Recent posts by Glen Greenwald over at Salon have been generating a great deal of pious outrage by presumed Lieberman supporters over how undemocratic it is to criticize Rev. Joe for staying in the Senate race. Apparently, expecting someone who self-righteously proclaims himself a big D Democrat to respect the democratic decision making of that party is the first step toward leftwing totalitarianism.
Recent posts by Glen Greenwald over at Salon have been generating a great deal of pious outrage by presumed Lieberman supporters over how undemocratic it is to criticize Rev. Joe for staying in the Senate race. Apparently, expecting someone who self-righteously proclaims himself a big D Democrat to respect the democratic decision making of that party is the first step toward leftwing totalitarianism.
So this is the new line of defense by the Liebermanites? That objecting to Lieberman's renegade attempt to split the Democratic vote is anti-democratic? What specious nonsense.
For the record, under the laws of Connecticut, Joe has the right to run as an Independent if he qualifies. The problem is that Joe wants to run as a Independent DEMOCRAT. Sorry but if you are a Democrat the minimum expectation is that you will abide by the decision of the democratic primary. If you choose not to, you are within your rights. However, you aren't entitled to present yourself to voters as a Democrat while attempting to enviscerate the State Democratic party.
Make no mistake, that's exactly what renegade Joe is about. As usual, the morality maven is trying to have it both ways. First he waxes indignant that anyone would question his Demcratic bona fides. Then, when he loses out in the party primary, he demonstrates his Democratic loyalty by refusing to accept the decision of his party.
Displaying his noted ethical sense, he proceeds to betray every Democratic politician who supported him in that primary. In Joe's world this ok because he is, in own mind at least, the last true Democrat. Everyone else, including his earlier supporters who are now rallying behind the actual Democratic nominee, are lumped together as the shrill, terrorist enabling, anti-Semitic, leftwingers.
For Joe, the political enemy isn't the opposing party, it is the majority of voters in his own party. Against them all methods are justified. This includes the political swindle of continuing to identify himself as a "Democratic" candidate for the sole purpose of splitting off a sizable portion of the Democratic vote and delivering it, via coalition, to the GOP.
Nothing surprising here. This has been the latent threat that Joe has used to blackmail the Democratic Party for years. It was the trump card he played repeatedly to intimidate anyone who might dare to point out his manifest disloyality or challenge his ethical and political bankruptcy.
Some argue that Joe just wants to be fired by the people who hired him. Fine. However, he has already been fired by the Democratic Party of Connecticut. If he had an ounce of integrity he would accept that verdict. He would run on his own record and drop the dishonest pretense of representing Democrats.
Of course he won't do this. It would cost him the support of the GOP who, despite their crocodile tears over how poor Joe has been mistreated, only value him as a tool to be wielded against the Democratic Party.
Describing oneself as a Democrat while actively attempting to destroy the Democratic Party is rank hypocrisy and treachery. Even Strom Thurmond and the Dixiecrats managed to figure that out, which puts them several points ahead of the Connecticut bluenose on the scale of political rectitude.