• Egypt,  Internet,  Joe Lieberman,  Susan Collins

    Egypt’s Internet Goes Offline And Congress Readies Obama “Kill Switch” Legislation

    I don’t think after the events in Egypt this past week that this legislation has much of a chance of passing.

    As Egypt’s government attempts to crackdown on street protests by shutting down internet and mobile phone services, the US is preparing to reintroduce a bill that could be used to shut down the internet.

    The legislation, which would grant US President Barack Obama powers to seize control of and even shut down the internet, would soon be reintroduced to a senate committee, Wired.com reported.

    It was initially introduced last year but expired with a new Congress.

    Senator Susan Collins, a co-sponsor of the bill, said that unlike in Egypt, where the government was using its powers to quell dissent by shutting down the internet, it would not.

    “My legislation would provide a mechanism for the government to work with the private sector in the event of a true cyber emergency,” Collins said in an emailed statement to Wired. “It would give our nation the best tools available to swiftly respond to a significant threat.”

    The proposed legislation, introduced into the US Senate by independent senator Joe Lieberman, who is chairman of the US Homeland Security committee, seeks to grant the President broad emergency powers over the internet in times of national emergency.

    I don’t want President Obama, Susan Collins or Joe Lieberman having control of my access to a “free press” which today includes the internet.

    More communication and connectivity is better for liberty and freedom, than less.

    Hands off.

  • Dick Cheney,  Joe Lieberman

    Senator Joe Lieberman Knocks Dick Cheney – We Are NOT Less Safe But……

    The Politico quotes Connecticut Democrat Senator Joe Lieberman in knocking former Vice President Dick Cheney: “we’re not less safe.”

    But, what is more of the statement?

    A bunch of muddled mush that only a seasoned POL can deliver.

    Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on Monday defended President Barack Obama against former Vice President Dick Cheney’s claims that the Obama administration has made the country less safe.

    “We’re not less safe,” said Lieberman, who was one of Obama’s leading critics on national security during the presidential campaign.

    “Our guard is up. In fact, I’d say that when it came to Afghanistan, obviously, this Obama administration has put more resources into the fight against terrorism than had previously been the case,” Lieberman added in an interview on MSNBC. “On balance, we remain as safe as we can possibly be in a world in which there is Islamist extremists who want to attack us.”

    We are as safe as we can possibly be?

    What the hell does that mean?

    Lieberman continues:

    “This administration has done everything it could, even in those areas that I disagree with them.”

    More doublespeak and the statement means?

    Flap does not feel more safe with Joe Lieberman in charge. Time for another retirement.


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  • Barack Obama,  Joe Lieberman,  Missile Defense

    Obama Dodges And Plays Word Games With America’s National Missile Defense

    North Korean Taepodong-2 missile launch animation

    So Says Byron York in today’s Washington Examiner.

    In Prague on Sunday, Barack Obama boldly proclaimed that as long as there is a potential nuclear threat from Iran, the United States “will go forward with a missile defense that is cost-effective and proven.”  Many observers saw that as a statement of toughness from a president determined to counter Tehran.  It turns out it was a carefully-worded dodge from a president with little desire to build a strong American missile defense.  Here is the story behind the story:

    A few months before the January 2008 Iowa caucuses, a left-leaning group called Caucus4Priorities asked Obama and other Democratic presidential candidates to spell out their positions on defense issues.  Caucus4Priorities was an offshoot of a bigger group, the Priorities Action Fund, created by Ben Cohen, the peace activist and co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. The organization hoped to divert billions of dollars in spending from the Pentagon to education, health care, job training, world hunger, and other causes.  One of its goals was to put an end to missile defense.

    Candidate Obama made a video in response to Caucus4Priorities.  “I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems,” Obama said.  “I will not weaponize space. I will slow our development of future combat systems…”

    Senate Democrats, including Vice President Joe Biden have been foes of a national missile defense system for decades.

    “This premise, that one day Kim Jong Il or someone will wake up one morning and say ‘Aha, San Francisco!’ is specious,” Senator Joe Biden told AP in May 2001.

    Meanwhile in the Senate, Carl Levin (D., Mich.) offered in June to cut off funds for the ground-based interceptor program that Mr. Bush recently activated in Alaska in anticipation of the North Korean launch. Mr. Levin wants to stop new interceptors from being built, but Senate Republicans wouldn’t bring his proposal up for a vote. Mr. Levin has been waging his own private war against missile defenses for a generation, to the point of outflanking Russian objections on the political left.

    In May 2001 the Boston Herald’s Woodlief wrote that John Kerry “wants to croak the hugely costly nuclear missile defense system.” And just one day before the 9/11 attacks Joe Biden (D., Del.) gave a National Press Club speech outlining Democrat opposition to national missile defense.

    Why should President Obama be any different?

    What Obama is practicing is DOUBLESPEAK.

    So here is the lesson.  When the president says he will “go forward with a missile defense,” don’t assume that he will go forward with a missile defense. Don’t listen to what he said in Prague.  Listen to what he said in Iowa.

    But, Obama will NOT be able to use Democrat Senator Joe Lieberman for ANY political cover.

    Lieberman had begun to sing Obama’s praises in recent weeks, but his song sounded a decidedly harsh note this week. As during the campaign, the latest tension stems from disagreement over national security and foreign policy.

    Lieberman, who campaigned for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) last year, has a reputation in the Senate as a defense hawk.

    “Cooperation on missile defense is now a critical component of many of our closest security partnerships around the world,” Lieberman wrote in a letter to the president. “We fear that cuts to the budget for missile defense could inadvertently undermine these relationships and foster the impression that the United States is an unreliable ally.

    “Moreover, sharp cuts would leave us and our friends around the world less capable of responding to the growing ballistic missile threat.”

    Lieberman, a longtime supporter of a robust missile defense program, is the lead signatory on the letter.

    Stay tuned…..


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  • Caroline Kennedy,  Joe Lieberman

    Caroline Kennedy for U.S. Senate – What Have You Done for Us Lately, Baby?

    Caroline Kennedy and Eric Holder

    Eric Holder walks with Caroline Kennedy on Capitol Hill in Washington. Holder is President-elect Barack Obama’s Attorney General Designee, June 25, 2008

    The LEFT says Thanks But No thanks to Caroline Kennedy replacing Hillary Clinton as U.S. Senator from New York.

    It’s a truly terrible idea.

    Her leadership could have been really helpful when the rest of us were trying to keep the progressive lights on and getting the stuffing beaten out of us by a very well-financed right wing for the past eight years.  But when things were tough, she was nowhere to be found.

    Thanks Jane. The last time you were involved with Democrat Ned Lamont, Joe Lieberman won.

    Guess Caroline can start measuring the drapes.


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  • Joe Lieberman,  Sarah Palin

    Sarah Palin Called Obama “Sambo” and HIllary a “Bitch”

    liebermanhuffpographic002we

    Remember the Joe Lieberman Black-Face Flap?

    The latest smear against Sarah Palin is reminiscent of Left-Wing Jane Hamsher’s smear of Joe Lieberman in 2006.

    Tons of readers are sending the latest, most pathetic smear against Gov. Sarah Palin.

    It is laughable beyond belief.

    One “Charley James” accuses Palin of exclaiming the following after Obama defeated Hillary:

    “So Sambo beat the bitch!”

    Read the entire “investigative report” here, which comes off like a really, really bad Onion parody.

    A laughable, unsubstantiated claim but one that has to be answered as bull shit.

    And, there will be many claims which will continue to come until election day.

    Remember it was the LEFT that smeared Joe Lieberman in 2006. Remember it well.


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  • Joe Lieberman,  John McCain

    John McCain Watch: No Lieberman As Vice President

    McCain and Lieberman June 13

    Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., smiles during a news conference after a town hall meeting in Pemberton, N.J., Friday, June 13, 2008

    The answer is NO to the idea of Senator Joe Lieberman as John McCain’s Vice President.

    There are many deserving Republicans who can be nominated and who would make excellent Presidents should John McCain not be able to fulfill his Presidential duties:

    • Governor Tim Pawlenty
    • Governor Sarah Palin
    • Former Governor Mike Huckabee
    • Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani
    • Governor Bobby Jindal
    • Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

    Just to name a few.

    The first rule in Vice Presidential politics is to do NO harm. A Lieberman choice would demoralize the GOP base because Senator Lieberman is NOT a Republican and never has been.

    His voting record and policy positions are to the LEFT of the GOP except with regard to the War on Terror.


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  • Democrats,  GOP,  Joe Lieberman,  John McCain,  President 2008

    Joe Lieberman Watch: Democrat Divorce?

    Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman

    A trial balloon for the Lieberman-Democrat Party divorce and switch to the GOP caucus?

    The Democrats know the divorce is coming and some on the LEFT want to press the issue before the September GOP convention. But, Joe Lieberman will be patient and will make a choice of his own choosing.

    Lieberman may be more effective for John McCain if he remains in the Democrat Caucus – at least for now.

    Previous:

    Joe Lieberman Watch: Obama “Sleazy Tactics”

    Will Joe Lieberman Caucus with the GOP?


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  • Barack Obama,  Joe Lieberman,  President 2008

    Joe Lieberman Watch: Obama “Sleazy Tactics”

    Barack Obama has some stern words for Joe Lieberman, leading him off the Senate floor

    Joe Lieberman has had enough of Barack Obama’s sleazy tactics of personal confrontation.

    An aide to the McCain-backing Senator from Connecticut tells The Page: “If the Obama campaign thinks they are going to intimidate Joe Lieberman with these sleazy tactics then they are sorely mistaken.”

    Newsweekand Flap had covered the apparent scolding of Senator Lieberman by Democrat Presidential nominee Obama.

    McCain has enlisted high-profile help of his own to help win Jewish votes: Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a self-described “independent Democrat” who has criticized Obama’s leadership qualities, has agreed to head up a booster group called Citizens for McCain. In a brief but animated Senate floor confrontation last week, according to a campaign aide who asked for anonymity when talking about private discussions, Obama told Lieberman he was surprised by Lieberman’s personal attacks and his half-hearted denials of the false rumors that Obama is a Muslim. (The aide says Lieberman was “strangely muted” during the exchange; a Lieberman spokesman says the chat was “private and friendly.”)

    As Flap said: Lieberman should tell Obama, Reid, Durbin and the rest of those clowns in the Senate to “go to hell.” Joe was elected as an Independent after the Democrat LEFT pushed Ned Lamont to a win in the Connecticut Democrat primary.

    Harry Reid continues to be Lieberman’s BITCH for now but with the Democrats on track to add more Senate seats this November, Joe might as well leave NOW rather than be pushed out later.

    It was wrong for Barack Obama to throw his weight at Joe Lieberman and try to physically intimidate him.

    Now, it is going to come back and bite Obama in the ass.

    Stay tuned……

    Previous:

    Will Joe Lieberman Caucus with the GOP?


  • Barack Obama,  Harry Reid,  Joe Lieberman

    Will Joe Lieberman Caucus with the GOP?

    Barack Obama has some stern words for Joe Lieberman, leading him off the Senate floor

    After publicly being taken to the woodshed by presumptive Democrat Presidential nominee Barack Obama on the floor of the U.S. Senate yesterday, it is NOW reported that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also had words with Joe Lieberman, the Independent, former Democrat Senator from Connecticut.

    In addition to the talking-to that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, gave Sen. Joe Lieberman, Ind-Conn., yesterday for his role as a supporter of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the Senate Majority leader chatted last night with the Connecticut senator, who caucuses with the Democrats but has endorsed McCain.

    Reid told reporters today, per ABC News’ Z. Byron Wolf, that “I’ve had conversations with Lieberman at some length. I’m not going to discuss the conversations here. But I think the discussions he had with Obama yesterday and the discussions he had with me yesterday were fruitful. We’ll let the future decide what it’s going to be, but I’m not about to threaten anybody.”

    Lieberman should tell Obama, Reid, Durbin and the rest of those clowns in the Senate to “go to hell.” Joe was elected as an Independent after the Democrat LEFT pushed Ned Lamont to a win in the Connecticut Democrat primary.

    Harry Reid continues to be Lieberman’s BITCH for now but with the Democrats on track to add more Senate seats this November, Joe might as well leave NOW rather than be pushed out later.

    Watch Joe Lieberman switch caucus sides in the immediate future.


  • Barack Obama,  Chuck Hagel,  Joe Lieberman,  John McCain,  President 2008

    Joe Lieberman Watch: Excoriating Obama on Foreign Policy

    Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman

    In today’s Wall Street Journal, Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticutt excoriates Senator and presumptive Democrat Presidential candidate Barack Obama and the Democrat Party over their evolution of foreign policy.

    Today, less than a decade later, the parties have completely switched positions. The reversal began, like so much else in our time, on September 11, 2001. The attack on America by Islamist terrorists shook President Bush from the foreign policy course he was on. He saw September 11 for what it was: a direct ideological and military attack on us and our way of life. If the Democratic Party had stayed where it was in 2000, America could have confronted the terrorists with unity and strength in the years after 9/11.

    Instead a debate soon began within the Democratic Party about how to respond to Mr. Bush. I felt strongly that Democrats should embrace the basic framework the president had advanced for the war on terror as our own, because it was our own. But that was not the choice most Democratic leaders made. When total victory did not come quickly in Iraq, the old voices of partisanship and peace at any price saw an opportunity to reassert themselves. By considering centrism to be collaboration with the enemy – not bin Laden, but Mr. Bush – activists have successfully pulled the Democratic Party further to the left than it has been at any point in the last 20 years.

    Far too many Democratic leaders have kowtowed to these opinions rather than challenging them. That unfortunately includes Barack Obama, who, contrary to his rhetorical invocations of bipartisan change, has not been willing to stand up to his party’s left wing on a single significant national security or international economic issue in this campaign.

    In this, Sen. Obama stands in stark contrast to John McCain, who has shown the political courage throughout his career to do what he thinks is right – regardless of its popularity in his party or outside it.

    John also understands something else that too many Democrats seem to have become confused about lately – the difference between America’s friends and America’s enemies.

    In response, the Left trots out RINO and lame duck GOP Senator Chuck Hagel to make quips about McCain.

    Weak sauce indeed compared to Lieberman’s hard hitting piece.