DEMOCRATS' SUPPORT FOR LIEBERMAN COMES HOME TO ROOST AS HE ENDORSES COLLINS-- THANKS BILL CLINTON AND CHUCK SCHUMER

When Bill Clinton rushed to Connecticut to try to save Lieberman's doomed bid for renomination, and then followed that up after the reactionary senator was defeated in the Democratic party by going on air with Larry King and equating the Lieberman and Lamont-- "My view is Connecticut is an unmitigated blessing for the Democrats because Lieberman has said if he wins he's going to vote with us to organize the Senate"-- low information voters in Connecticut got the signal that the race was no big deal. Now treacherous Democrats who supported or tacitly supported Lieberman-- Schumer, Reid, Obama, Clinton, Landrieu, Pryor-- have to contend with that treachery themselves. Landrieu has already felt the sting when Lieberman, as head of the committee dealing with Katrina reconstruction sided with the Bush Regime and left her almost certain to be defeated next year.

But helping the GOP defeat Landrieu isn't the only payback Lieberman has for Rove, Bush and Cheney for coming to his rescue in the general election last year. Even beyond voting with Republicans in the Senate over and over, and declaring he would likely endorse a Republican for president-- McCain, as big a warmonger as himself, being his first choice-- he has now started endorsing vulnerable Republican senators for re-election. His only consideration seems to be that they support Bush's Iraq occupation. First up: Susan Collins (R-ME).

"I'm going to support Sen. Collins' re-election," he said in an interview with CongressDaily reporters. Lieberman, who was re-elected last year as an independent but continues to caucus with Democrats, added that his leadership PAC has already made the maximum contribution of $5,000 to Collins' campaign.

"This is without regard to who the Democratic nominee would be," he said. "I would just feel that I was not being honest to myself and everything I've said about what our politics should be like now if, for partisan reasons, I didn't support somebody who I think is a great senator." ...Lieberman acknowledged his support for Collins could shape the balance of power in the Senate, which Democrats control by a single vote. But he said his decision was ultimately driven by "the wonderful productive working relationship" the two have and the fact that she campaigned for his re-election last year.

Yes, as with all things, it is always about Joe Lieberman. Maybe Schumer, Reid, Landrieu and Obama should have thought of that when they shat on Lamont. Bill Clinton certainly knew better since he had already been stabbed in the back by Lieberman before-- when Lieberman opened the way to impeachment by doing what he always does for Republicans-- making whatever the GOP is pushing appear bipartisan. Here he is saying it doesn't matter if the Senate falls under control of the GOP-- and all his pals lose their committee chairmanships and the Republicans get to wreck the nation-- he "very proud of what" he and Collins have accomplished together, presumably keeping Bush's war going in the face of public sentiment overwhelmingly to the contrary.


UPDATE: TODAY'S MOST CLUELESS PUNDITRY COMES FROM HOTLINE

I can't figure out how anyone at Hotline could have published this-- unless they have a brand new intern who just arrived from Mysore or something:

Collins "said she appreciated" Lieberman's support, calling him "a very effective legislator, a leader of integrity and a close friend." Collins "faces a likely challenge" from Rep. Tom Allen (D-01), and Lieberman's endorsement "provides Collins with some distance" from Pres. Bush and the GOP.

"Distance from Bush?" There probably isn't a senator closer to Bush, especially on the most important issue to voters, than Lieberman. If anything, Lieberman's endorsement ties Collins inexorably to the Bush-Cheney-McCain-Lieberman-Enless-War Agenda.

CongressDaily makes far more sense: "Maine Democrats say the endorsement of Republican Sen. Susan Collins by Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman underscores a central argument in their challenge of the two-term senator next year: the war in Iraq. A political adviser for Democratic Rep. Tom Allen-- an unannounced but likely candidate against Collins -- said Lieberman's support for the war and Collins' support for the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., tie her to the Bush administration's politically unpopular war policy. 'I think the Lieberman endorsement is significant. For us, it's a gift,' the Allen adviser said. 'It paints a picture of Susan Collins with people like Lieberman and McCain, who support the war.'"