THE PLANK DECEMBER 12, 2009
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Those of us who follow the career of Weekly Standard writer and ex-journalist Matthew Continetti have noticed that he enjoys parroting the line taken by his boss, Bill Kristol. For example, Kristol will go on television and mouth some Republican talking point, and then a couple of days later, Continetti will echo the sentiment. (An alternate theory is that they receive talking points from the same source). Anyway, a few days ago, Kristol wrote a blog post lauding Joe Lieberman's healthcare obstructionism; Kristol concluded with some pathetic brown-nosing:
Reid tried to throw a Hail Mary. It looks as if Lieberman has broken up the pass.
But there will be more Hail Mary's to come--and a massive assault from the left on the principled and responsible Lieberman.
After reading this I wondered how long it would take for Continetti to bravely second his boss. Later that same day, Continetti wrote a blog post about healthcare that ended with this cheesy prediction: "It may all come down to Scoop Jackson's heir." But now there is more. In a new Weekly Standard piece (portentously titled "The Power of One: The Return of Joementum"), Continetti has this to say:
Lieberman has displayed the courage and independence necessary to tell his party it's on the wrong track. In 1998, he pointed out that President Clinton's affair with an intern was a moral transgression that deserved rebuke. From 2006 to 2008, when Democratic politicians and commentators ran away from an Iraq war that was going badly, Lieberman stuck with his principles and backed the surge of troops and counterinsurgency strategy that has put Iraq on the (bumpy) road to normalcy. Lieberman's reward was a left-wing primary challenge in 2006 that succeeded in depriving him of the Democratic nomination. Running as an independent, he nevertheless won the general election. In doing so, he became even more free to do what's right regardless of political calculation. [Italics Mine]
And then, putting the stamp on this moist love-letter, Continetti concludes:
If Lieberman blows the whistle, surely other Democrats, who know how bad this legislation really is, will follow. Someone has to go first. That's Joe. And then bipartisan majorities can pass sensible health care reforms next year. That's what we call Joementum.
The whole paragraph reads as if it were written by some sort of machine. No matter: Expect to see a lot more of this if Lieberman keeps dithering.
7 comments
Blagggggghhhbarrrfff.... Thanks Isaac. Didn't know I was going to puke all over my screen. Does anyone have a paper towel?
- MrCookie1
December 12, 2009 at 7:54pm
Joe and WS: get a room already.
- WandreyCer
December 13, 2009 at 8:11am
"Joe and WS: get a room already." Now, I officially declare I am getting old(er). Wandrey, whence cometh the xpression "get a room, already?" Of course, I'm neunundneunzig times familiar with "get a life" but this is a "new animal" at least on my block.
- Tgossard
December 13, 2009 at 9:56am
Wandrey just types, like some monkey, without knowing what she says. I am pissed at Lieberman's view on health care, but the fact that the Republican's love him for that is neither here nor there. I don't care that the "Weakly Standard" thinks. It's Lieberman's problem, and if he derails healthcare reform I hope he is defeated when he comes up for re-election.
- jacksondyer
December 13, 2009 at 11:12am
I think Lieberman is good for the Democrats, just as Specter is good for the Republicans. They are evidence that the political party as monolith is an illusion--that one's position derives from one's argument, not simply from some directive from above. That said, I hope Joe's influence on health care is limited. As for the Weekly Standard, TNR's regular dumping on its fellow chatter-box reminds me of my grade-school cohort. Among us was a bully--a minor example of the species, in that he only picked on one other member of our group, who occupied the absolute bottom of the pecking order. We'd be heading off to play baseball or what not and the bully would take the opportunity to pick on the total loser for a block or two. In retrospect, I don't know who was more pathetic: the bully or his target. I'm reminded of this banal melodrama each time I read somebody at TNR taking swings at WS (or NR, for that matter).
- williamyard
December 13, 2009 at 12:41pm
Straining to achieve some kind of objectivity, I believe that Lieberman's perspective and votes on national security arise from his core beliefs. I disagree with that flirtation with neoconservatism but I do not doubt his sincerity on that issue. On Health care, he said he was opposed to the public option. Well, now it is gone. If he continues to go sideways on the Democrats, then he is, on this issue, not coming from anything other than a urge to mess up Democrats plans for health reform. That would make him not a principled leader but a rogue a-hole. I would agree with Jackson that his defeat would be a top priority.
- MrCookie1
December 13, 2009 at 2:44pm
Tgossard - My apologies. WS is Weekly Standard. "Get a room" is a slang term that roughly means: a request that two people who are heavy petting in public consider getting a hotel room. Joe Lieberman is highly skilled at keeping all eyes on him and making his resentments pay off for him. Perhaps, like Mr Yard has suggested, this is all good in the end. I hope so. His views on defense are highly mainstream and always have been. I give him credit for making them seem somehow special, brave, bold. I don't like him, but I have a cold admiration for the skill he brings to his weird values. He's best at these things when he's losing power. He's rather like a character out of I, Claudius.
- WandreyCer
December 14, 2009 at 6:05am