Hear me out.
Joe Lieberman loves it when we get mad, right? I'm pretty sure that's what this is all about -- pissing us off. I'm just guessing that he probably hates that we dumped him in favor of Ned Lamont. So he is exacting revenge on the Democratic party any way he can.
What. Ever.
Two can play that "don't get mad, get even" game. Maybe the Dems could take away his chairmanship, but I have a better, more direct way to shut down Joe Lieberman right now.
Here's what I would do if I were the majority leader:
I would make Lieberman actually filibuster til he drops from exhaustion.
Make him stand up there and filibuster the old school way -- where you pee into a jug while you read from the goddam phonebook for 24 hours straight.
It would take much less time to let that happen than to "go back to the drawing board" ... only to have him stiff us AGAIN.
It would be a more reliable way of neutralizing his opposition RIGHT NOW than removing his chairmanship. Not to say we shouldn't remove his leadership post too, but not right now -- time is of the essence.
Make him stand up there and look the fool. Let history record his folly for generations to come.
Then when they carry him off on a stretcher, pants pissed and babbling, we have our up or down vote on HCR.
Same goes for Nelson, Landrieu, Lincoln, and whoever else threatens to filibuster.
Make em do it. Make em stand up there and read the goddam phone book (they still make phone books, right?) while peeing in a jug.
Go ahead, Joe: make my day.
UPDATE: Yes, I know, he'd forgo the jug and probably borrow extra-absorbent Depends from Sen. Vitter, but even those fill up eventually...