Joe Lieberman assails Barack Obama on foreign policy

Must be something in the air.

Two days after Geraldine Ferraro, the 1984 Democratic vice presidential candidate, stirred a hornet's nest with harsh words about Barack Obama, Sen. Joe Lieberman, the party's 2000 veep nominee, burnished his credentials as a political renegade.

Ferraro has merely suggested she will bolt the party if Obama heads its presidential ticket; Lieberman long ago fervently embraced Republican John McCain's candidacy. And in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece that appeared today, Lieberman scorched Obama.

After a discourse on the ebb and flow of Democratic foreign policy positions since World War II, Lieberman concludes that -- to his chagrin -- "activists have successfully pulled [the party] further to the left than it had been at any point in the last 20 years."

Than he gets to the matter of the moment -- lambasting Obama, as McCain has done -- for saying that as president, he would eschew preconditions to meet directly with leaders of anti-American governments. Lieberman also scoffs at Obama's contention that his stance parallels the negotiating positions of John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan (among others).

Lieberman asserts that it is impossible to imagine either president "sitting down unconditionally" with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The entire commentary can be read here.

Eventually, the Democrats will have a confirmed presidential nominee and that choice will sit down and start seriously vetting a potential running mate. It would seem an additional question is called for: Can you envision someday turning on your party?

-- Don Frederick

Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images

Comments

[Will Johnson]

Liberman is Isreal's sentate vote.

[ABE]

Joe Lieberman, "political renegade"!?!
Here you have it, citizens. The Free-Ride Free Press
have long fallaciously crowned Sen. John McCain, 'political maverick'. Now, McCain's NEW hip
replacement, Independent Republican Sen. Joe Lieberman, is honored as a 'political renegade'.
In truth, Lieberman is the second coming of former
Georgia Sen. Zell Miller. Indeed, a traitor to Democratic
Party principles and values.

[BJ]

DEMOCRATS FLUB everything!

They even flubbed the "Farm Bill" that overwhelmingly overrode a Bush veto!

Can you expect them to get the right candidate for November?

IF they nominate Obama, it is guaranteed they will NEVER WIN the White House back from Republicans!

[Charles from FL]

Would you rather choose to betray your friend or your country?
Lieberman has obviously chosen to ditch the country's self-interest in a new Way, and embrace instead his buddy McCain.

[dave]

like a house on fire, prancing clowns in the lobby, goofing around. the people trapped inside.
interested arsons, out to defraud, jesting with the clowns and trying to delay the fire brigade.
but peaceful rLOVEution is well on its way,
and RON PAUL is ready, having heard the calls.

[Rony A]

Lieberman is and always has been a crazy Jew who does more harm than good. The reason he is not supporting Obama is because Obama is the only candidate who will break the Lobbyists and corrupt establishments of the Jews in washington. Thats the truth .. but you will never see it because guess who controls Media in the country .. ?? you got it .. ??

[Vote Hillary]

"Can you envision someday turning on your party" Yep..I will if the DnC continues to ignore Florida and Michagan and rip the nomination from Hillary without the slightest intrest in the will of the people,I will give my vote to Mcain im sure my vote will be counted then.

[TJ]

The remark about Lieberman being a traitor is dead on, but it's not his former party that he's a traitor to, it's the country that he supposedly represents. Joe Lieberman's only care in the world, like the rest of his neo-con cronies, is for Israel. Joe Lieberman would spend every dime America has and sacrifice every American soldier in defense of his beloved Israel. If that's not a traitor, I don't know what is.

[JH]

Joe Lieberman is a typical dyed in the wool hypocrite NY style cliberal. If you dont get into bed with Israel and prostitute yourself to AIPAC your an anti-semite. Which Lieberman and his other Wall Street, Media, Hollywood influenced cronies are counting on. Lieberman is so bad he couldn't even influence his Florida bretheren to swing the election for the Democrats. Lieberman is a freaking loser. Who cares what he says.

[bub]

This is typical recent Republican trash talk. Bottom line is, that all Obama wants to do, is to engage US adversaries in an academic, diplomatic manner instead of a gun. It's clear that Iran is more powerful because the US has chosen not to engage them and talk to them.

We have a terrific opportunity in Cuba, as they are certainly showing signs of a desire to open up their country. Many say they should get an economy for their people to be able to afford the things that the Cuban regime has decided to allow them to have. Doesn't anyone realize that the reason they do not have a robust economy, is that they have been on the US balck list for 50 years?

Let's wake up and look out there for opportunities. The one partial success Bush has had in this category, is North Korea. Why? Because the US talked to them, and imagine that, they actually listened.

The old saying is :I didn't hear what you said because I was deafened by the way you said it." It's time to start saying things differently.

[Lowell Blackman, Ramat Ilan, Israel]

Re Will Johnson’s comment, “Liberman [sic] is Isreal's [sic] sentate [sic] vote, then I suppose by the same ethnic and political standard, Barack Obama must be Indonesia’s Senate vote, Kenya’s Senate vote, the Weatherman Underground’s Senate vote, Black Liberationist Theology’s Senate vote, and the Nation of Islam’s and Louis Farrakhan’s Senate vote. Let us also not forget that in hoping he will win the Presidency, Barack Obama must also be Hamas’s Senate vote.

[Carol, age 75]

Hillary Clinton warned that politics would become nasty if Barrack Obama fairly won the nomination. As the saying goes, "With friends like these, who needs enemies?"
Is Clinton going to say that she cannot turn on a old friend, but does not agree with Ferraro's position? Surely, Hillary has never denounced her friend's support. When are Democrats going to deal with Clintonian math and get their act together? McCainian math is 100 more years of war. (wasn't the Boer War that long?)

[Deborah J.]

Good riddance Geraldine! Bye, bye. And, not-so-Independent Joe should have checked with the Israel before he opened his mouth: turns out that they have been having secret talks with Syria. Thus, according to the terms of George Bush and Joe Lieberman, the Israelis are "reckless" and "appeasers."

[wombab]

When the Dems deserted Lieberman when Ned Lamont beat him in the Connecticut Senatorial primary, guess who stood by him with an endorsement? The one and only Barack Obama. Now see what return he gets? Lieberman is a fool. McCain is not a real political ally of his, and American policy on Israel will not materially change no matter who gets in office. Lieberman is backing the wrong horse.

[Nicolas De Vins]

If the Americans go to vote for Obama, it seems that the situation (in America) is really bad.

[LonghornMama]

No Clinton on ticket, no support for Dems.

[N.E. BodybutHillary]

Barack Obama is probably closer to center than John McCain. Why bring Geraldine Ferraro into the article? That is like stating that David Duke will go Republican if Hillary does not defeat Barack.

[thekrule]

It is a shame to see Senator Lieberman so unabashedly come out in support of John McCain when McCain's policies will actually do more to hurt Israel than help it. Lieberman has tunnel vision and, unfortunately, does not represent the majority of American Jews regarding the Mideast and what, if anything, should be done to further the cause of peace in that troubled part of the world. I think that it takes a person of strength, moral courage, and vision to say you will talk with your so-called enemies. Without talk, without meetings, without diplomacy, there will be no change, no peace, no cause for hope. To think that the only kind of diplomacy is that which must occur at the end of a gun or cannon is simply foolhardy and reckless. No one likes to negotiate with a rifle trained at the middle of their head. Besides, how many wars, how many bases, how many troops can we spread around the world "to keep the peace!" We are spread so thin at this point that our military is like swiss cheese. No wonder that the Taliban have made tremendous gains since the alleged end of the Afghan War! The time for Bush's modern Gunboat Diplomacy to die a quick death and to turn towards real diplomacy, real talk, real solutions. Lieberman has jumped in bed with Bush by jumping in with McCain. Let him go down with the ship. It is time for a new age, new ideas, and a new administration!

[Merry Joe K.]

The Jews own the media? Good god!

Who owns the White House?

Bigots conveniently forget things because their blind hatred gets in the way of logic.

[William Daviau]

Joe Liberman seems to think it his duty to serve only the interests of Israel.

Had Nixon failed to meet with the Chinese governement "unconditionally" we would still be facing a combined threat from the Soviet Union and China. If Eisenhour had failed to meet with Kruschev and in fact, failed to give him free passage to go wherever he chose in the United States to "see for himself," perhaps there would have been a real war instead of a cold war.

Talking with those that we disagree with is the grown up thing to do. Failure to talk is bullying and gets us nowhere.

Appeasement is agreeing to morally offensive things, diplomacy is talking about why we won't agree to morally offensive things.

Bush is confused, Lieberman has lost all reason.

[sean]

Joe Lieberman aka Senator Palpatine is a loose cannon that needs a formal censure. From his detrimental take on the oil problem(its speculators?) to his lame and dangerous Iran bill, his true colors are not red, white and blue. I am really not sure why he is a senator other than for his ego. The Congressional elections for 2007 were to end the Iraq War, this election is about ending our relationship with Izzreel.

[Restore The Constitution]

You missed the point. Lieberman is going to be McCain's VP YES the REPUBLICAN VP. Don't believe me? Just try and come up with a convincing reason to prove I am wrong.

[Obama supporters]

Stop being so hateful to Jewish people. It makes you sound ignorant. Free your mind...don't be so shallow. You of all people should understand what it is like to have racist remarks thrown at you. Stop. You have the power to change the world by turning from hate to love. Make Obama proud.

[Patrick]

Has anyone noticed that the candidates discuss gender, race, gay marraige,the Iraq war, anything but our foreign policy regarding Israel..other than Israel is our friend and Hamas is a terrorist organization. There is no discussion of what is behind these conclusions so there is no debate on what is the proper foreign policy. The news and the politicians are terrified to have an open debate. They might lose their jobs.

Read "The Israeli Lobby and US Foreign Policy" by two professors from Harvard and UChicago to begin to understand why there is never any discussion of American policy in the Middle East. Watch the BBC and Aljazeera/English if you want to see a balanced view. And learn why Americans are completely uninformed and out of step with the rest of the world.