On Joe Lieberman

We interrupt this blog to bring you a brief rant on Joe Lieberman.

I watched Lieberman's speech at the RNC yesterday and it made me furious with him. It's not that he's wrong about John McCain. Lieberman correctly pointed out that McCain has reached across party lines during his time in the Senate; that he has, on occasion, broken ranks with the Republican establishment--including President Bush; that he served his country with honor. None of that is in dispute, and Lieberman should not be taken to task for pointing it out.

Where Lieberman is wrong is to claim that McCain is the candidate of change and the candidate who can get the most done for Americans who are suffering due to high costs of health care, declining wages (in real terms), rising unemployment, a broken education system, and a soaring budget deficit. He doesn't believe that. He can't believe that.

What he may believe is that McCain is the better choice for Iraq, the better choice for securing access to sources of foreign and domestic oil and protecting big business (and, therefore, of trickle-down economics), and, of course, securing the status quo for long-serving Senators like Lieberman himself. (Note: he would be wrong about believing any of these things, but he can be forgiven for being so misguided.)

But if that's what he believes, and he feels strongly, he should stand up and say that. Don't dare claim that McCain is the candidate of change, the candidate of national unity, the candidate of energy independence, the candidate of economic recovery or of reconciliation with allies and engagement with adversaries.

McCain is the candidate of the status quo: of big oil, of ruinous economic policies, of misguided foreign ventures, of another four years.

I'm disappointed in Lieberman not because he supports McCain or because he crossed party lines. I'm disappointed because he got up at the RNC and misled the American people about why he supports McCain.

And that is inexcusable.