Lieberman: still welcome in the Good Old Boys Club…

Of course, the Democrats voted to keep Lieberman in his committee Chairmanship. Frankly, they weren’t that angry about what Lieberman did (campaigning with McCain).

But some are hurt and angry; most of the Democratic Senators aren’t worried about it:

Asked what it would mean if Lieberman kept his chairmanship, one Senate Democratic aide said bluntly: “The left has been foiled again. They can rant and rage but they still do not put the fear into folks to actually change their votes. Their influence would be in question.”

I hope this puts to rest the notion that this is all some master stroke of kumbayah, of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.

This is about telling you that you mean nothing. That democracy is a nice word, but it should never threaten the entitlement of the most exclusive club in the world.

No matter what Joe Lieberman does, the people who are protecting him hate you much more than they hate him.

There’s that. But there’s also disdain for the American electorate that voted in overwhelming numbers for change from the discredited Bush/McCain/Lieberman policies. But in a city known for tone-deafness, there clearly isn’t a more tone-deaf group than the Senate Dems.

In short: “we won and thanks for the help. Now shoo.”

There are those who think that Obama is a bit like this as well.

This is perhaps the tragedy concealed in the events of the late evening of November 4th: as I walked to the subway at about 10 p.m. a vast United States flag was being unfurled in Union Square; there were spontaneous parties in the streets of my part of Brooklyn, and many others can testify to much more exotic, collective experiences. This was a moment when people, no longer cowed by the power of the state and held in check by the police, suddenly become aware of their power and the power of their activity, which is nothing less than the activity of liberty. At such a moment, no force can stop them and a demonstration or street party erupts into being. This is collective joy. There is the potential for a political moment here, but it is a potential whose actualization is denied by the very representative process which is being celebrated. At the moment when people become aware of their power through the activity of the vote, they are simultaneously rendered powerless by the representative process. Liberty slips from the hands of those who have suddenly become aware of its power. In the face of such human fireworks, it is not surprising that Obama cancelled the firework display planned to accompany his victory speech. The message is clear: ‘The victory is yours. But when you’ve finished celebrating, dancing and crying, return to your homes and be quiet. Thanks to you, the business of government is ours and we will take it from here. We’ll let you know how it goes. P.S. Please don’t take popular sovereignty too literally’.

I wouldn’t put it that far; my guess is that through tools like this one, Obama will call on his minions to push their representatives for action on his agenda.

For now, I’ll go along to see how it works, and yes, Obama never campaigned as an ideologue. I knew that from the beginning.

So, I’ll wait and see before resigning from the Democratic Party: will these people produce results? If not, then the hell with them.

Moral This is one reason I didn’t cheer the demise of the Republican Party as much as I might otherwise have. Yes, I don’t like what the Democrats did. But my goodness, when you compare them to the alternative: the anti-intellectual, completely out of touch with reality party that is the alternative? Right now, the Republicans are not an option for me, and they won’t ever be until they move away from their “know nothingness”.

Personally, the Modern Whig party is too centerist for my tastes but I’d love to see them become viable.

Oh well, the news for today isn’t all bad. Some stuff here will make liberals smile.

By the way, I am excited about the possibility of Hillary Clinton serving in the cabinet, either as Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense. If nothing else, Dick Morris recommends against it (thanks for your concern, Mr. Morris!) I am so sure that Mr. Morris has Obama’s interests (and the nation’s) at heart. No, this isn’t 1946.