For those of you who insist on believing that Joe Lieberman is still something other than a Senatorial colleague of Barack Obama, that he continues to be some kind of mentor to Senator Obama, welcome news that Obama isn't afraid to call Lieberman on his Joementum.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, the self-described "Independent Democrat" who caucuses with the Democratic party in the Senate even though he has endorsed Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, got some tough talk from Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, yesterday about his advocacy for the presumptive Republican presidential candidate and the general tone of the campaign, Democratic sources tell ABC News.

Returning to the Senate after his securing the Democratic presidential nomination, Obama and Lieberman greeted each on the Senate floor in the Well as they were voting on the budget resolution.

They shook hands. But Obama didn’t let go, leading Lieberman - cordially - by the hand across the room into a corner on the Democratic side, where Democratic sources tell ABC News he delivered some tough words for the junior senator from Connecticut, who had just minutes before hammered Obama's speech before the pro-Israel group AIPAC in a conference call arranged by the McCain campaign.  Read more…

On Wednesday, Joe Lieberman published a piece on the opinion pages of WSJ which essentially accused the entirety of foreign policy positions held by the current Democratic Party of being essentially a stab in the back to the entirety of foreign policy positions of the Democratic Party of FDR, Truman, and JFK. Interestingly, LBJ wasn't included in the litany of Democratic golden oldies. Joe may have succeeded in performing a lobotomy on himself, resulting in a weird sort of frontal stupidity, but that doesn't mean he isn't still wily.

Today, Joe Biden, has a superb answer to Lieberman, also in the pages of the WSJ, one in which Biden touches all the right bases, not more, not less, and then heads confidently for home plate, leaving that other Joe in the dust. Read more…

In apparrent response to the Senate's passing of Senate Amendment 3017, for which 22 Democrats should be ashamed, Iran has responded:

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's parliament voted Saturday to designate the CIA and the U.S. Army as "terrorist organizations," a largely symbolic response to a U.S. Senate resolution seeking a similar designation for Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

It would be funny if it were not so scary. Read more…

As Woody informed us the Iran amendment passed with edits as Sarah pointed out.

But, as former Senator Mike Gravel said, those who voted for the measure should be ashamed.  Read more…

A nice little amendment to H.R. 1585 by Senators Kyl and Lieberman regarding Iran:

Not only is the language familiar, the implications are downright frightening.

The amendment adds Section 1535: SENSE OF SENATE ON IRAN. Read more…

If "better" is the word that I want. It's a two-fer:

Someone like former Sen. Jack Danforth, R-Mo., for example, "might be too liberal for the base," said Hunter College political scientist Kenneth Sherrill, referring to Republican conservatives who make up President Bush's core supporters.

A more intriguing pick, Sherrill said, would be Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Likud), the hawkish Connecticut Democrat [sic] whose nomination would allow his state's Republican governor to appoint his replacement wresting control of the Senate from Democrats to a tie between the two parties.

What's not to like? Read more…

At TPM, Greg Sargent boldfaces much of Lieberman's surgalicious press release. But methinks he missed the money quote, bolded here:

"Forced by facts on the ground to acknowledge the progress of the American and Iraqi militaries since the new surge strategy started, some of these opponents of the war are now turning their harshest criticism on our allies in Iraq instead of our enemies. This is a mistake....Political progress in Iraq depends on this kind of steady statecraft and patient diplomacy on the ground in Baghdad, rather than scapegoating and congressionally-ordered coups...."

Now there's a political lesson for us all. The time for statecraft and patient diplomacy is after you've needlessly ripped apart a volatile and strategically important country. Beforehand — when you've got inspectors on the ground proving that the country poses no threat — who's got time for that sissy-ass shit?

Here. Read more…

Via Big Orange, FUX is blasting some email:

The O'Reilly Factor plans an update on issues involving DailyKos website the story for Monday.

There are some disturbing images on the DailyKos depicting Sen. Joe Lieberman and others along with some very offensive language. We are asking for statements regarding this issue from each of the Democratic candidates planning to attend the YearlyKos convention.

The image attached is from an active posting. I think that most people would agree that this sort of thing has no place in mainstream political discourse.

Oh my goodness! "Disturbing" images of Joe Lieberman (I-Depends)? What could they be? Readers? Read more…

Because maybe if Holy Joe can see what a hard-on really looks like, or possibly even experience one for himself, he won't have to overcompensate by helping his good friend and fellow Chickenhawk George Bush start a war with Iran. Read more…

Can we drop Joe Lieberman on Iran?

I don't mean metaphorically. I mean put him in the cargo hold or bomb bay of some muscular, codpiece swelling iron bird, and then release him over the city of Tehran. Of course, we would give him a parachute--we're not brutes, for goodness sake. He would be our gift to the Iranian poeple. They could use him as a door stop or make a kite out of him.

Perhaps he could lead the Iranian faithful in prayer.

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Via Huffington Post.

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Online Wall Street Journal:

Sens. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Susan Collins of Maine are mixing it up at the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

For future hearings, Democrats and Republicans won’t sit on opposite sides of the dais but rather, next to each other — alternating Democrat, Republican, Democrat, Republican etc.

In a joint statement , Chairman Lieberman, an independent, and ranking Republican Collins, said “In the last election, the voters said they were sick of the partisanship that produces gridlock… So, as a start, instead of sitting on opposite sides of the room like a house divided, we want the American people to see us sitting side by side as our committee members work together make our nation more secure and our government more efficient.”

They credited Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) a new committee member, with hatching the idea.

['Scuse me a minute--Somebody said Bipartisan. There. That's better.]

"Let's all sit in a circle!" Read more…

Short answer, yes: On Iraq, Brownback makes more sense than Lieberman. Longer answer, maybe no difference, when it comes to voting for a Republican or a Democrat in 2008.

But the real headline from this Sunday’s foxy witches brew of a rightwing stew, minus eye of Newt today, but just as noxious, probably should be this: William Kristol single-handedly redefines constitutional duties of U.S. Congress. Read more…

Pairs with Maine Girl Susan Collins (R-Protorture) in yet another Bipartisan wankfest:

There's a call for a new congressional advisory group to help forge a new direction for the U-S in Iraq.
Senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins want it to be made up of the bipartisan leadership of the five Senate panels that deal with national security.

They say the group would meet regularly to discuss the latest developments in Iraq while formulating recommendations for the president.

Collins says those leaders have never gotten together and used their expertise to discuss such an issue.

She says such a get-together would offer the opportunity for "a much freer exchange of ideas" on a critical issue.

I quote the story in its entirety, so its complete vacuity is all the more evident: Read more…

After she attends a meeting about the Baker Report...

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) joins Sen. Lieberman (I-CT) at a press conference to announce the launch of a nationwide television PSA campaign about video game ratings at 3:00 pm ET in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC.

Apparently, we're in election gear solid.

The only thing Lieberman represents the center of is the screen transmitting “Meet the Press.” Read more…

There's been a good deal of serious, prayerfully considered (not) discussion today on what it means to be a Centrist.

Maybe the following graphic treatment will help to bring a degree of needed clarity to the discourse: Read more…