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Go Home Lieberman's No Zell Miller

THE PLANK SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

Lieberman's No Zell Miller

BY JAMES KIRCHICK

Joe Lieberman's been a punching bag in liberal quarters for quite some time now, and understandably so: he has not only endorsed, but vigorously campaigned for, John McCain. Not long ago, my colleague Jon Chait wrote a TRB entitled, "The Zell Millerization of Joe Lieberman." I think the speech he just delivered proves that comparison facile. 

To refresh our memories, here are a few of the outrageous things that Miller said about John Kerry four years ago:

And no pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often than the two Senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.Together, Kennedy and Kerry have opposed the very weapons system that won the Cold War and that are now winning the war on terror.Listing all the weapon systems that Senator Kerry tried his best to shut down sounds like an auctioneer selling off our national security.

Miller went onto list all those weapons programs Kerry opposed, ending memorably with, “This is the man who wants to be the commander in chief of our U.S. Armed Forces? U.S. forces armed with what? Spit balls?”It didn’t end with this elementary school-level taunt. There was this sarcastic crack:

Kerry would let Paris decide when America needs defending. I want Bush to decide.

This ridiculous line followed:

John Kerry, who says he doesn't like outsourcing, wants to outsource
our national security. That's the most dangerous outsourcing of all.
This politician wants to be leader of the free world. Free for how long?

and then this: 

George W. Bush wants to grab terrorists by the throat and not let them go to get a better grip.

From John Kerry, they get a "yes/no/maybe" bowl of mush that can only encourage our enemies and confuse our friends.

And don't forget that at the end of this tirade, Miller told Chris Matthews, "Get out of my face!" and threatened him to a duel. 

Lieberman's address was a pro-McCain speech, not an anti-Obama one. Not only did Lieberman hardly dwell on Obama, but what he did say about the Democratic nominee was perfectly legitimate criticism, hardly the scornful and sarcastic insults that Miller launched at his Senate colleague. And Lieberman may be the only person in history to get the attendees at a Republican National Convention to applaud Bill Clinton. 

There's also the matter of temperament. Throughout his speech and thereafter, Miller was red-in-the-face, spittin' mad. Tonight, Lieberman was his usual, menschy self. 

There are many things one can criticize about Joe Lieberman. You can call him sanctimonious, self-righteous, or fault him for placing so much emphasis on foreign policy to the point that he's campaigning for the rival party's nominee. But you cannot, at least not seriously, compare him to Zell Miller.  

--James Kirchick 

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11 comments

hee, hee....yes kirchick, I do agree with you...

you can call Joementum horseshit but don't compare him to that nutter Zell Miller...

kirchick, long time, no read. Have you been on the bench or in detention or cleaning Chait's erasers for that Alterman mishap?

- thejauntyboulevardier

September 2, 2008 at 11:09pm

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I remember at the time an interviewer telling Zig-Zag Zell that if it were right to call Democrats baby-killers than it would be equally just for him and Republicans to be labled low-income baby starvers, to which Zell blew a fuse yet refused to defend this assessment.

- kevincollins

September 2, 2008 at 11:23pm

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Yeah, well put Jamie.  I was impressed with Lieberman.  I don't like him much, but he gave a better and more sincere speech than I had imagined.  I got nary one anger boil on my perfect boyish face.  I expected to be a deformed freak after tonight.  

- boneill

September 2, 2008 at 11:29pm

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I agree with Jamie and am glad that he is now on the record as being against "elementary school-level taunts" (not to turn this into yet another Kirchick-bashing session--I really do think this is a good post).

- AlanSP

September 2, 2008 at 11:50pm

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My first post here.  Wasn't Leiberman's whole point in opposing the Dem Party this year about the real global threat of Islamic-Facism?  But nary a word of this threat in his speech tonite?

Say it isn't so Joe.  Did you also drink the Kool-Aid?

- bwpatt61

September 3, 2008 at 12:03am

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yeah, watching Senator Sanctimonious accept the gift of moving up into First Class for free when the airline was charging the rest of schmoes $100 - honorable guy. Compared with Chief Justice Renquist who stood in an hour long line at a restaurant in spite of the restaurant's efforts to move him to the front of the line. He declined and said that he would wait his turn with everyone else. Now THAT's a mench.

- mcgumbleton

September 3, 2008 at 12:09am

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Welcome, bwpatt61.

Kirchick, you're actually pretty correct. And the tone of your post wasn't snarky, you had a serious point to make, and it wasn't excessively long or melodramatic. This is what we could use -- a right-of-center counterbalance who doesn't spew bile. Please do more of this and less of the feigning outrage at easy targets.

- rozenson

September 3, 2008 at 12:18am

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Just one objection. The reason for Lieberman's support of the GOP ticket isn't his prioritizing of foreign policy, it's his prioritizing of his political career. Having burned all bridges with the Democrats, and assured of losing reelection in Connecticut (where he directly lied to the voters, and thus his approval ratings are unsurprisingly at record lows), his only chance is to get a position in a McCain administration.

- achester99

September 3, 2008 at 12:33am

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Lieberman shares a basic level of shamelessness with Miller. Beyond that, you're right- there's little similarity. Holy Joe is certainly not going to challenge anyone to a duel.

- miceelf

September 3, 2008 at 2:44am

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Joe smiled while Dick Cheney ate his lunch.  Why should he suddenly turn stern and censorious now?  Obama hasn't had sex with an intern yet . . .

- timteeter

September 3, 2008 at 9:23am

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Defending Lieberman sounds like a good job for Kirchick, even if the best he can do is argue that he's not as bad as Zell Miller.  In some ways, of course, he is equally obnoxious to us but he's not the complete nutter that Miller proved himself to be.  Hardly worth defending - like defending Putin by saying he's no Stalin. Way to go, James.  

- purcellneil

September 3, 2008 at 10:47am

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