The Stamford Advocate Suffers Buyer's Remorse

The Stamford Advocate is frustrated with Lieberman.

The frustration regards U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman's refusal to enter into a
true dialogue with constituents about the country's involvement in the war and
his position on it. A Stamford native, Sen. Lieberman is the leading Democratic
proponent of increased military support to Iraq. Yet he has not convened a
single meeting to talk with constituents at home in Connecticut about his
position. This is uncharacteristic of a senator who has been known for his
respect for individual rights and our system of government.

With all due respect to the Stamford Advocate, an earnest and competent community newspaper, this is a load of crap. Calling on Lieberman to hold town meetings and pretend to be listening is just plain silly - not a serious suggestion. The Advocate says Lieberman should follow Chris Shays' lead and have a dialoque with his constituents regarding the Iraq catastrophe. For Shays to do it is one thing - his position on Bush's Folly has evolved in response to the very valid concerns of his constituents, and therefore there is some reason to believe that he'd actually be listening. But Lieberman has, in effect, just told his constituents to go screw themselves. He lied during the campaign when he claimed to oppose a troop build-up in Iraq. How likely is it that he'll return to the scene of the crime to face the inevitable accusations of deceit from outraged voters? Not very. And even if he were to follow the Advocate's advice and hold a series of town meetings, how could anyone trust that he would be sincere in his solicitation of our views? After all, the man is a demonstrated liar and neoconman of the first order.

This is all very disingenuous of the Advocate. They endorsed this travesty of an elected representative. And they knew exactly what they were getting when they urged his re-election.

Here's some advice for the Advocate: stop begging Lieberman to come home and break bread; start telling him to get his head out of his ass, and the troops out of Iraq.