Geez, I guess Salon should thank Joe Liberman profusely. After all, what the hell else would Salon have put on the site for the past ten days if not for Joe? The War Room blog is full of Joe-ness, and the N&P and now Opinion are also, surprise, all about Joe. Dude, WTF? Is NOTHING else happening in the world of interest today?

I'm sick of Joe, I'm sick of this story, and I am rapidly becoming sick of Salon and it's infinitesimal focus on only a few stories of moderate interest.

BLAH BLAH BLAH.

Thanks for the short, but complete, review of Lieberman's defeat. Your's is one of few that mention what, in my view, is the primary cause: the "Judas kiss." Bush took him out. My question is: did Rove/Bush plan this, or was it simply another clumsy Bush stunt--like the backrub to Merkel?

Robert Helman

Tracy, CA

I would certainly rather read about the current classical tragedy in CT than attempts at deconstructing the latest fashion fads for pregnant nannies in NYC or the like, which all too often feels like the focus around Salon these days.

But it is a symptom of life on the net that we remember what pisses us off more than what enlightens us.

Connecticut's culture wars have been even more complicated than Blumenthal describes. The early "liberal" organizers and supporters of Planned Parenthood were inspired not by an ideology of individual rights but by eugenicism and social Darwinism. The goal was to reduce the reproduction of the poor, the mentally unfit, and the racially undesirable. It is thus no paradox that Bush's grandfather, a Nazi sympathizer, also saw fit to support birth control.

Thank you Salon. I think one more day of gloating and celebrating the death of Joe-mentum is called for. I'm glad to see that sanctimonious, holier-than-thou turncoat get his comeuppance. I'm sick of him and the whole unholy NeoCon-Fundy alliance that is dragging us toward Armageddon. I didn't like the man when he denounced Clinton, I didn't like him when the rabbi told us to vote for him at my neice's bat mitzvah, and I loathe his support of Bush's war. I'll be dancing the horah on his political grave.

A brilliant summation of why Lieberman was called Holy Joe, and why voters who knew about his history in detail rejected him.

Sad, but he was the one who voulunteered to go out in a thunderstorm and hold up a lightning rod. No one asked him to. If only our disputes with Republicans could be made as clear as our dispute with Joe, but that would require that Karl Rove be as tone deaf as Joe's handlers.

Time will tell, I guess.

Blumenthal has written a fair and realistic appraisal of why Lieberman lost the Democratic nomination. He really is a neoconservative and ought to run as a Republican.

He probably will win in Connecticut by getting the Republican vote. Republicans outshine Democrats in strategy so their goal is to get Lieberman re-elected. Their strategy was to come up with a weak senatorial candidate to ensure that Lieberman would win either as a Democrat or as an independent.

If Lieberman runs and wins as an independent, can he be denied his committee assignments, since he would no longer officially be a Democrat?

In his new incarnation as an Independent, Joe Lieberman is like a snake shedding his skin: He leaves behind the detritus of his former self and is revealed in all his shining glory as a serpent with forked tongue.

Joe is out to do nothing, to prove nothing and to achieve nothing but his own status quo. And why he believes he should retain his power and welfare-like salary are beyond the imaginings of all but the most Republican of voters.

Joe Lieberman is now the ultimate enshrinement of all that is grossly Republican - an entitlement mindset coupled with the arrogance of power.

Sid never disappoints. However, the Democratic Party establishment is another matter. Sen. Dorgan was on the Bill Press radio show this morning and refused to endorse Lamont. When pressed (no pun intended) he said "leave it up to the voters". I left a message at Dorgan’s office to tell him that he is next. We won't win until we either rid the party of these quivering quislings or put the fear of God in them.

Lieberputz has no principles on national security other than to avoid being called names by Bill Kristol at all costs. The nebbishy putz is so afraid of being called weak that he will forego the vicepresidency rather than risk being falsely demagogued on security. He will gladly let thousands of American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis die if that's what it takes for him to save face.

Buh-bye Lieberputz. Don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out, little buddy.

Given the major role that the defense and insurance industries play in Connecticut's economy, Ned Lamont will continue to need all of the support he can get from both within and outside the state. It's probable that the primary result would not have been so close if those industries were not a factor in the livelihoods of so many Connecticutarians (Connecticans?) ... surely the people dependent upon those industries would vote for Lieberman over Lamont given Lamont's brave anti-war, pro-universal-healthcare stances. The result just shows you how strong the anti-Joe sentiment in Connecticut really is.

The only problem with the fact that Lieberman is likely done as a Senator is that only another Democratic stooge or Republican zealot can replace him, and so whomever gets in there we'll all likely remained fucked. Politics in the modern vernacular is nothing more than a license to lie and deceive yet it is an honored profession? All these guys and gals who run our government are a bunch of scoundrels of the highest order, like the sophists of the past who would argue any side true or false, right or wrong; to win is the thing, to be in power.

(At this point it looks like Lieberman is an excellent example of the Nietschzian philosophy that the lust after power is indeed the prime directive of man, and Mr. Lieberman is above all else terrified of no longer being in power. I'm sure we'll see the same thing in a couple of years when Bush Corp. refuses to give up the Presidency on the grounds that the war is at too critical a point to change leadership.)

So millionaire actor #1 isn't returning to the Senate, he will be replaced by millionaire actor #17. I trust #17, he's a stand up guy who would never do anything dishonest. (This is of course sarcasm and I hope someone can see why one must laugh at these ridiculous antics or else cry so beautifully incomprehensible that every ear is rendered broken and every thought forgets to think that there was ever any notion of existence).