Greg, were you on the Obama media conference this morning to respond to the McCain speech?

Sleazy? One thing I'll say for Lieberman and his hacks, they know sleazy.

What a pathetic scumbag. One day, in the not-too-distant future (say, four-and-a-half months, perhaps?) he'll reap what he has sowed.

"If the Obama campaign thinks they are going to intimidate Joe Lieberman with these sleazy tactics then they are sorely mistaken.

Spoken like a truly courageous staffer--right after he finished cleaning Lieberman's shit-stained pants after their little meeting.

I'm sure Obama and his campaign are duly chastened.

No one puts Baby in the corner!

O.
M.
G.

Lieberman is such a douche! He epitomizes the sleazy, dishonest politics of the past.

Well somebody did release what was supposedly said in their private conversation. And judging by what was reported, I don't think the Lieberman camp would have leaked it that way.

It is also glaringly obvious Lieberman is trying to get kicked out, he keeps pushing and pushing to see how far he go with his attacks. I have a feeling that there is some sort of strategy where he'll then play the victim and try to blow up the story saying that the Dems don't allow an independent like himself to speak their mind and that you have to agree with them or get the boot.

Obama better be careful.

It's this sort of thing that got Seinfeld's dad impeached as President of the Condo Board.

A denial from Lieberman's aide is pretty weak when he takes the opportunity to attack Obama without even framing the conversation that took place. If Barack didn't call Joe on the lukewarm Muslim comment (which reminded me of Hillary's "as far as I know") than what did the two Senators discuss on the floor that day?

What is Lieberman's long term plan? He has to know that the time left on his hold of power is numbered in months if not less. Once the Democrats gain seats this fall his stock will fall in both parties.

I'm seeing a Greek tragedy in the making.

JOEMENTUM!

Is Joe getting any kind of feedback/pushback to knock it off from his constituents in CT? I mean, a lot of them thought they were electing a Democrat when they voted for him. A lot of those people must be horrified. They can't just be keeping it to themselves. Anyone from CT - what's up?

Lieberman knows his political career is over if Obama wins in November. He'll be marginalized in the Senate by the Dem majority and will lose his seat in four years. If McCain wins, he's surely looking at a cabinet position or plum ambassadorship.

Lieberman is only going to get more and more desperate.

INQUIRY: The Part of One has a camp? Connecticut for Lieberman must have been gathering Joementum.

You know, Effit! I wrote the other day about the problems with stripping Lieberman of his chairmanship and kicking him out of the party now, but now I'm thinking that Reid should do it anyways. It will completely mess up the business of the senate, and perhaps remind the country of what happens when republicans try to "run" things (today's "Heck of a Job Moment" - mortgage crisis being linked to HUD policies). Lieberman's actions against our nominee should be punished, not let slide. Kicking him out will mean that Lieberman's name is mud with the blue half of this country. He would never be re-elected ever again.

Poor Joe, he picked the wrong time to turn traitor. And I bet he didn't sound so tough when Obama had him by the arm, backed up against a wall.

Has JoeL ever explained his $800,000 in 'petty cash' expenditures in his last campaign?

JoeL knows sleaze, and he's a prime example of it, being married to a lobbyist and probably living off her income.

Kick his ass to the curb NOW. Practically nothing is getting done in the senate (as usual), so why wait? Someone please explain.

Me to Joe Lieberman: FUCK OFF!

KICK his slimy ass out of the democratic leadership position he holds as the Chairmen of the Homeland Security Committee. My few republican friends laugh all the time at the shit he pulls and Reid looks like a whimp for doing nothing. It is a real feel good issue to me to know that we can be strong enough to kick him ass out!

Poor Joe. Voted out of the party. Kept at arms length in the Senate and now about to lose his chairmanship no matter who wins the White House.

Although, I suspect Holy Joe is expecting to be Sec,. of Defense under an McSame admin, but does anyone really think the Senate will confirm him if MsSame were to win and put him forward for ANY cabinet position?

His career effectively ends on November 4th.

JOEMENTUM!

Let me pause in our reveling in what an asshole Joe is...

Did he just call Obama's bluff? I wonder. What can Obama do here? (In the short term). Joe's declaring himself the great protector of Israel, so Obama can't be seen as "bullying" him, right?

Sure, Joe will be toast if Obama wins, but for now, what does Obama wield but that threat? The more I'm thinking about it, Obama might have to actually, gulp, i hate to say it...apologize? Or at least distance himself from the bullying meme.

He's really backing himself into a corner here. Unless McCain wins, he'll be out of power completely. Silly. But, it also wasn't terribly smart for the "aide" to leak what he did. I guess we'll see how it plays out.

LIEberman goes to the Rev. Hagee's convention as a main speaker. That's what Sen. Reid wants for a Senate Democratic leader???

FIRED UP...and Ready to Go and kick Joe's ass out of our party!

But .... to be accurate (it's bad enough already) .... the headline on the front page of TPM overstates it a bit: Lieberman himself hasn't said that he's "shocked" nor has he used the term "sleazy tactics" That's the impression given, however.

Don't blame me, I voted for Lamont.

Lieberman will be relegated to the dustbin with the new Congress. Sooner if he keeps up with this (expletive deleted.)

Has anyone considered sneaking into Joe's Congressional offices and filling it with Howler monkeys?

Sleazy--yes, that's right. He talked to me man to man. How dare he!

You morons know nothing. the Democratic congress is stupid enough setting up all shaddy votes to support Nobama. If Joe goes to the other side, he and the GOPers will set the agenda and deny your immoral love boy any chance to score stupid political points from the Senate. You sleazy scumb$gs do not even think about playing with uncle joe!!!

Please don't use that abbreviation. It's racist, objectionable and sullies the point I think you're trying to make.

I foresee a tearful, contrite Joe Lieberman seeking forgiveness from President Obama and Harry Reid next year when the loneliness of true Independence sets in.

"I didn't mean it! I didn't mean it! I got carried away! Pleeeeeze let me back in!"

Also, if this is getting openly confrontational, then it's time to hit Lieberman in earnest.

Every Democrat who mentions him should call him a "bitter former Democrat." Just beat the talking point into the ground, until people believe that his every utterance is born of his bitterness. It will taint everything he says and people will start to dismiss his opinions.

It's harsh and personal, but it's exactly what the Republicans would do to us. Besides he knows that he's torched his bridges.

I am certain the Holy Joe "Loserman" is shocked at Obama being "sleazy". But it is only because he thinks he's got a corner on that market.

What a scumbag that asshole Loserman is. Oy!

Lieberman is slime!
The Benedict Arnold of the Liberal/Dem. Party.

Hit the road, Joe, and don't ya come back no more, no more, no more, NO MORE!

I will dance as hard as when Bush left office when Joe finally gets his due.

The only sleaze I see is Joe Lie-berman.

Obama/Feingold 2008!

I'll be so happy when we can finally afford to kick that little jackass to the curb.

Meanwhile, a nameless Lieberman aide told Mark Halperin the following:

"If the Obama campaign thinks they are going to intimidate Joe Lieberman with these sleazy tactics then they are sorely mistaken."

If McCain's posse doesn't have the guts to defend themselves, while nameless toadies cry to the likes of Mark Halperin from behind Liberman's soiled slacks, then how can they defend America?

The Lieberman case is strange. I'm sure it says as much about the Democratic Party as it does about Lieberman. I wish I understood the space he inhabits between Al Gore and John McCain. What has he done to have gained the trust of both of them.

BTW, has Big Al endorsed Obama yet? Any word from the President of the United States in exile?

My wife has a friend who is night and day from her politically. She worked for many years in the State Department and was close to the Bush team from the Texas days. And she has a long relationship with Bush's mouthpiece, Karen Hughes.

Interestingly, the night Obama clinched the nomination, my wife was speaking with this woman. She was ranting about Obama and going on about how Hillary had been mistreated by Democratic Party insiders and the media. Voila. Same stuff McCain was pushing later that night. We have always know this woman was plugged in, we always say "she gets the memos," but it was eerie.

And there was something else. My wife said how her friend kept calling Obama "sleazy." It was shocking to us both; Obama is the exact opposite in our minds. We marveled at how the right-wing liked to paint not just lies, but big and bold ones, the kind that is so audacious people believe there is truth in them somehwere.

Anyway, when I saw this story today, it all came together. The right, of which Lieberman is CLEARLY AN OPERATIVE, have decided to try to paint Obama with a "sleazy" moniker. Perhaps they think people will make the connection to Chicago-politics and leap from there to Rezco and so on. It's asinine, of course. But watch for more of this in the coming weeks...

The news for me is that Lieberman is a disgrace. He should be removed from the caucus immediately. Perhaps it is what he wants so he can join McCain on the ticket. Who knows.

I'm confused! What exactly has the do-nothing Democratic "leadership" done having traitor-Joe with them? Nothing. They have yet to show any character or dare I say courage.

So dump the sleaze-ball. The quicker the better. He's a traitor to his Party and this country. Send him to Israel where he belongs.

And as for his followers who think he is the second coming of Moses -- Kiss my ar?e...

There is an important and larger point here, but first: why are you so surprised?

As for the notion that it is inconceivable that Lieberman can be permitted to have Democratic privileges wen he's hitting Obama so hard: cmon, Obama has been at the head of his party for just a few days, and the strategy for how to relate to Congress is not yet revealed, if even formulated. He should be smacked down in time, not because he is supporting John MacCain (politics ain't beanbag), but because he's not doing anything good for the issues that matter to Democrats. He's not blue-dog Democrat, he is a blue-and-white flag Democrat, with a very narrow worldview and little to say about the things that matter to most Democrats.

But the larger point here is to see if Obama's campaign comes to mean much more than just one traditional party taking power over another. What if the Hagels, Liebermans, and other independent-minded senators and reps can actually remain that way without taking loyalty oaths to their parties? Look at gridlock that is coming from doing what your President says (the global warming bill, new GI bill, etc). We need more than 50% plus one vote to fix the problems Obama is talking about, and the possibilities for real change mulitply when doctrinally narrow parties DO NOT control all of our elected officials behavior. I don't see 30 more seats in the House making possible this kind of change. It is only by loosening the strict Democratic control to come (with Congress and the Executive very visibly in power) that new coalitions can be built and big things accomplished. First step, of course, is to win, and win big. But when, I hope, Obama does, the campaign must end and real governing begin. And I think that independent-minded Congressmen and women will be a big part of it.

"Pay a big price, cry once" is a motto I learned after many decades of crying often after paying too little.

The Dems need to cut off this Judas at the knees. Now. Don't even recognize the "Democrat" part of his so-called Independent Democrat party affiliation.

What would it cost?

The Senate would continue to get no where until after the election, so there's no change there. Perhaps the chairmanships switch for a few months. But so what? The Dems will take CLEAR control with this year's elections, regardless of what all talk/no action hearings are held or not held in the coming months.

But what it will do is send a clear signal that we're not going to compromise anymore and we don't have to.

And then when we won't have more stupid vetos with Obama in the Whitehouse, and when the Republicans threaten to filibuster, we'll have Dems with a spine who tell the Reps to actually do it and embarass themselves further. One thing Clinton did right was to tell Gingrich, go ahead and shutdown the government and Gingrich lost. We need some Dems to tell the Reps to go ahead and do something stupid so they will lose even more.

My God; how can such a religious person be jealous? I never heard of such a thing. Well on second thought I guess it's possible if you're a fraud.

If anyone needs an apology it is Obama; not LIEberman and certainly not Hillary.

Oh come on. Think!!! Obama is not high-and-mighty. That's a concept put forth by the media and continued by his critics.

Give it a break...

By "American values" are you referring to North, Central or South American? For me, two out of the three are acceptable while the remaining one is highly suspect.