I've been away from my computer lately; so while this is similar to other postings that are even now on the rec list, I was having trouble wading too far through the hundreds to thousands of posts on this topic but still wanted to say my bit.
I've always hated Lieberman ever since he was the VP candidate (I was only 15 at the time, so I wasn't too familiar with politicians outside of the mainstream) and, like everyone else, my opinion of him has steadily decreased to a loathing that reached rather epic proportions over the last year. And I would have loved to see him humiliated and removed from his seat, I think it was indeed prudent to leave him where he is for the time being.
Joe Lieberman is currently a national joke. His over-the-top support of McCain was a blatant attempt to grab another shot at VP that even casual onlookers couldn't help but notice. He's screwed up so much with the Dems that he would never have been able to get further than his current position with them, and McCain needed someone to toss onstage that gave the immediate impression of bipartisanship (it seems ridiculous to most people I know, but he was still associated in the popular mind as the CP choice of our still beloved Al Gore).
Now his last ditch effort has back-fired in a big way and he literally has nowhere to turn. The biggest headlines he's made since Palin's arrival have been about his potential punishment. And here comes the (hopefully) intelligent maneuver. After a week of people remembering the Lieberman exists and waiting in anticipation to see whether the Dems strike him down for his sins, he is rewarded with forgiveness. To the rest of the country who doesn't explicitly despise him, this looks like one of the following:
A) The new administration keeping its promise to lie down arms now that the campaign is over and move on to discuss how to get things done rather than using their new found power to punish all who weren't in their partisan corner.
B) Lieberman is still trusted to maintain his Dem orientation in most parts or at least follow the obvious desires of the public.
The first one helps our image. While it may not be the most desirable situation, it robs the dwindling Republican minority from a potential weapon it would need to just dig in their heals and block everything they can. If we'd fired Lieberman right away he unarguably would've deserved it but it doesn't mean it looks good publicly, and right now there are a lot of people worried that their country and maybe they themselves took a risk on somebody who will only sharpen partisan divides.
The second issue helps Lieberman, which makes a little bit of puke lurch up every time I think about it but is still useful. Like it or not, he casts a vote that sways the balance of the still yet to be determined Senate party ratio. Joe had nowhere to go and his last grab for glory only looked to cost him the prominence he already had. I'm sorry, but that would have solidified him even more in the Republican camp. He rejected us in a power gamble, but we can't openly reject him. For the next two years he has the ability to show to the public that he's still a Dem at heart on key issues and maybe regain some public standing and keep his career. If we'd stripped him of all that was his, he COULD NOT vote for us even if what little conscious he had pushes him to because he would no longer have any publicly perceived connection to the Dems. The man is on shaky ground, he knows his career will swiftly end for good if he simply takes an obstructionist stance against the new majority.
This has been rambly and probably quite unfocused so I apologize, but essentially I'm just saying that while it seems ridiculous to keep Lieberman in a prominent position after all this, that's all the broader public sees. We can't strip him of his Senate seat, but we may as well be as far as the headlines will read. The way the public perceives the Democratic treatment of Lieberman determines a lot right now, from ammunition for Republican obstructionism to that one crucial floor vote cast by the man who has very few options for salvaging his trainwrecked career. I hate to say it, but I think at the moment that is very much worth having someone more innately loyal heading up the Homeland Security Committee for the next two years.
I sympathize with you and your anger, I'm just trying to see the bigger picture given the timing, particularly given that it's one of the first big post-election stories that involves not how Obama is appointing his loyalist, but with what temperament those who were on the other side will be treated. This is far more sensitive than simple Bush appointees being replaced because, like it or not, Lieberman was elected so can't exclusively be tied to Bush.