GoldbergBlog

Joe Lieberman Shows Democrats as the Losers They Are

Nobody likes Joe Lieberman.  He’s a puny, unimpressive twerp whose purpose is to make Democrats do whatever Republicans want.  But it’s hard to blame him when Democrats bend over time and time again to acquiesce  to his demands even though those demands run completely counter to the Democratic platform.  Lieberman, after speaking at the Republican National Convention in support of John McCain, still gets to caucus with the Democrats and hold all of his committee chairmenships.

And the White House, so desperate to wrap up a turd of a health care reform bill and shove it under the tree in time for Christmas, doesn’t care.  And when the 2010 midterm elections roll around at the Democrats lose control of both the House and the Senate due to their own ineptitude, Joe Lieberman will still be smiling pretty because the Republicans will give him a big slap on the back and say, “Good work, Joe.  Always knew you were one of us.”

So what kind of health care package are we getting?  One without the public option, one without the Medicare buy-in, and one that will have to serve the American people for at least the rest of this administration, which, judging by their behavior and their commitment to helping everyone other than the American people, will probably be four years.  This White House promised more transparency and it’s certainly transparent how feckless and callow they really are and that they don’t mind spitting in the face of all the Americans who turned out to vote to get them into office.  But hey, better do what Joe Lieberman wants.

In a strange way, the letdown of Obama’s first year highlights something even worse than we imagined with Bush: there is no way to turn the country around.  The insurance companies made sure that this bill went their way and that politicians would have to be good enough salespeople to take it back to their districts and tell their constituents that them not getting health care was a “win”.  Obama didn’t work with Congress on this bill as much as he gave them all the responsibility and it allowed nobodies like Olympia Snowe and Ben Nelson and Max Baucus and Joe Lieberman to have more power than the President on this crucial issue.

And while health care reform crumbles, Obama asks nicely for the banks to please maybe try to help the American people and that we must continue fighting in Afghanistan with no clear mission.  Obama will never be as bad as Bush but it’s starting to look like all we did was elect a better pitchman for the same policies.  I wish I could call Obama a President but a President leads instead of handing over one of the biggest pieces of legislation in American history over to a 67-year-old independent senator from Connecticut who talks like Droopy the Dog and who reminds us all that Democrats are never truly “in power”.

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