Longtime United States Senator Joe Lieberman died yesterday, following a fall that resulted in a rapid health decline. He was 82. For years, Lieberman was a loyal Democrat, though he broke party lines on occasion, and was considered a defense hawk. He was Al Gore's running mate in the contentious and historic 2000 election, which George W. Bush won, thanks to a narrow victory in Florida (Bush's real victory margin was actually larger than his official margin, as confirmed by a full statewide recount conducted by the news media). Just two cycles after falling barely shy of winning the vice presidency, Lieberman broke ranks from his longtime party in a manner even more dramatic way than when he ran a successful 2006 re-election campaign as an independent, having lost the Democratic primary to a progressive challenger.
Two years later, in 2008, Lieberman endorsed his very close friend John McCain over Barack Obama. The statesman from Connecticut saw Obama for what he was, and decided the country would be in better hands under the Republican nominee. At that summer's GOP convention in Minnesota, Lieberman delivered a primetime address in support of McCain:
Our first president, George Washington, in his farewell address, warned that the spirit of party could be the worst enemy of our democracy and enfeeble our government's ability to do its job. My friends, I think tonight we can say that President Washington was absolutely right. The truth is, today we are living through his worst nightmare in the capital city that bears his name. (APPLAUSE) And that brings me directly to why I am here tonight. What, after all, is a Democrat like me doing at a Republican convention like this? (APPLAUSE) Well, I'll tell you what: I'm here to support John McCain because country matters more than party. (APPLAUSE) I am here tonight for a simple reason. John McCain is the best choice to bring our country together and lead America forward.
And, dear friends, I am here tonight because John McCain's whole life testifies to a great truth: Being a Democrat or a Republican is important, but it is nowhere near as important as being an American...I think you know that both of the presidential candidates this year have talked about changing the culture of Washington, about breaking through the partisan gridlock and the special interests that are poisoning our politics, but, my friends, only one of them has actually done it. Only one of them has shown the courage and the capability to rise above the smallness of our politics to get big things done for our country and our people. And that one is John S. McCain.
And here is Lieberman's Vice Presidential acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles eight years prior, in which he praised America to the hilt and touted his wife's family's escape from Communism:
Just days ago, Lieberman penned an op/ed in the Wall Street Journal, excoriating Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer over his shocking and inappropriate call for regime change in Israel, amidst the Jewish State's existential war against the monsters who penetrated the October 7th massacre:
I'll leave you with Lieberman's farewell speech on the Senate floor in 2012. Rest in Peace, sir:Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer last Thursday crossed a political red line that had never before been breached by a leader of his stature and never should be again. In a speech on the Senate floor, he told the people of Israel—one of our closest allies, a true democracy that is at war with an enemy that hates America as well as the Jews—that they should vote their prime minister out of office because “he has lost his way” ... While Mr. Schumer’s statement undoubtedly pleased American critics of Israel, for the Israelis it was meaningless, gratuitous and offensive. Mr. Schumer ended his argument by lecturing our Israeli friends that if Mr. Netanyahu and his coalition remain in power, “then the U.S. will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israel’s policy by using our leverage to change the present course.” This is a shocking statement that treats Israel differently from other American allies by threatening to intervene in their domestic democratic politics. In making American support for Israel conditional, Mr. Schumer harms Israel’s credibility among its allies and enemies alike.
