THERE ARE LOTS OF WAYS TO BE A REPUBLICAN & LIEBERMAN EMPLOYS MANY OF THEM, CORPORATE WHORISM BEING ONE OF HIS FAVES

You may have heard me refer to Joe Lieberman as a corporate whore from time to time. What does that mean? It mean he takes gigantic (legalized) bribes from Big Business and their lobbyists and then votes on legislation that has a direct positive impact on their bottom line, usually to the detriment of his constituents (i.e.,- just plain folks who don't hire lobbyists to represent their interests and don't give cash-obsessed politicians tens of thousands of dollars). But aren't all politicians like that, you ask? Well, most are. But some aren't. We should support the ones that aren't and drive the ones who are out of politics-- regardless of political party. The "regardless of political party" caveat is not as big a deal as it may look. Virtually every single nationally-elected Republican is a dyed-in-the-wool corporate whore. So all the caveat simply means is that as well as never, ever under any circumstances voting for a Republican, we have to be careful never to vote for a Democrat who acts like a Republican. And that brings us back to George Bush's and Ann Coulter's favorite Democrat, Joe Lieberman.

You see, it really and truly is not just about Lieberman's connivance with the Bush Regime to start the war against Iraq, to terrorize and brutalize the people and to occupy and destroy the country. Not that that isn't bad enough. But way back when pulverizing Iraq was just a shared gleam in the eyes of Lieberman, Cheney and, at some point, a learning-disabled ex-president's ne'er-do-well son, Lieberman was already a Republican in many, many ways in all but name. And one of those ways: BIG CORPORATE WHORE.

Today the brilliant Joe Conason lays it out in a way so that no one could miss the point: Sen. Lieberman Literally in Bed With Drug Lobby. And by literally, he means the hypocritical old scold is sleeping with a Big Pharma lobbyist and that money is flowing one way and legislative favors are flowing the other way.

Now Mr. Lieberman has long been known to cultivate the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, which provide jobs in his home state and contributions to his campaign fund. But he has literally been sleeping with one of their Washington representatives ever since his wife Haddasah joined Hill & Knowlton last year. The legendary lobbying and P.R. firm hired her as a "senior counselor" in its "health and pharmaceuticals practice."

This news marked Mrs. Lieberman's return to consulting after more than a decade of retirement. "I have had a life-long commitment to helping people gain better health care," she said in the press release announcing her new job. "I am excited about the opportunity to work with the talented team at Hill & Knowlton to counsel a terrific stable of clients toward that same goal."


It would be uplifting to imagine that Hill & Knowlton-after spending the past decade as a defendant in tobacco class-action lawsuits because of its role in propaganda disputing the deadly effects of smoking-is now devoted to improving everybody's health. More likely, the firm remains devoted to improving the profits of its clientele, which has historically included Enron, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, the Saudis, the Kuwaitis, American International Group and Boeing.

When a senator's wife works for one of the capital's largest lobby shops-and others have-appearances tend to matter. In this case, something happened immediately that didn't look very good.

Mrs. Lieberman signed up with Hill & Knowlton in March 2005. The firm's clients included GlaxoSmithKline, the British pharmaceutical giant that manufactures flu vaccines along with many other drugs. In April 2005, Mr. Lieberman introduced a bill that would award an array of new government "incentives" to companies like GSK to produce more vaccines-notably patent extensions on other products, at a cost of billions to governments and consumers.

Conason feels certain that Lieberman would in all likelihood be as big a corporate whore if Haddasah was working for drug lobbyists or not, and Lieberman's record in government certainly proves that point conclusively. Still, Conason's elegant prose deserves to be read and remembered-- especially be Nutmeg Staters on August 8: "No doubt Mr. Lieberman would do the bidding of the pharmaceutical lobby whether his wife was on their payroll or not, but this kind of coincidence is best avoided by a man who lectures the world about morality and ethics."

Senator Hypocrite, meanwhile, will only admit that Haddasah gets "over a $1,000" from the lobbyists whose interests he serves so diligently. (That means it could be $1,000.01 or it could be $100,000 or it could be more than that. See, and you thought only the lowest slime bag Republicans like Doolittle, Santorum and DeLay use their wives this way, right? Well... of course there is ex-Senator Tom Daschle who is harboring some kind of bizarre dream about running for president).

A little explanation of today's artwork. Did you watch THE DAILY SHOW last night. Shouldn't Stewart have used these wonderful posters created by Adam? Stewart groks the zen bond between Lieberman and the odious Santorum (who just today was defending the need for a senatorial pay raise so that lawmakers-- never mind hard-pressed constituents-- not "fall behind in purchasing power.") Neither of these execrable characters have an ounce of shame or dignity.