ALD stands for Another Lieberman Diary. Deal with it! Republished below is a letter that I scribed and sent to my Democratic Senator, one of the chief salesmen of Senatorial Steak Sauce, according to recent stories by Kagro-X. Vexed by this, I put fingers to keys and responded.
Senator Brown,
I have not often disagreed with you, and I must say I was absolutely disheartened and utterly dismayed to read that you were suggesting you would not vote to strip Senator Joe Lieberman of his Chairmanship over the Homeland Security committee.
You suggest in your letter to another constituent (with whom I am acquainted) that you think it more appropriate for the new Congress, and not this lame duck version, to decide on such matters. However, this (we both know) is smoke and mirrors. By the time the new Congress convenes, this decision will be etched in stone, and only a vote by the entire Senate would see any future action against Lieberman successful - action that would doubtlessly be filibustered by his (many) allies on the other side of the aisle.
The people of Ohio spoke clearly on this issue when we delivered our electoral votes to Senator Barack Obama, and to take such an unprincipled stance on this issue as the one you seem to lean toward is no less than a betrayal of your constituents, the majority of whom voted against Joe Lieberman's distasteful and disloyal tactics.
We both know that the myth of 60 is an illusion, and if Joe Lieberman would be short-sighted and immature enough as to leave the caucus in response to being stripped of committee chairs, then he would prove himself to be not only a traitor to his party, but also to his constituents and his country.
Poll after poll show that the people of the United States (even the people of CT, the Senator's home state!) want to see Joe Lieberman stripped of his chairmanship. I personally do not want this out of retribution, but because the Homeland Security position is far too important, with its focus on oversight, or it to be in such unprincipled hands. Nevermind the mess that Lieberman has already made of those affairs during his tenure to date.
I have a great deal of respect for you, Senator Brown, but the majority of that will be diminished if you support anything short of stripping Joe Lieberman of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee. Do not think that a secret ballot will keep the truth from your constituents - this is an issue we consider to be of great importance, and we will leave no stone unturned until we know where every man stood in this.
Thank you for reading.