Hello Joe, Whatta ya know?: Tales of a Flip-Flopping Douchebag

THIS asshole, is Senator Joseph Lieberman. Most of us tree-hugging liberal hippies know him as Al Gore's running mate in the 2000 presidential elections.Some of us, who follow the news (not the Fox/CNN kind, the real kind) know him as an ex-democrat who lost a primary election and then went on to win the general election as an 'independent'. He tends to caucus with the Democrats, which is no surprise considering he was at risk of losing his powerful chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security committee if he pissed off his ex-masters who now (supposedly) hold the reigns. Harry Reid relented, he kept his chairmanship and now, true to the old adage "Give a Lieberman an Inch and he'll take a mile" old Joe has turned around and bit the hand that feeds him.

Being the critical 60th vote on this issue is like being the Prom Queen in a pit of D&D nerds... everyone wants your attention and will do anything to get it. Is it any surprise that given this environment, Lieberman would use it to press his advantage? Well, it's not a surprise to me, but what *is* a surprise is the way in which the cowardly democratic party has dealt with this defector.

I, am a democrat. I believe in socialized health care, I believe in free education for all, and I believe it is our obligation to help those less fortunate than ourselves. Taxes, are our way of paying for these programs (and Lieberman's healthcare might I add...), and anyone who claims to be a 'conservative' because they want to pay less tax and keep more money for themselves is a greedy asshole. That's it, end of story. What do these so called 'conservatives' use their money for? Is a new TV or a vacation home more important than making sure your fellow man is cared for? Apparently yes, because taking money for social programs has somehow been made to equate to a 'loss of freedom'... If I choose to not pay income tax, is that 'freedom'? No, it's a crime. I find it fascinating that people who have no problem giving 10% of their salary to a church (the ultimate socialism) are up in arms about giving a small percentage more to do the very things their church extols as virtuous. But I digress, this is not a polemic against religion, it is an expose on Joseph the Douche Lieberman.

It is... troubling... to consider a man's integrity when he plays as loose with the morals as Joe does. During the 2000 elections, Lieberman was a staunch supporter of lowering the Medicare age bracket, a position which he heralded from the tops of the highest mountains as few as 3 months ago. But that was then, and this, well, this is now... and realizing that he is holding all the cards, he has decided to be a total dick about things.

The man above, the supposed democrat, is the sole reason the single payer option was removed from the bill. He outright threatened a filibuster if such a provision made it into the bill. It didn't... Under pressure from Rahm Emmanuel (a fellow pro-Israel militant Jewish radical who supports the 3 billion a year we give Israel [Who HAS socialized medicine]) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (who needs to grow a pair) apparently went to strike a deal with Lieberman, saying that single payer would be eliminated from the bill but the Medicare cap would be dropped from 65 to 55 years old. Everything seemed settled (not to me, to me anything short of a public option is 100% failure) until Lieberman struck again, and said he would filibuster that as well.

So to recap... Joe Schmoe up there was for it three months ago, and now suddenly is not for it. What, oh what, could be compelling him to change his mind on all these issues? I suppose to answer that question, we need to look beyond the man and look at the state he represents... Connecticut. This state is unique, in that it has a great many health industry jobs and a very, very powerful lobby which contributed over $1,000,000 to Lieberman's campaigns.

In spite of everyone calling for his head (a moot point, since Connecticut has no recall laws or right to recall the Senator) Lieberman has continued to defend himself, going so far as to say he has to "Do what is right". I would like some clarification, although one should never expect that from a politician of any kind, on what precisely is 'right' about threatening to block legislation aimed at expanding basic needs to people. I have come to the conclusion, rather painfully, that nothing will change in this country no matter who leads it.

This coffee mug shows a copy of Alcatraz's (yes, the notorious prison) "Regulation #5", in my recent visit there I was struck by this particular regulation, and it occurred to me that the most notorious criminals then (and now) are still entitled to free medical care while tens of millions of hard-working Americans are not. The concept that if diagnosed with a rare cancer it might be cheaper to knock-over a liquor store and get treatment at tax payer expense for a few years rather than rack up $300,000 in medical debt that will essentially indenture you for the rest of your life is more disturbing than I care to admit. Yet it is true.

The democrats, from our President on down to the floor sweeper on the other side of the aisle have let me down. I voted for change, and have instead been short-changed by this administration. There is no democratic majority, because the democratic party is now FULL of elephants in donkey's clothing, full of opportunists who won seats in a populist backlash against the policies of the failed Bush administration and have now shown their true colors. I wish I had five minutes alone with our president to air my grievances, I would tell him very simply, and with as ponderous and heavy a tone as I could muster;


"You have disappointed me. You have kept none of your promises to me. You have escalated the war you promised to end, you have not taken a strong enough stand against your opponents, and you have allowed the right to walk all over you. This, is not change. This, is the same shit in a different color. Where once I blamed the reds, now I blame the blues. You have lost my vote Mr. President, and my confidence."


To my liberal compatriots, consider your hopes for change dashed. To my conservative opponents, an early congratulations on your landslide victory in 2010.