A
Connecticut Donkey
In King George's Court
(with apologies to Mark Twain)
By Niranjan Ramakrishnan
10 August, 2006
Countercurrents.org
The first three letters just happen to be,L-I-E., L-I-E.
(with apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein, The Sound of Music)
But what's in a name? It is the
actions that count. And here, perhaps the biggest greatest contribution
to legitimizing the actions of the Bush administration has come from
what can be euphamistically called an 'enabling' legislator.
I first noticed the strange
behavior of Joseph I. Lieberman shortly after the 2000 election. Those
were difficult days (you have to remember, we had higher standards then).
It was bad enough that Gore and Lieberman went quietly into the night
after so blatant a travesty as the Rehnquist court judgement. While
Gore may not have had Obrador's gumption, it was clear that he at least
capable of inner outrage. Lieberman, on the other hand, clearly appeared
relieved that he could now go back to full-time faux bipartisanship.
Instead of being a stringent opposition politician watching every false
move of the ruling party, he was happy to promote a phony 'let us all
get along'. Such an attitude, always dubious in an opposition, turned
disastrous for the country when a criminal and inept administration
was at the helm.
The stentorious statesman who pilloried Ralph Nader in 2000 for bolting
the party and standing as an independent, announced during the primary
campaign he would consider precisely such a move himself. He kept this
pledge, announcing after his loss last evening, using a concession speech
to Lamont into a launching pad for his campaign as independent, although
he kept saying that he would be a Democrat. How? By opposing the Democratic
nominee? While Lamont in his victory speech praised Lieberman, the Senator
spewed bile on the upstart who had beaten him. Talk of the politics
of division!
But doublespeak comes naturally to this self-professed moralist. Michael
Kinsley wrote long ago that when he was hosting his TV show, the two
politicians who were always available to appear, day or night, weekday
or weekend, were Joseph Lieberman and John McCain, the very same enablers
who gave so many of Bush's egregious initiatives the stamp of moral
authenticity, or at least, temporary cover. I cannot erase from my memory
how assiduously Lieberman helped McCain pilot the Iraq War resolution
through the Senate, and how Lieberman went after Howard Dean when Dean
said Saddam Hussain's capture had not made America any safer (see Duryodhana
Dies). No wonder the Bush administration made full use of Lieberman's
crucial votes, portraying him as a reasonable and bipartisan politician
who cared for the country in this time of war. Rather ironic, coming
from a crew that itself didn't care about the country, and saw the war
only as an opportunity to restrict rights help its friends.
Bill Clinton, knowing Lieberman's
intentions, still came out to campaign for him. How glorious that it
helped not at all, exploding the myth that people will be fooled into
excusing enablers, and their enablers. So did Chris Dodd and Barbara
Boxer, both of whom had voted against the war. The Senate protects its
own.
A week before the primary, facing a 13 point gap in the polls, the man
of principle attempted to shed his record with a vigor that surprised
even his admirers, even while appearing to stand firm on principle.
"I not only respect your right to disagree or question the president
or anyone else -- including me -- I value your right to disagree".
How magnanimous. One wishes Lieberman had valued as much his right to
disagree with Bush. We are not talking about any old administration
here, but the most brazen and incompetent one in memory. But Lieberman
had no problem voting with the Bush team for Gonzales, Rice, CAFTA,
the Patriot Act, Roberts, Alito, on the recent resolution (the original
and the watered down versions) on withdrawing troops...
Lamont may have any number of flaws, but his courage in taking on this
so-called icon of the Democratic party (a true representative for a
party under whose Senate leadership the war resolution was passed),
challenged him on the War and laid him low, assures him a place in the
history of our times.
Congrats and thanks, Ned
Lamont, for your wake up call to the Democratic Party, and for causing
more sleepless nights for all those other minor and major Liebermans
in the Senate.
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
can be reached at [email protected].
His blog is at
http://njn-blogogram.blogspot.com.