By now you are all well aware of the unfortunate and unsubstantiated warmongering by Senator Joe Lieberman this morning on "Face the Nation," so I will spare you from any more of his quotes. Unless, you spent the day in a cave you all know what he said about bombing Iran, but for those just coming out of the cave you can see for yourselves: Crooks and Liars has the video
There are also a couple of diaries from DavidNYC and Bill Tchakirides here and here
Other than leaning towards the undeclared Al Gore in 2008 I am totally undecided. However, the very first Democratic candidate to publically denounce Lieberman's comments and distance himself, or herself, from the bomb Iran meme will have my full support.
Regardless of who it is, one of them needs to get out there and make it clear that they, and not Ron Paul, are the best option for those opposed to the neoconservative agenda.
Ron Paul? Oh, sorry! I'll explain the seemingly unrelated Ron Paul reference below. please join me - there's a poll!
Earlier today, while perusing a diary about Al Gore's book "An Assault on Reason" of all places, I was first made aware of Lieberman's psychotic episode on "Face the Nation," from a comment made by Cato. I was obviously stunned and asked my fellow kossacks, why he would be advocating a military strike against Iran now, especially when we have just opened talks with them, and among the responses was this chilling comment from OneCrankyDom:
and once again when the framing starts Lieberman will be the "democratic" example they use to prove that Neocons were really deomcrats and not the Republican crooks we know them to be. Think I'm wrong ? Turker Carlson just the other days said the the Neocons are democrats, Think Progress has the video. Richard Perle on his PBS special reminded everyone he "really is a democrat". If we don't jump out in front on this issue it will be used against us as the race tightens. A return to reason indeed
Wow!
No, I do not think that OneCrankyDom is wrong at all and I fully agree that the Democratic leadership needs to take note and "jump out in front of this issue." They need to start by distancing themselves from Lieberman and his outrageous comments. In a very public way they need to make it crystal clear that Lieberman, who is not a Democrat, does not speak for the Democratic Party. Lieberman is a neocon and he stands alone - outside and far apart from the party.
OneCrankyDom's comment really shook me so I went in search of the Tucker Carlson video to see for myself why he'd be calling the Democrats neocons and what I found was worse than I had expected.
Carlson made the statement about the Dems being neocons during an exchange with the Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul as they were discussing the limited voting options in 2008. Tucker was matter-of-factly telling Paul that since the Democrats are essentially neocons too what was an antiwar voter to do? He asked, "If you are not for neoconservatism where do you turn in this election?" Paul nodding his head in complete agreement responded with "yeah, it is a problem" ... which, he went on to explain, is why he is trying to bring the non-neocon folks to the Republican Party and that this militaristic neocon ideology is actually antithetical to the traditional conservative philosophy. Paul went on to say that the Democratic candidates are not a viable option for those opposed to military strikes against Iran since they haven't even offered to take bombing Iran off the table. therefore the non-neocons have but one choice - Republican, Ron Paul. Seriously! here's the video link:
Tucker & Ron Paul
With the neoconservatives distancing themselves from Bush and the Republicans distancing themselves from the neoconservatives, the framing that OneCrankyDom talks of is already happening and now that Lieberman has once again stepped into a big pile of steaming shit the Democrats CANNOT let him take them down with him. This is why the Democratic leadership must get out in front of this and do some very serious damage control - As. Soon. As. Possible.
It's simple. Reid and Pelosi and as many prominent Democrats as possible can disown Joe by making just a couple of points: Lieberman is not a Democrat. He does not represent the views of the Democratic Party. He is a chickenhawk neocon carrying water for the Bush Administration. It is the Bush Administration who jumped into bed with the neocons - not the Democrats. We refuse to take their sloppy seconds!
They also need to swat that pesky little fly Ron Paul by distancing themselves from the bomb Iran meme completely.
I am with kestrel9000 100% and am really sick of Democrats falling for Ron Paul. But it's the Dems fault for not being more forceful. This is yet another good reason we need Democrats to take a stand against what Lieberman said today. Backbone!
I was hoping, with this diary, to initiate some discussion on how the Democrats can best respond to Joe Lieberman and the neocon drumbeating to invade Iran. And, yes, I realize that there are a couple of Democratic candidates, like Kucinich and Gravel, who have established anti-war campaigns, but what I am looking for is a frontrunner to publicly flog Joe Lieberman for what he said today.
Update: Full Interview now up at CBS
Update II:
Full Transcript (PDF)