Lieberman getting off scott-free doesn't tick me off. I assume there's some kind of understanding he and the new President-to-be reached on the matters at hand, which essentially left Lieberman's balls in Obama's back pocket.
What ticks me off is that after everything we've fought for, there are people out there who consider this some massive breach of Obama's promise, or of the Democrat's strength.
There's a scene in the trailer for the newest Bond movie where a CIA agent responds to a colleague who has reservations about the folks they're dealing with by saying "Yeah, we should really only deal with the nice people." with obvious sarcasm. The sentiment stands here in Congress.
I have no problem with us doing our absolute best to change the makeup of Congress, to work our influence. But this all or nothing approach makes me just shake my head. Yes, we can be purists, and shut out everybody who didn't drink our movement's Kool-Aid. We can make our system work along partisan lines, and return every slight we've been given over the past few decades.
But we take that path and we'll not have power long. No, I'm not telling you that we should abandon pushing policy hard for change. But did you think we can build the working majority to do that by only dealing with the people we like? Despite all our efforts, many of the old guard remain, and we were fine with that in the election. More, then better, right? But when its all done, and Lieberman doesn't get punished, suddenly people are acting like this is a complete betrayal, and suddenly they're taking their ball and going home!
This is the endurance, the stubbornness of the people who expect to change America and the World? First political move you don't like, and suddenly the dream is dead? Are you people for real?
That is the question, isn't it? Are we adults here, or teenagers, unable to accept any compromise? I know years of Republican-style compromise have made people allergic to that word, but you know, sometimes the best strategy isn't the one that apes that ideal world in your head, but the one that best deals with the real world out there.
Let's be clear what's going on here: Obama didn't descend from on high to protect him just for the hell of it. He had a plan, an idea of what he wanted in return. I have no doubt that Lieberman knows who the new owner of his rear end is, and who can end his political career once and for all if Joe doesn't get with the program. Anybody who thinks that this is some political triumph on Lieberman's part hasn't been paying attention. This is a reprieve, and such things are not given without some understanding being shared.
We're going to see a lot of deals made we don't like to get the policy we do like. Our job is not to balk at each and everyone of these, but to keep an eye on things, to make sure that the necessary compromises don't become unnecessary corruption.
I'm in it for the long haul. Are you? I think this is a question you need to answer for yourself. Did you fight all this time, volunteer, spend hours convincing neighbors, friends and family to vote for Obama and other Democrats so that you could get revenge on Joe Lieberman?
Or is it Healthcare, the Environment, the Economy, and all those other comparatively minor issues you were concerned about? Just what exactly did you sign up for, the politics or the policy? I would hope that we keep such deals like this to the minimum, but if saving Joe Lieberman from the chopping block, obnoxious traitorous twerp that he is, gets us a consistent vote on these policies, leave him there for the time being, let him be.
If our aim is to undermine the other side, then being vindictive won't be helpful. Some folks complain about a Country Club atmosphere, but lets be realistic: That's the Senate for you. Only difference now is that we're making it our Country Club, doing our stuff. The Republicans may be defeated, but they aren't dead. We still need to peel off their votes, break their party discipline.
We aren't even started yet, and some of you are declaring defeat. You haven't gotten what you want on day one, so you're just going to give up. Has it occurred to you that this would be a fight, that this would be a struggle, and that perhaps we'd need our own turncoats, our own Red Dogs in the Republican party?
Did you think every step of this process would be glorious, uplifting? Welcome to the Real World, the reality-based community. If you want change, you need more than just a wide-eyed dreamy campaign. You will have to get your hands dirty. You will have to deal with people you don't like, can't stand. But if they're helping us, rather than helping the Republicans and their stagnant and stagnating agenda, that's a step in the right direction.
We won this election because we believed results matter more than politics. The question is, which results do we care most about?