Joe Lieberman: When People Commit Crimes, They Must Be Prosecuted. Unless They Work for the Government
Kevin Gozstola plays a litlte gotcha with Joe Lieberman. Here's Lieberman advocating for a DOJ investigation and possible prosecution of the New York Times and other media outlets for publishing portions of the Wikileaks cables:
"And, again, why do you prosecute crimes? Because if you don't--Well, first you do because that's what our system of justice requires. Second, if you don't prosecute people who commit crimes, others are going to do it soon and again."
And here's Joe Lieberman in 2009, explaining why he opposes any investigation of members of the Bush administration who endorsed and advocated torture:
We're opening a door that's going to make it hard for any administration in the future to get the kind of legal advice that it wants, let alone deal with people who are suspects that may have information in the war on terrorism…
Well, I mean, there's no end to this if you go on…There is simply nothing to be gained from it and it is going to have a bad effect on every administration of any party that follows in the generations ahead.
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Are you saying Joe Liebermann is a hypocrite?
Joe Liebermann? Really?
Lieberman is entirely consistent in his position that transparency is bad and people in the goverment should never be held accountable for their actions.
Joe Liebermann is religious fundie and bureaucratic statist all rolled into one; like some twisted 21st century version of Woodrow Wilson he is the worst of both ideological worlds.
I've heard there is a push afoot to put Wikileaks on the designated terrorist group list.
Really.
So far I've heard it from a handful of conservative pundits, Peter King (R) and Lieberman (essentially R). Any Dems calling for this too?
Don't pull that. Lieberman is a (D).
In spades. Basically, he's a Dem who supports the Iraq war.
Like all the other Dem senators did, when it was polling well anyways.
No, he isn't. He's independent caucusing with Democrats.
Wasn't King the IRA's man in Washington for like 20 years? Or am I thinking about someone else?
Yes, that's King. He renounced the IRA when they wouldn't support the Iraq war.
Remember: It's only terrorism when brown people do it.
Who is more anti-libertarian: Liebermann or Huckabee?
I'm afraid I will now be haunted in my dreams by a monster called Huckalieb.
Liebabee?
LIEBERHUCK SMASH!
I think "Lieberhuck" wins.
Lieberman is a religious zealot, a statist, and an all-around piece of shit. I'd rate him worse than Huckabee.
I remember when he got challenged from the left in Connecticut, and I remember saying to my grandfather "he will win in a landslide", and I hated being right. Maybe he can open an investigation into overpriced terrorist breakfast cereals to keep his stellar record of being a scumbag alive.
I think you are right. But it is a lot closer than you make it sound. Huckabee might be only partly a piece of shit. He is also a religious zealot and a statist for sure though.
Oh, it's close, but Lieberman wins.
I'm close to changing my mind on this one. Lieberman in a genuine asshole. Hucakbee is a disingenuous asshole.
Perhaps the debate should be more generally: which is worse, a genuine asshole or a disingenuous asshole?
Only if one is being disingenuous about being an asshole, and thus not an asshole.
It seems to me that a genuine asshole is someone who is not playing at being an asshole, but actually is one. Therefore a lying asshole is merely a sub-set of being a genuine asshole.
Genuine, definitely.
When Obama was elected I was scared shitless that he was actually a True Believer(tm) of the things he was preaching, but I felt a profound sense of relief later when I realized he was just your standard snake oil politician.
So what you will about the tenets of being an asshole, at least it's an ethos dude.
"You know the score, pal. You're not cop, you're little people!"
"No choice huh?"
"No choice, pal"
Jow Lieberman is for torture because Israel uses it. I'll bet David Harsanyi feels the same way.
Can't tell, TrollMax. Can you not spell "Joe", or were you trying to try and take your trolling to another direction but couldn't correctly spell "Jew" Lieberman?
It's not anti-semitic if you're a lefty!
Trying to try and take? Do your lips get sore when you type?
!!!!11!!!!frAfrAfrAfrAfrAfrAfrAfrAfrAfrA
Max really meant to write "Jew" Lieberman, then caught himself halfway through.
Being a racist and all, he thinks all Jews love Israel, carry bags of Jew gold, and are plotting to sterilize goyim.
I also have it on good authority (Max's mom mid-coitus) that Max pleasures himself to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
If we hold politicians accountable for their actions, it won't be as much fun anymore.
I don't know.
The French did a pretty good job of holding politicians accountable in 1791-93. I think it would be fun to watch.
At one-a-day, we could make congress last for nearly a year and a half's entertainment.
Auction off the right to pull the lever, and you could probably raise enough money to pay for a few good roads.
Just to put a scary thought out there:
But for a few hundred votes in Florida in 2000, there is a good chance that Lieberman would now be POTUS.
Good chance counterargument - President Quayl(e)
Er, the guy who won the VP that year never came close to being president. Plus I seriously doubt Kerry gets reelected in 2004 after 9/11 and all.
Those two quotes don't have any fucking thing to do with one another.
One is saying that people should be investigated for PUBLISHING STOLEN DOCUMENTS (possibly a crime). The other is saying that people should not be prosecuted for WRITING A LEGAL OPINION (not a crime).
You might as well say he is a hypocrite for calling for prosecution for murder but not for dog walking.
I am not commenting on the merits of Wikileaks or the torture memos. I'm just saying that the two are not analogous. At all.
""The other is saying that people should not be prosecuted for WRITING A LEGAL OPINION (not a crime).""
You mean should not be investigated to see if the subject of the legal opinion was a crime?
How could it possibly be illegal to write a legal opinion?
This
Thank you. I clicked on the link here to say exactly that. The point in the OP is completely without support.
As for the rest of the discussion, I very much dislike both Huckabee and Lieberman. However, I see nothing here to hold against Lieberman in the comparison of the two statements.
Those two statements offer us no insight whatsoever into Liberman's views regarding the Rule of Man versus the Rule of Law.
Fail.
How could it possibly be illegal to write a legal opinion?
Anything that is sufficiently offensive to our Enlightened Masters should be stomped on with the Jackboot of (Social) Justice.
There is simply nothing to be gained from it and it is going to have a bad effect on every administration of any party that follows in the generations ahead.
Besides a little sanitary sunlight cast into the darkest, filthiest corners of government. This in turn would give the people more information without which to choose their representatives.
Short version: Joe Lieberman is a piece of shit, has been for years, whether it's as a cheerleader for the state or a hardcore culture warrior.
Thanks