Liberals have rarely been as furious as they are at Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut independent who has threatened to withdraw his pivotal vote for health-care reform over a Medicare policy point he's previously supported. "If you think you are sick of Joe Lieberman now," says Jim Shea, a columnist in The Hartford Courant, "just wait until you get sick." Liberal bloggers have attacked Lieberman as "a joke" and a mass-murderer, not to mention, "petty, sanctimonious, childish, vindictive, thin-skinned, and monstrously self-impressed." Even so, it appears Democrats will drop the disputed part of the bill to appease him. With every possible vote needed to pass a bill, though, are liberals' "venomous" attacks short-sighted? (Watch Joe Lieberman's Medicare flip-flop)
Lieberman is behaving like a "sociopath": This is turning into "a hostage standoff," says Steve Benen in Washington Monthly, "with Joe Lieberman playing the role of the proverbial gunman who isn't bluffing." If Democrats don't pay his ransom, he'll pull the trigger — and in this case, if he kills health care reform, thousands of uninsured Americans will die. How is that not "sociopathic indifference"?
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Will Starmer's Brexit reset work?Today's Big Question PM will have to tread a fine line to keep Leavers on side as leaks suggest EU's 'tough red lines' in trade talks next year
-
How domestic abusers are exploiting technologyThe Explainer Apps intended for child safety are being used to secretly spy on partners
-
Scientists finally know when humans and Neanderthals mixed DNAUnder the radar The two began interbreeding about 47,000 years ago, according to researchers
