give him the satisfaction of knowing that he could slime the Democratic candidate (and campaign for Senate Rethugs up for reelection) and get away with it? They're going to regret letting Lieberliar off the hook.

UPDATE: As expected, Senate Dems voted to allow Lieberliar to retain his Homeland Security committee chairmanship; he was booted of an Environment and Public Works subcommittee as "punishment." He didn't apologize for campaigning for McBush. Moral: The Rethugs show up to play football, the Dems show up to play badminton.

A Tale Of Two Senators

It's looking like Senate Democrats may let turncoat Joe Lieberliar off with a virtual slap on the wrist for campaigning all out for McSame and frequently slandering candidate Obama. With Obama extending an olive branch to him, Lieberliar may only lose a subcomittee chairmanship, as opposed to losing the chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Government Operations Committee. Lieberliar won't return the favor to the President-elect if he does retain the committee chairmanship. He has no incentive to, since, as Chairman the past 2 years, he was up to his flabby lips in protecting the Bush Assministration's incompetence on Katrina and its failure to respond to al Qaeda's threats in the months before 9-11. He was part of the problem and he knows it, so count on him being a thorn in Obama's side.

And speaking of olive branches, what about Sen. Clinton, who got 18 million primary votes, and who did everything and more that the Obama campaign asked her to do? Obama campaign officials are playing coy about when and how they'll help Clinton retire nearly $8 million in campaign debt. He'll need Sen. Clinton on issues ranging from health care reform to bringing our troops home from Iraq.

Maybe she should have campaigned for McSame, too.

Actions Have Consequences

Democrats are their own worst enemies when they appear to back down on an important matter. That's one thing that the Rethugs always count on. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid looks like he's getting shaky about what to do with Joe Lieberliar, based on yesterday's interview on CNN. Lieberliar not only campaigned actively against President-elect Obama, he shared the stage with Rethuglican Senate and House members up for election or reelection and lent his tacit support to them. He has no business chairing the Homeland Security/Government Operations Committee; he held no hearings in the last 2 years to hold Dumbya's feet to the fire, and he would only be a thorn in President Obama's side were he to continue to chair the committee. Allowing him to remain in the Democratic Caucus would guarantee that none of their deliberations would remain confidential. Democrats can harvest votes from moderate Rethugs such as Sens. Snowe, Gregg, Specter and Collins if needed. If Lieberliar wants to vote with Democrats from time to time, fine, but he needs to know that his actions have consequences.

Joe the Loser

Joe Lieberliar (Party of Me-CT) cast his lot with a loser in the Presidential elections. He could have just endorsed McSame and remained away from the campaign, which would have been merely awkward for his Democratic colleagues. No. He campaigned every day for him, delivered a vile speech at the Rethuglican Fib Fest in St. Paul that disparaged President-elect Obama, and said nothing when the McSame campaign and its allies on the far right tried to smear Obama as an anti-Semite to Jewish voters. In other words, he aggressively stuck a finger in the eye of the Democratic Party.

Speculation is that he'll certainly lose all of his committee positions, and will likely be booted from the Democratic Caucus. The Democrats are waiting to see the outcome of Senate races in Minnesota and Georgia before acting. Lieberliar says he's considering some "options," meaning that he's likely to caucus with the Rethugs. That should seal his fate in overwhelmingly Democratic Connecticut if he's delusional enough to run for the Senate in 2012.

(photo: Lieberliar emerges from a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, saying "Harry has a mean left hook.")

The Smell Got To Him

News item: Upon returning to his Senate office after speaking at the Rethuglican convention, Sen. Joe Lieberliar (Likud-CT) was handed the resignation of his legislative director, Joe Goffman.

No word on whether Goffman had a clothespin on his nose when offering the resignation.

Quote of the Day

"Less traditional choices mentioned include. . .Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential prick in 2000 who is now an independent." - - AP wire story by Nedra Pickler about McSame's VP choices (boldface added). Via Atrios.

Finally AP gets one right, if only by typo.

Department of Hypocrisy

". . .one candidate, John McCain, who has always put country first. . .and one candidate who has not." - - Joe Lieberloser (Likud-CT), speaking at a McSame event, saying that Sen. Obama has not always put his country first. This from a guy whose foreign policy outlook is identical to Israel's Likud Party, and who never misses an opportunity to vigorously push Israel's interests.

Holy Joe's Pact With Evil

As we noted yesterday, Sen. Joe Lieberloser (Likud-CT) decided to appear at the "Christian Zionist" wank-fest in D.C., despite Sen. St. John Barbeque McSame's disavowal of nutbag host Pastor John "Hater" Hagee.

Lieberloser was quoted as saying that Hagee's support for Israel "is so much more important" than inflammatory comments made about Jews (!!) and Catholics. Hagee is on record as believing that an end-of-time scenario requires that Jews return to Israel and to convert to Christianity; he's also called the Roman Catholic church "a whore." It should be clear to everyone by now that Lieberloser's priorities are 1) himself and 2) Israel. Nothing else counts.

Lieberloser's Woes

The Huffington Post reports that McSame best friend forever Sen. Joe Lieberloser (Likud - CT) is far less popular among Jewish voters than Sen. Barack Obama. Lieberloser is viewed favorably by only 37 percent, versus 60 percent for Obama, while 48 percent view Lieberloser unfavorably, versus 34 percent for Obama.

Speaking of Lieberloser, he's scheduled to address Pastor John "Hater" Hagee's "Christian Zionist" wank-fest this week. The pastor is the guy who called the Catholic Church a "whore" and said that God caused Hitler to launch the Holocaust so that Jews would establish Israel. Let's see how his poll numbers do after that appearance.

UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald has more on Lieberloser's embrace of Hagee.

(photo: Lieberloser and McSame contemplate a passionate kiss)

The Company You Keep

Via Max Blumenthal in the Huffington Post, we learn that the extremist Rev. John Hagee, in a March 2003 sermon, said that the anti-Christ would be gay and "at least partially Jewish, as was Adolph Hitler. . ."

Normally, you'd note this as the continued ravings of a fringe lunatic, but Hagee's endorsement was sought by McSame (who later rejected it), and his upcoming conference will feature Sen. Joe Lieberliar (Party of One - CT) as a speaker. One would think that Lieberliar would shy away from someone who has done such things as call the Catholic Church "the great whore" and who has stated that Hitler was sent by God to drive Jews to Israel. When Lieberliar addresses the Rethug convention (and you know he will), just remember this particular baggage the good senator brings.

McSame's Minister Problem, Again

Straight-talkin' Sen. John McSame has decided to dump Pastor John "Hater" Hagee's endorsement, which he now "rejects." Hagee, who has called the Catholic Church a "whore" and said that Hurricane Katrina was a result of God's wrath against sinful New Orleans, was caught on tape making some, uh, "controversial" statements about the Holocaust. As in, Hitler was God's instrument ("hunter" in Hagee's term) in driving the Jews out of Europe to Israel. Your brown shirt is showing, Pastor.

We're awaiting a reaction from Sen. Joe Lieberliar (Likud-CT), who has embraced Hagee's "support" for Israel in the past - - or more precisely, support for a Middle East Armageddon, after which the Jews will either convert to Christianity or be burned in hell. Joe must have missed that last part.

(photo: Hagee: "So you're dumping me, McSame?" McSame: "Just turn the other cheek")

UPDATE: That was fast. McSame has rejected the endorsement of another nutbag minister, Rod Parsley, whom he had earlier called a "moral compass" and "spiritual guide." And we thought Lieberliar had checked McSame's bearings a couple of weeks ago.

Quote of the Day

"I personally checked John McCain's bearings. He has not lost any of them." - - Sen. Joe Lieberloser (Likud-CT), responding to Sen. Obama's statement that McSame had "lost his bearings" for accusing Obama of being Hamas' favorite candidate.

We hate to think that Lieberloser had to check under McSame's hood for the bearings.

Loserman Endorses Walnuts

Sen. Joe Loserman (Idiot-CT) endorsed Walnuts McCain for President today. Shocking!! No doubt Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo rebuffed his efforts to endorse them first. Loserman (a prescient nickname bestowed upon him by Rethugs after the '00 election) thinks Walnuts will end the partisan gridlock in Washington (!). Yes, 4+ more years of Rethug rule will certainly do that, you betcha!

(Image: "The Kiss.")

Loserman On The Loose

Interviewed by Fox's Obergruppenfuehrer Sean Hannity this weekend, Sen. Joe Loserman (Likud-CT) indicated that he could see himself supporting a Rethuglican for president in '08. What a surprise. He's been supporting the Rethugs in the Senate for some time now, and generally stiffing his former Democratic colleagues while still caucusing with them (and no doubt passing on caucus strategy tidbits to the Rethugs).

Loserman also said on Face the Nation that he would support military attacks on Iran, stating that Iran was training and equipping Iraqi extremists - - like the ones that make up the Iraqi government's Mahdi base. So Joe wants to start yet another war in the Middle East, on top of the ones in Afghanistan or Iraq - - where we're barely holding on - - and the looming war in Lebanon, which will eventually involve us beyond logistical support, no doubt. Smart thinking. Maybe an endorsement from Loserman wouldn't be so good for the Rethugs after all.

Watching Senator Joe

Politico's interview yesterday with Sen. Joe Lieberlikud (Himself-CT) is must reading for those who thought electing him last fall would not cause problems for Democrats. Here, he's suggesting that he might join the Rethuglican party if Iraq war funding is reduced. Note that his sole litmus test is Iraq, a failed venture sold to the public on false premises. Not health insurance, not education, not Court appointments. He can be counted on to stifle any inquiries into war profiteering abuses and homeland security foul ups, too. He can, in fact, do great damage to the Democratic agenda that the voters supported last fall. And the likelihood is, he will.

UPDATE: Talking Points Memo has a sampling of Lieberlikud's numerous promises to remain with the Democrats here.