Demagogue

In this editorial, the Washington Post endorses Joe Lieberman's decision to run as an independent. This phrase from the editorial may have been the understatement of the year:

We are not among those who differ substantially with Mr. Lieberman on Iraq, but we recognize the widespread anger over the conduct of the war and wish Mr. Lieberman had done a better job, earlier in the campaign, of articulating his position and emphasizing his differences with President Bush.

And exactly what differences would those be?

To merely say that the war effort in Iraq isn't going well is not a difference in "position." Of course, Lieberman has been reluctant to even acknowledge that. In a pre-primary column in Time magazine, Joe Klein (who is no Lieberman hater) wrote about the senator's "mildness" when it comes to Iraq:

At this point, Lieberman is not offering much more than stay-the-course body language.

Let's stipulate that Lieberman's position is honorable, heartfelt and politically courageous. But it is annoying, nonetheless .... I asked the Senator, "If you believe that winning this war is so crucial, why haven't you been tougher on the Bush Administration's inept prosecution of it?"

Lieberman replied, mildly, that he had criticized the Bush Administration in the past. And then he did a curious thing. "I think we may have wasted the first year in Iraq," he offered, then retreated, "Well, that may be a little hard ... Maybe I should say we lost opportunities," and then, noticing that I was about to splutter with indignation, he retracted his retraction. "No, we wasted it."

To say the least! The mildness is mystifying.

The Post also suggests that the primary loss can be disregarded because "the almost 300,000 who voted still represented a minority of the electorate ..."

For Christ's sake, it was a party primary. Not every voter was eligible to participate in it. Nonetheless, the voter turnout set a record for a Connecticut primary. And, as I've written before, it should piss off Democrats (whatever their view of Iraq) that Lieberman essentially used the party's primary as his "Plan A."

But the amazing thing about the Post editorial is that the editors actually felt the need to declare: "Mr. Lieberman is no sap." Perhaps the senator will consider printing those words on bumper stickers for his independent candidacy.