Joe Lieberman gave an impressive and eloquent keynote address for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies that encapsulates why Joe Lieberman is far and away the single smartest member of the Democratic Party. A selection:
In his November 1998 "Letter to America," Bin Laden condemned the United States because, he said, like all democracies, it is a "nation who, rather than ruling by the Sharia of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, chooses to invent your own laws as you will and desire." After September 11th attacks, he gloated triumphantly that "the values of Western civilization… of liberty, human rights, and humanity, have been destroyed."
In this war of ideas and values, Bin Laden is the quintessential anti-American.
The values and ideas which we cherish and which Osama Bin Laden denounces are on the line in the Iraq war. To call the war in Iraq separate and distinct from the larger war on terrorism is inaccurate. Iraq today is a battle – a crucial battle – in the global war on terrorism.
It was the mortal and moral threats posed by Saddam Hussein that moved me to support his overthrow in 1991. And although many in my own party have disagreed, I am confident that support for the use of force to remove Saddam Hussein’s regime of terror from Iraq and now to defeat the terrorists who are fighting us there is true to a long and proud tradition within the Democratic Party. The ideals for which we fight in Iraq today are "Wilsonian." And they were upheld and advanced by other Democratic leaders against freedom’s foes in their time, leaders like Franklin Roosevelt… Harry Truman… John F. Kennedy… Henry M. Jackson… Bill Clinton.
Democrats with a capital "D" have long been ready to stand up and fight for democracy with a small "d." We must and will stand up and fight for democracy in Iraq today.
In the 1960’s the Democratic Party cast off the Scoop Jackson/JFK wing and embraced a foolish accomodation of Soviet aggression – a mistake that rightly case the Democrats as the party of appeasement for decades. Thankfully there are some in the Democratic Party who still carry on the proud tradition of Truman, Kennedy, and Jackson. (I can’t quite bring myself to put Clinton in that list as Lieberman does…) Sen. Lieberman is a Democrat who understands that attacking the mission in Iraq and attacking the concept of spreading democracy itself just to unseat President Bush is unwise, unhelpful, and viciously partisan. No doubt Lieberman is deeply critical of Bush’s foreign policy, but reading this speech shows that his criticisms come from the right place.
We need more Democrats like Lieberman. The radical ANSWER/MoveOn/Michael Moore wing has captured the Democratic Party and changed it into a party of appeasement. The Democratic Party, if it is ever to shed its well-earned image of being the party promoting a weak America, should listen very closely to Senator Lieberman’s words.
Wait, we’re talking about the Lieberman who favors laws restricting the kinds of movies Hollywood can make, right? What kinds of video games they can make?
I’m glad he’s got some fresh ideas about policy, but lets not go sucking his cock just yet. A lot of his ideas about culture seem more Taliban than American. Anyway it’s not such a surprise to see you hail the Democrat a lot of people seem to mistake for a Republican. 😉
Lieberman is far better than most Democrats, who advocate a de facto surrender in the War on Terror.
If this is just a matter of liking some of his stances, while deploring others, that puts him, for me, in the same camp as President Bush.
I feel it’s important to decide what issues are most important to me, then to support the candidates most likely to do the right thing on those issues. I long ago stopped looking for a politician, at any level, with whom I could completely agree on all points.
Lieberman, by this definition, is a good man.
I’m hereby extending Godwin’s Law to include Taliban references as well. I really doubt that Sen. Lieberman believes in stoning homosexuals to death, keeping women out of school, and banning music.
Even though I don’t agree with Lieberman’s stance on many free expression issues, calling his positions "more Taliban than American” is an Orwellian misuse of language.
I’m hereby extending Godwin’s Law to include Taliban references as well. I really doubt that Sen. Lieberman believes in stoning homosexuals to death, keeping women out of school, and banning music.
Weren’t you just critising Mark a couple of posts up for not catching blatant sarcasm? You’d be the last person I’d expect to miss it…
calling his positions “more Taliban than American” is an Orwellian misuse of language.
Or, you know, hyperbole. Or maybe that’s a literary technique they didn’t teach you in school?
Seriously, the guy who characterizes any debate as “Bush-bashing” and calls Democrats insane has no business talking about the “Orwellian misuse of language.” But then again, expecting a conservative to hold himself to the same standards as he holds others might fit the definition of insanity – “doing the same thing over and over again and expecing different results.”
Well, you’re a pinko Communist bastard who masturbates to Mao’s Little Red Book.
There, that’s just sarcasm and hyperbole. And don’t you dare say that saying such a thing is irresponsible. After all, if you argue that such blatant and disrespectful insults are infantile, you’re stifling debate.
Mistaking invective like accusing Lieberman of being like the Taliban or accusing a liberal of being a Communist or a traitor cheapens political discourse and is not debate, but schoolyard taunting – no matter if comes from Michael Moore, Ann Coulter, or Mark.
Mistaking invective like accusing Lieberman of being like the Taliban or accusing a liberal of being a Communist or a traitor cheapens political discourse and is not debate, but schoolyard taunting – no matter if comes from Michael Moore, Ann Coulter, or Mark.
On the other hand, if it comes from Jay Reding, it must be intelligent political discourse.
Sorry, Jay. I’m not buying what you’re selling. I didn’t say that Leiberman was a member of the Taliban. Maybe when you go back to school to pick up some tips on hyperbole you can work on reading comprehension, too.