If anyone believes Lieberman became an independent just on principle, not only do I have a bridge to sell you, but a time share on a bridge! LOL!

Naive AND hypocritical!

JMJ

Legislators have every right to switch parties in our Democracy.
In fact I disagree with the LA Times op-ed which criticized his
principles. His principles AND re-election chances forced this
change.

I happen to admire Specter, a lot more than my reps..Boxer and
Feinstein. Boxer is a card-carrying liberal..and Feinstein waffles and
straddles the fence..having no principles.

Sooooo, thanks to our reps…the State of California is both attracting
every US immigrant, disaffected residents of other states, and
losing it’s middle and upper middle classes to bordering states.
Sure it’s blue..but turning gray..on it’s death bed. Industry is fleeing
along with the population..to bordering states, like Nevada, Colorado,
etc.

The liberal coastal populations…..gave Obama the election.
Perhaps McCain should have chosen a different VP, looking back.
I wanted Giuliani, his law enforcement and tough on our enemies
policy. (He never would have apologized to Ahmad, Chavez
and Castro..or reached out to Iran’s mullahs, Hamas and Fatah (all
murderous groups bent on killing every Jew and Christian).

But things can, and will change in two years..when the reality
of trillion dollar deficits begins to hit., Iran tests an atomic bomb
and threatens Israel, the Gulf States and our other allies (with
teeth), No. Korea continues to add plutonium bombs to it’s arsenal,
the Pashtun have our forces in Pakistan and Afghanistan reeling,
and Hamas and Hezbollah allied with Syria and perhaps a Taliban
Pakistan become bolder.

This is politics. I do not fault Specter. He did the right thing for himself.

We Republicans are on the defensive..a confused party..not having
any real viable alternatives to the Democratic whiz kids, youth,
and remedies for all that ails US, other than meaningless printing
trillions of dollars (to be paid back forever), mortgaging our souls
to the Chinese and Arabs, and wishful thinking that Islamo-fascism
will somehow reform itself once it sees the light (or tastes chicken soup).

The people spoke on Nov 4. But we are fickle people..and things
can change and most likely will, G-d willing.

1. Lieberman never actually left the Democratic caucus.

2. Lieberman was elected as an Independent who promised that he would caucus with the Democrat. After he was elected he did just that.

3. Lieberman had to immediately face the voters, running against a candidate backed by the Democratic machine. He also knew that although many in the GOP were sympathetic to him, they would be tempted to replace Schlesinger with a more electable candidate (as indeed there was an attempt to do so).

4. Unlike Specter, Lieberman drifted away from the Democratic Party for clearly defined reasons (Iraq).

5. Lieberman was principled enough to endorse McCain in December 2007, even though most pundits considered McCain a long-shot at best. Lieberman also had the integrity to continue to actively campaign for McCain, even after the humiliation of the Palin selection and when it was obvious that McCain wasn’t going to win – indeed his behaviour was closer to that traditionally expected of a running mate than Palin.

However, if McCain had selected Lieberman as his running mate Lieberman should have immediately resigned from the Senate (which would also have made a floor fight much more difficult). I also think Lieberman should have resigned from the Democratic caucus after the election and become a “caucus of one” (and I guess that’s what Lieberman was planning to do until Obama called his bluff over the committee positions) – IMO the committee system and “sore loser” laws are the two biggest obstacles to genuine independents.

Indeed, a small part of me still wishes that McCain had dropped out of the Republican contest in September 2007, stuck to his guns on immigration (and returned to his 2001-5 position on taxes), and run as an independent (since sore loser laws do not apply at the Presidential level).

I’m glad there more than likely will be a super majority for two simple reasons.
(1) From here on they cant blame Bush or anyone else anymore. Whatever happens, they own it. That of course doesnt mean they wont try to cast blame elsewhere. After all, thats pretty much their main function but its going to pretty hard to keep their nomes off the slew of failures on its way.
(2) From here theres only one way to go, and thats down. Its actually started for them but wont really show til folks hit the polls in a year and a half.

Theres media out there thats trying avert the inevitable change and use a bandwagon effect or propoganda to BS us all into thinking its all peaches and cream.
I found a perfect example of this ” Goebbles ” type propaganda with an AP story AOL carried on my home page that conducted a poll on the same subject right under the article.

AP Headline; “For the first time in years, more Americans than not say the country is headed in the right direction”
The story goes on to brag about what great job Obama is doing and how the majority of the country thinks were going the rihght way

After reading this snow job I go to look at the results from the AP poll directly under the article.

AP poll——-
Do you think the country is headed in the right direction?
No 58%
Yes 42%

Unbelievable.
The majority of the people reading the article didnt agree with it and yet the article stayed up all day, checking back, the percentages stayed the same all day.
Most people DO NOT feel the country is headed in the right direction yet the media is going to do its best to make us think so regardless of the facts.

The party, group, bloc or segment of population that bares watching are the real citizens of this nation. By real citizens I mean we the people with VALID social security cards, VALID voter registrations cards, VALID drivers licenses, and even a VALID birth certificates. We the people are of all parties, nationalities, creeds, religions, tribes and family groups. We live and work inside the U.S. and we value our liberty. I repeat, we value our liberty. We are the people that will make the progress we all need. Right now we don’t like what is happening. We will make some changes.

Just you wait and see.

Toma

Specter didn’t “(violate) his oath to those that supported him,” but he did turn coat on the GOP in PA. And yes, there can be no doubt that this was vanity in action, pure and simple. On the other hand, he may well see something in being a part in a bigger historical picture: with a filibuster-proof senate, maybe we have a chance at some significant changes in America, the likes of which we haven’t seen since FDR. That’s a big “maybe,” though. Contrary to the opinions of the easily led, Obama and the Dems are mainstream establishment thinkers, and the courts are still very conservative. Those two facts stand solidly in the way of some of the vital progress we all need. Don;t expect single-payor healthcare, or massive reductions in the cost of education, or a major contraction of the military industrial complex, or fair trade, or a truly reinvifored labor movement. Unfortunately, without such changes, we may still be on the highway to h@ll – just in the slow lane instead of the conservative fast lane.

JMJ

“Democrats are a bit less unhappy than other voters. Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republicans would vote to throw out the entire Congress as would 62% of unaffiliated voters. Only 43% of Democrats go along. Still, just 25% of those in Barack Obama’s party would vote to keep the entire Congress even though it’s controlled by Democrats. ”

We need members who will adhere to conservative principles and not be fair weather floaters like Spector who pander to expediency instead of towing the line that will save this country.
Good ridance.
Its typical, the left always picks up those who wont fend for themselves. I doubt they’ll trust him but look at him as more of useful tool if anything.
Hes 80 years old for crust sake man. Shouldnt we have term limits or at least age limits on these guys ? It seems ther longer they stay in politics the loonier and more unpredictable they get