Harry Reid To Punish Joe Lieberman for Supporting McCain

President-elect Barack Obama promised to heal the wounds of America. He promised to get us past the partisan politics and usher in a new age of enlightenment. He promised that he would work in a bipartisan manner and unite the country.

Nancy Pelosi said much the same thing when she claimed that if the Democrats had a larger majority they would actually be more bipartisan.

Elect us, hold us accountable, and make a judgment and then go from there. But I do tell you that if the Democrats win, and have substantial majorities, Congress of the United States will be more bipartisan,”

Now that the campaign is over and Barack Obama has won, the congress and senate have grown their majorities it is time to see if their actions match the words that they spewed prior to the election. The early indications are just as I thought they would be.

Today Majority Leader Harry Reid sat down with Senator Joe Lieberman to discuss Lieberman’s future as the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Sen. Joe Lieberman’s affiliation with Democrats was in question after a meeting Thursday with Majority Leader Harry Reid, steamed over the Connecticut independent’s high-profile support of John McCain for president. Reid, in a sternly worded statement after the 45-minute meeting, said no official decisions have been made. But an aide to the Nevada Democrat said Reid was leaning toward removing Lieberman as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Senator Lieberman is most likely going to lose his chairmanship and why? Because he acted in a bipartisan manner and supported the candidate of the Republican party. While Barack Obama promised to work with Republicans and Nancy Pelosi claimed that Democrats would be more bipartisan if they grew their majority Joe Lieberman actually put words into action and broke party lines to support McCain. He knew that this could cost him his committee but he did what he thought was right.

While Obama and Pelosi talk a good game, Lieberman actually did what the others claimed that they would do. What does he get for being bipartisan? Punished.

While I understand that Sen. Lieberman has voted with Democrats a majority of the time, his comments and actions have raised serious concerns among many in our caucus,” Reid said.

They say that actions speak louder than words and not only did Joe Lieberman’s actions speak for him but they spoke for the Democrat leaders as well. The reaction of Democrat leaders speak volumes about who they are. When their majority was slim and they needed Lieberman they tolerated his bipartisanship on this one issue, but now that their majority has grown and they no longer need him they are willing to kick him to the curb.

So much for a larger Democrat majority being more bipartisan. So much for Obama’s promise to bring us together. Campaign rhetoric has given way to political reality.

The more things “change” the more they stay the same.