Harry Reid: What Lieberman Did Was "Wrong"

Harry Reid told CNN Friday that he is unhappy with Joe Lieberman's passionate support of John McCain for president.

"Joe Lieberman has done something that I think was improper, wrong, and I'd like if we weren't on television, I'd use a stronger word of describing what he did," Reid told CNN's John King. "But Joe Lieberman votes with me a lot more than a lot of my senators. He didn't support us on military stuff and he didn't support us on Iraq stuff. You look at his record, it's pretty good."

Reid, the AP has reported, "is considering yanking Lieberman's chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee as punishment."

Meanwhile the AP also reported today that GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell has reached out to Lieberman about joining the Republican party.

Comments

[shadow322]

Harry do your job - Lieberman is an issue of principals now. He must go!

[SailFree]

So, having an independent point of view is not to be tolerated by Democrats? Who would have thought, given the constant harping about tolerance and diversity...

[djelimon]

I don't know about that, but slandering a fellow Dem ought to raise a few eyebrows, don't you think?

[ANewYear]

Lieberman is NOT a Democrat. He's an Independent who caucuses with Democrats. The MSM are constantly referring to him as a Democrat when he isn't.

Harry Reid needs to get a spine. Give Lieberman an ultimatum which is to stay and caucus with the Democrats but lose the chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Take it or leave it Joe.

[marasgram18]

you are on the wrong site bye bye

[WriterGuy]

Saying he's on the "wrong site" is the wrong answer. That's what I'm told when I post rebuttals on sites like RedState or FreeRepublic.

Just explain that there's a difference between an "independent point of view" and actively campaigning for the other party's Presidential candidate, while bashing YOUR OWN PARTY'S.

I think there would be a lot more support for Joe among Democrats if he were as respectful and supportive of Obama as Obama was respectful and supportive of McCain.

[prabbit]

Oh yes, so much tolerance is shown for GOP moderates by the base of their party. Pot, meet kettle.

[Jaxy]

Dear SailFree:

The problem is not that Joe Lieberman had, as you say, "an independent point of view." Democrats appreciate that particular freedom.

The issue is that Mr. Lieberman wantonly, gleefully and repeatedly dissed and misrepresented Senator Obama to the American electorate. That kind of shabby behavior should grant pause to everyone, regardless of party affiliation.

[marasgram18]

Liebermann was doing his own campaigning he wanted to be secretary of state and saw John MCcain as the path to it his support was about his friendship not country he is lieing

[roshni]

Grow a pair Reid, get rid of him!

[hmmmmm]

Palin/Lieberman 2012

Republicans wouldn't be that stupid , would they? I mean, winning that one would be like shooting fish in a barrell.

[SailFree]

Clearly, they would not be that stupid.

[prabbit]

Judging by the recent campaign they ran, clearly they are.

[eden4barack08]

Senator Reid, we don't care how much LIAR man has voted with you. On the most important issues to Democrats, first the war, then electing our next President, he FAILED big time, and betrayed us. You better kick his a$$ to the curb, it's what the majority of us want, and with 57 seats in the Senate, there's no longer an excuse to keep this Judas.



Folks, write to Sen. Reid please, keep the pressure on. LIAR man's gotta go.



http://reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

[bthechangeyouseek]

Belonging to any organization should be based on a belief in the fundamentals of that organization. While people have the right to choose their affiliations, it's up to those affiliations to accept the member at his word. JL has given indication that he is unhappy with his current affiliation. He should not be chairing any committees that the Dem's hold unless they are seeking diversity in that chair and want someone who makes such claims. At the same time, no one can tell JL what he believes. He will have to determine that himself. Soul searching. If you belong to an organization just for the benefits, then it will be up to that organization to determine if you are worthy of a title or office other than member. It will be up to the people of his state if they choose to elect a JL again, if he is acting as a wolf in sheep's clothing then the people need to decide if he represents their values.

[eden4barack08]

If this goes to a vote, the following are the Senators in that Committee.
Call them and demand they all vote to strip Liar man of his chaimanship. This Judas not only wholeheartedly campaigned for his BFF McCain, but also stood by at hateful rallies where Palin called our President-Elect all sorts of names. Also he himself had the audacity to say that while McCain put "country first", Obama did not. This cannot be tolerated or forgiven, it's beyond reconciliation. Judas must go!

Your Steering and Outreach Committee members:
Debbie Stabenow, Michigan - Chairwoman [phone] 

Harry Reid, Nevada [phone] 

John Kerry, Massachusetts [phone] 

Daniel Inouye, Hawaii [phone] 

Robert Byrd, West Virginia [phone] 

Edward Kennedy, Massachusetts [phone] 

Joe Biden, Delaware [phone] 

Patrick Leahy, Vermont [phone] 

Chris Dodd, Connecticut [phone] 

Tom Harkin, Iowa [phone] 

Max Baucus, Montana [phone] 

Richard Durbin, Illinois [phone] 

Kent Conrad, North Dakota [phone] 

Carl Levin, Michigan [phone] 

Herbert Kohl, Wisconsin [phone] 

Barbara Boxer, California [phone] 

Hillary Clinton, New York [phone] 

Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico [phone] 

Mark Pryor, Arkansas [phone]

[learnsomething]

You gotta go Joe! You betrayed the Democratic Party. GOOD RIDDANCE!

[RayMD]

Send a signal. Strip him of ANY chairmanships. Pack your bags Joe.
Smile for the Republicans. You're not needed, not wanted, and we voted for a change.
Good place to start.
GTFOut!

[DouginCT]

Joe's gotta go. He's had it his way every step of the way, and anyone who has followed Lieberman (and even liked some of his leadership in the past) can see how he has morphed into either a duped warmonger or a really cynical manipulator. His folksy rhetoric doesn't cover that up anymore. Josh Marshall at TPM points out another really good reason to boot him from his chairmanships:

"As we and many others have chronicled, there's a surfeit of reasons to strip Sen. Lieberman of his committee chairmanship. But one, perhaps the most obvious and substantive, has gone little mentioned. Simply put, he was terrible at it. Lieberman's committee is the senate investigations and oversight committee, the senate's counterpart to Rep. Henry Waxman's committee in the House. And if you remember a lot about Waxman's investigations and hearings and nothing about Lieberman's, that's because Lieberman didn't hold any. Even in the face of endless scandals of the late Bush administration, Lieberman couldn't find anything worth poking into." -Josh Marshall

[Sylhet]

Joe Lieberman should be expelled from Democratic Party. There must not be any negotiation to accommodate him in any capacity.

[feminancy]

Joe Lieberman must be stripped of his Senate leadership roles.

His "in your face" criticism of Obama and unqualified support for McCain during this hard-fought campaign trumps any points he earned voting with Harry Reid. My gosh, at practically every McCain campaign speech I saw on TV, there was Joe, standing by his man. And there was his speech at the Republican Convention... And now his threat to align with the Republicans! Are you kidding me???

Nope. He's got to go. If Reid can't do the deed, he should be removed from his leadership role, too.

[roshni]

He even campaigned for down-ticket republicans.

[Rapid Ray]

Two words....

Benedict Arnold.

[antmuk]

I'm as disgusted with JL as anyone but I think President Obama should give him a mid-level position in Homeland Security, just to keep his word on campaigning for unity, that way a true Dem could be appointed as senator from Conn.

[Petunia39]

I don't care if he continues to chair a committee, say on environmental issues, but keep him the heck away from anything related to foreign policy. His only interest in going with Mc was to promote war.