Late last week, as noted in the post immediately below this one, Nancy Pelosi was telling us “[positions on Iraq are] matter[s] of individual conscience… differing positions within the caucus are a source of strength for the party.”
The Democrats apparently didn’t get the memo, because Fox News today reports that a purge is being contemplated:
“It’s at the point where he’s [Joe Lieberman] no longer interested in his own party’s opinion, he’s really out of touch with reality,” said Mitchell Fuchs, chairman of the Fairfield Democratic Town Committee in Connecticut. “For me, he’s crossed the line a number of times.”
Passions flared after Lieberman’s recent trip to Iraq. Upon his return, the three-term senator pointed to what he views as progress on the ground there and suggested that Democrats should avoid harsh criticisms of President Bush’s Iraq policy.
Look out, Joe, for speaking your conscience you’re an enemy of the people. Remember what Stalin had done to Trotsky. And look out Mitchell Fuchs; reality is what Nancy Pelosi says it is.
Apparently, conscience and free choice are not a “strength of the party” if you disagree with the position the party claims not to have.
Governor Weicker appears inclined to compete in the primary against Joe Lieberman. Seeing Howard Dean’s brother behind one of the most vituperative websites does little to encourage even listening to the criticisms of the Senator and Irag. Browsing the comments of the local and state Democrat leadership suggests a rabidness of political intolerance that does raise one point to which it’s easy to agree: Joe Lieberman MIGHT be better off switching parties, or at least leaving his “home base”. Doing homework and then speaking one’s conclusions (as has the Senator) should not require courage with one’s own ranks, but clearly does. And it is little wonder courage is in such short supply. Senator Lieberman, the late Robert Casey, called and said he feels your pain.Democrats, you wonder why it’s virtually impossible to trust you in the main?JPM