Getty Images
Lieberman is always pointing fingers in the wrong direction.
As Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) gets ready to depart the Senate after four terms, he's leaving on a predictable note: blaming "both sides" for everything.
Even amid the current meltdown in Washington and the consistent Republican opposition to Mr. Obama, Mr. Lieberman insists on blaming both parties equally in a way that some Democrats say works for him but ignores reality.
"The Republicans will say not only in the fiscal negotiations, but in general, they were constantly bending and willing to compromise, and it's the Democrats' fault," he said. "But the truth is, they're both right. It's both their fault."
That's not "the truth" at all. To pretend that there should be a pox on both houses, when only one deserves, is to deny reality altogether.
I understand the reflexive establishment posture, which suggests partisan observations are necessarily wrong, but consider recent events: the fiscal talks have broken down because Republicans won't compromise and accept meaningful concessions; the farm bill and the Violence Against Women Act are stuck because Republicans won't vote on them; efforts to reduce gun violence face extremely long odds because Republicans are beholden to the NRA; a U.N. treaty on disabilities was killed because Republicans believed extremist conspiracy theories; the process of filling President Obama's second term cabinet is stalled because of Republican smear campaigns; and another debt-ceiling crisis is underway because Republicans are threatening to hurt Americans on purpose unless Democrats pay a steep ransom.
It's not "both their fault." One side is being reasonable; the other side is being nihilistic. One need not be partisan or biased to see what is plainly true.
And yet, there's Joe Lieberman, who's in a position to know better, characterizing partisan strife as a "cancer" affecting both sides of the aisle equally. This is more than just annoying -- it's a misguided sentiment that encourages more dysfunction.
I'm reminded once again of this thesis from Thomas Mann and Norm Orstein.
The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.
When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country's challenges.
"Both sides do it" or "There is plenty of blame to go around" are the traditional refuges for an American news media intent on proving its lack of bias, while political scientists prefer generality and neutrality when discussing partisan polarization. Many self-styled bipartisan groups, in their search for common ground, propose solutions that move both sides to the center, a strategy that is simply untenable when one side is so far out of reach.
Keep this in mind, not only when Lieberman whines, but when we see efforts like Starbucks' "come together" initiative. As Jonathan Cohn explained very well this morning, "Washington doesn't need two parties that can 'come together.' It needs one party to 'get it together.'"
Leave a Comment:
You know, Steve, that in the "republican media" they have a list of agenda items that Democrats are completely unwilling to consider.
I realize that you don't agree with that agenda, and thus probably consider it wholy reasonable that Democrats in Congress obstruct them, but it doesn't make it any less partisan that they do so.
Yeah Steve, even though the above list is secret, convoluted, and obstructionisterly,,,
Wow,,and I thought I left my intentions to the imagination...
Anywaywhat, LIEbermam knows that his future lobbying will be paid more money money money by repuke firms... That and the NRA puts a fifty in your christmas card if you've been good.
Damn Steve,,, do you sleep?
LOL. All of Congress is beholden to lobbyists and Corporations, it's how they fund their campaigns. Leiberman is no exception, nor anyone else you care to name. The idea that one "side" is arguing for the people is a ridiculous notion, they are arguing about which corporate groups have the most influence in DC. And each side wants thiers.
This games of "it's the other guys fault" just supports the ongoing public theatre. At least the people are starting to wake up. Although the Tea Party movement didn't get what it wanted, and Occupy got only some of what they wanted, at least these sorts of movements show that some people are beginning to realize the Corporate/Oligarchy sham that our government has become.
John , maybe you can explain to us how repealing obama care is reasonable? But I doubt you really could , just like the gop can't
What does your world look like, John, peering out from where you keep your head up your ass?
John . . . The nature of those "items" is what proves Steve's point. Simply having a similar number of items on a negotiation list does not prove equivalence. The items have to be similarly sensible and popular with the American people.
I don't know what your favorite athletic team is, but let's suppose that it's that Yankees. The GM of my team, the San Francisco Giants, calls Brian Cashman, the Yankee GM, and proposes a three-for-three trade: The Yanks will send C. C. Sabbathia, Mark Teixeira, and Robinson Cano to the Giants for three Class-A level minor leaguers. According to you, that's an equal trade--three players for three players. Would you make that trade if you were Cashman?
What does your world look like TC, with your heart and mind so full of hate?
hard to believe that this dolt was actually elected to be one heartbeat from the presidency. at least sarah was entertaining. joe is merely boring.
Perhaps the headline above should have been,
"A plague on both their houses!"
I think you meant to write "nominated," not "elected." Actually, if he'd been elected he would have done less harm to the country. But then, if he'd been elected so would Gore and we would have been spared twelve years of Bush. Yeah, yeah, I know Obama has been President for the last four years, but it's just been Bush III.
"Coming together" implies two parties moving towards each other. Since 1994 and Newt Gingrich, whenever Democrats move toward the right, Republicans also take a step to the right. So while the Democratic Party has become less liberal, Republicans become more conservative.
Given the intransigence of Republicans, it's just hard to see how Democrats can bear any of the blame for the lack of progress in Congress.
Quote from John Adams is very appropriate for today's Congress and members who do not Compromise: “Ideology is the science of idiots.”
Here's a crazy idea, maybe we should use imperical facts and scientist (techinical and social) to make decisions around policy, or at least to present suggestions and to study outcomes. I've enver understood why we give elected officials all the power, of course they worry about their own self-interest about those of the society they represent. This not democracy, but we've all been told it is and we contnue to obey. Just because this is 'how it's always been' does not mean this is how it needs to, or should be.
Please America, get your sh*t together! Not that I can expect you to worry much abotu those us in other countries, but your downward spiral is hurting us too and we do not deserve that! If your going to let your country implode, that's your call, but doing so hurts a lot of other people aroudn the world. Your politicians do not care what happens to you as individuals, as long as they keep their power and position they are happy. you nede to worry about yourselves and demand things change.
John / If you had stated that "they" have an "absurd" list of agenda items you could be taken more seriously. I will say that the use of "Republican media" was a step in the right direction.
Joe Lieberman is desperate to stay "relevant," which he hasn't been since he became "independent." The Dems won't have him, the Republicans won't have him. He, like his amigo McCain, are only relevant on the Sunday talk shows, which virtually no one out of the Beltway loop watches. The media don't even pay much attention to those shows except to duly which of the usual suspects will appear. Note that Mr. Lieberman's views have been relegated to a slow news day in the slowest news week of the year. Joe Lieberman will go off into the sunset, probably as a lobbyist for a large Connecticut insurance company.
Nailed it, Joe-Bob is gone the way of the trilobite which according to Sarah's church was put in the ground 6,000 years ago to make it look like the Earth was much older..
He really is moving to his home in Israel.
We have come to a point in our history where we are effectively in a political Civil war. Not a cold war where detente and negotiation make occasional compromise possible but a guerrilla war where there reason for the insurgents to come to the table or to deescalate their acts of terrorism and sabotage.
When you consider that it is not just that the Republicans in Government have become more starkly conservative but that their base has become a thrice re-distilled collection of conspiracy theorists, anti government cranks and fanatical zealots who exist on a diet of propaganda and "Us against them" rhetoric it's no small wonder that our Government is divided when we as a nation are so divided amongst ourselves
They're not "conservative." They are radical right wing revolutionaries. There's a one-word synonym for that term.
I completely agree with you Dragoon, but imho, our recent election shows that we the people are not as divided as the teapublicans believe (wish) we are. East to West, North to . . . well maybe not so much the South, progressive ideals and initiatives won the day. The votes of the people give me added faith that the nation, if not the Congress, is undeniably moving leftward. Slowly? Yes. But surely.
Of course both sides are the same.... but there are some small differences. For example the democrats want more wealth redistribution and the republicans want more pissing on corpses of killed enemy combatants.
Did Joe pick that line up, (both sides do it), from Chuck the Toad Todd?
Certainly sounds like the case. I don't understand how he keeps his job, much less how the other pundits consider him somehow enlightened. After the election, Andrea Mitchell complimented him on his election 'predictions' as if he were Nate Silver.
Sliding states back and forth on a touch screen computer is looking at different scenarios, not making educated conclusions about the direction of the country. Toad made every conceivable 'prediction' if that's the case, and could not have been proven wrong if Palin had somehow pulled off a write-in campaign and had her transition team in the West Wing today.
The both sides do it folks are literally ignorant of their own free will. They give a lifeline to the very people trying to destroy our government. I have way more respect for a partisan than I do a both sides ignoramous. Thats why I loathe so much media who cowtow to the obstructionists by painting this misleading picture.
That quote from Mann & Orenstein is the reason they have suddenly disappeared from the Sunday talk shows (or almost any other), after Orenstein was the most frequent guest on those shows before their book. They are the kids yelling that the Emperor is naked (and crazy) and that obvious truth cannot be tolerated. Instead, the likes of Newt Gingrich are permitted to repeatedly spew vile nonsense without objection from the Gregory's of the world. There's no better measure of the corruption of the media.
Dear Joe:
Joe Lieberman, a Schmuck of Schmucks, a Putz of Putzes. A man whose life demonstrates the meaning of the word "Kapo" (a Jew who collaborated with the Nazis during the Holocaust, only to discover his prize was a ticket on the last train to Auschwitz).
This story missed the most important aspect here. And that is, it won't be long before Lieberman is GONE.
Since Republicans believe the earth is flat, if they keep moving to the right, eventually they will fall off. I can't wait.
I am so not going to miss Joe Lieberman. I don't think he even knows his OWN mind.
He knows he's a legend in his own mind.
At this point, there only one thing to say to Joe Lieberman: Fυck you. And may the rest of your life be miserable you lameass piece of buttmud.
If he were to write about the good he has done for the world the pluses and the minuses it would fit between the two dots at the end of his sentence..
The only good thing about Al Gore's 2000 loss is that this droopy faced dope didn't become VP.