Blue Crab Boulevard

Joe Lieberman And What’s Wrong With The Democrats

Before the 2000 election, I don't believe I had ever heard of Joe Lieberman. During that Presidential campaign, I can't say I was really impressed with him. In the long period after Al Gore withdrew his concession and turned the election into a circus, I came to dislike Lieberman - mostly by his association with the classless, mendacious Gore. Then I pretty much forgot about him.

Then the nutroots decided to spend a lot of time, energy and money trying to unseat the Democrat from Connecticut. I started to pay a little more attention to Joe Lieberman, what he said and what he stood for. I found that I rather liked what he was saying, his positions on many issues that I hold as central to the wellbeing of this nation. While still disagreeing with him - often - on other issues. But I found that Lieberman was an unusual Democrat these days.

He was sane and willing to put the good of the country above hyper-partisan politics. Which is, I'm quite sure, why the nutroots targeted him for personal destruction. In fact, he was an old school Democrat of the Truman/Kennedy mold. I was kind of distracted yesterday and did not post about his speech in Washington yesterday. Marc Moore over at the Van Der Galien Gazette noticed it today and posted about it. It is a fine, fine speech.

Since retaking Congress in November 2006, the top foreign policy priority of the Democratic Party has not been to expand the size of our military for the war on terror or to strengthen our democracy promotion efforts in the Middle East or to prevail in Afghanistan. It has been to pull our troops out of Iraq, to abandon the democratically-elected government there, and to hand a defeat to President Bush.

Iraq has become the singular litmus test for Democratic candidates. No Democratic presidential primary candidate today speaks of America’s moral or strategic responsibility to stand with the Iraqi people against the totalitarian forces of radical Islam, or of the consequences of handing a victory in Iraq to al Qaeda and Iran. And if they did, their campaign would be as unsuccessful as mine was in 2006. Even as evidence has mounted that General Petraeus’ new counterinsurgency strategy is succeeding, Democrats have remained emotionally invested in a narrative of defeat and retreat in Iraq, reluctant to acknowledge the progress we are now achieving, or even that that progress has enabled us to begin drawing down our troops there.

Part of the explanation for this, I think, comes back to ideology. For all of our efforts in the 1990s to rehabilitate a strong Democratic foreign policy tradition, anti-war sentiment remains the dominant galvanizing force among a significant segment of the Democratic base.

Read it all. These are the words of an old school Liberal - in the real sense of the word. Someone who believes in Liberty. Not the collectivist, Soviet-style "progressive" who believes in government as the answer to social problems - but the Liberal who believes in the government as the tool to be used in addressing social problems. There is a huge difference. I still will disagree with Joe Lieberman on many issues. But I rather suspect the disagreement would be more over methods than over ideology.

UPDATE: Anthony has a link to the entire speech given by Joe Lieberman. It is worth reading.

Politics | Gaius November 9, 2007

By Anthony (Los Angeles), November 9, 2007 @ 10:12 pm

I disagree with Joe on most domestic policy, but he has my everlasting admiration for his principled stand on the war.
By Gaius, November 9, 2007 @ 10:36 pm

I think that we’d all probably agree on the goals - just not the methods to get there. That makes it a policy debate - not ideology.

I’d welcome that. I think it would be good for the country. I think it would DO good for the country.

I also think that is where the “progressives” have missed the boat.
By Steev, November 10, 2007 @ 4:05 pm

When I read his comments, it gave me hope that there are still politicians left that will tell it like it is. I was just shocked at who was saying it.
By Al, November 10, 2007 @ 5:20 pm

The people that Lieberman are complaining about are called Modern Liberals. Evan Sayet coined the term and his talk at Heritage is brilliant. It’s called “How Modern Liberals Think”. You’ll need some quiet time and you might have to rewind a bit to pick it all up. I’ve watched parts of it many times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaE98w1KZ-c

It’s phenomenal.

I hope Joe keeps this up!