Revenge Vs. Reward vs. Accountability

This is my third and last Lieberman post of the day.

On the Big Orange Devil there’s a post by Argyrios that argues the Lieberman vote is the “Change We Need”.

I get what the author is saying. I argued about a week ago that Obama may want Lieberman to keep his post for many of these very reasons. But let’s not confuse what this vote is about. This vote is not about revenge, it’s about accountability.

Instead of holding Lieberman accountable for his actions, Senate Democrats have chosen to reward Lieberman for working for Republican candidates in the elections. As I said earlier this morning, he would have been booted from the party in just about any other country in the world for his actions.

So, Democrats have chosen to not hold their members accountable for working against the party. What does this say about Democrats’ dedication to Democratic principles? Sure Lieberman has been a democrat for 45 years, but his actions in the past several years have effectively undermined Democratic Principles. We’re supposed to feel good about rewarding that? We’re supposed to feel good about not holding someone accountable for their actions? Are you kidding me?

Here’s the real question going forward. How will Lieberman act toward his detractors? Sanders and Leahy spoke out against him in the caucus meeting. Anyone want to be Lieberman works against those three? See, if Lieberman actually feels bad about any of this, other than that fake “politically” bad, he’ll go out of his way to work with those three in particular. In reality, I think we’ll see Senator Lieberman go out of his way to obstruct these Senators, and anyone else he deems to be on his “enemies list”. That’s “Change we can Believe in”.

Below is the press conference after the vote.