Again and again, the administration and its allies use fear to bully us into supporting people with no clue how to govern on issues foreign and domestic. Even when the facts come out - even in the mainstream media - they aren't seized upon as a reason to reject comments like Lieberman's. Consider this report from the leftist fringe news organization NBC, which has yet to be put in context:

British wanted to continue surveillance on terror suspects, official says

By Aram Roston, Lisa Myers, and the NBC News Investigative Unit

NBC News

Updated: 7:13 p.m. CT Aug 12, 2006

LONDON - A senior British official knowledgeable about the case said British police were planning to continue to run surveillance for at least another week to try to obtain more evidence, while American officials pressured them to arrest the suspects sooner. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case.

In contrast to previous reports, the official suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports.

The British official said the Americans also argued over the timing of the arrest of suspected ringleader Rashid Rauf in Pakistan, warning that if he was not taken into custody immediately, the U.S. would "render" him or pressure the Pakistani government to arrest him.

British security was concerned that Rauf be taken into custody "in circumstances where there was due process," according to the official, so that he could be tried in British courts. Ultimately, this official says, Rauf was arrested over the objections of the British.

The official shed light on other aspects of the case, saying that while the investigation into the bombing plot began "months ago," some suspects were known to the security services even before the London subway bombings last year.

Unwilling to accept that in the real world there are people making serious, quantifiable plans to hurt us they have to trot out the "fear" argument every time.

Stating the facts isn't fear mongering. It's stating the facts.

The fact that Britain and the US had a frank discussion about when to reign in people who were planning to blow up planes and kill innocents isn't a bad thing. It''s the free exchange of dialogue that the left so often claims isn't happening.

The fact that Lieberman and Cheney agree that abandoning Iraq at this time is a bad thing doesn't mean that they are secretly operating together. It means that they are publicly agreeing on an incredibly important issue.

Democrats need too stop crying over the fact that Lieberman isn't willling to just let his party slide to far left. Lamont didn't win by a landslide.

Joe:

Lieberman didn't lose by a landslide but he lost all the same. I wonder how many of his "supporters" were republicans that crossed lines to vote in the demo primary. I routinely vote in the republican primary here in texas because that's the only way you have a voice.

I think it would be great to declare that the voters were too stupid or deluded by propaganda to have made an informed choice during and election and take a mulligan as it were and declare the results invalid until we made sure that everyone was properly and fairly educated. Of course in this case you and Lieberman are thinking Connecticut in 2006. I'm thinking nationally 2000 and, especially, 2004.

I was struck by this quote:

"If we just pick up like Ned Lamont wants us to do, get out by a date certain, it will be taken as a tremendous victory by the same people who wanted to blow up these planes in this plot hatched in England. It will strengthen them and they will strike again.''

Perhaps Cheney et al are doing a little CYA in case, God forbid, we're attacked again. They'll blame signals of purported weakness being sent by CT voters, and quislings in the Democratic camp? Anything but a serious look at how their policies have fed terrorism.

"The British official said the Americans also argued over the timing of the arrest of suspected ringleader Rashid Rauf in Pakistan, warning that if he was not taken into custody immediately, the U.S. would "render" him or pressure the Pakistani government to arrest him."

That doesn't exactly sound like "a frank discussion" to me. It sounds more like the usual bullying, self-serving tactics used again and again by this administration.

After billions of dollars, thousands of US casualties, untold Iraqi civilian casualties, the creation of a chaos ripe for terrorists and the absolute trashing of our international standing the ultimate slap in the Bush administration's face was the British proving John Kerry was right: it IS a law enforcement issue.

How DARE you, you utter hypocrite.

What the people of the world will think is that America is a DEMOCRACY, and as such, the PEOPLE get to choose who they want.

Last I checked, Democracy does NOT mean that over-entitled politicians who think they have a right to remain in office get to dictate.

Joe Lieberman is a disgrace to America, and his slavish devotion to Israel over America's interests has undone years of good work and years of being a "Democrat."

Now, he is no better than the rest of the war-mongering neoconservative henchmen... except that he has no excuse for being so stupid.

Gee...what will the "terrorists" think when they hear that more Connecticut Democrats wanted an anti-war candidate vs. a pro-war candidate.

Hmmm...maybe they will think that...

• There are some people left in America who are not knee-jerk, conservative religious freaks like Bush and Lieberman, and some of these people can actually think for themselves
• Some Americans are sensible, and don't think that the war, which was started on false pretenses over weapons of mass destruction, and has left Iraq in a state of civil war, was a success, and they believe it should be ended soon
• Some Americans don't think that Muslims are merely collateral damage in a war on terror, but rather, people with equal rights to life, liberty and a pursuit of happiness, even if they live in Iraq, Lebanon, or, God forbid, Palestine
• Some Americans believe in principles of international community, diplomacy, and negotiation with those whom we don't agree with
• Some Americans do not slavishly support anything simply because it's in Israel's best interests