The whole truth...

...about Holy Joe.

While bashing the sometimes lamentable Mr. Lieberman is still a popular sport hither and yon about the lefty blogosphere, No More Mister Nice Blog gets it right...

...yeah, he's a sanctimonious SOB, but sometimes he's a sanctimonious SOB who's on our side. Losing his seat to a Republican would absolutely be a setback. (Remember: Even the GOP moderates vote in lockstep on, say, judicial nominees.)

Which is why it's a good thing that he's turned down Bushco overtures to take the Homeland Security post in the Cabinet.

As NMMNB points out,

In 2002, Lieberman filibustered ANWR drilling; in 2003, the pro-Bush Center for Individual Freedom condemned Lieberman, listing sixteen votes that would have ended filibusters of Bush judicial nominees and noting that Lieberman never once voted to bring those filibusters to an end. And Lieberman got a 0 rating in 2003 from the American Conservative Union because, among other things, he opposed repeal of the estate tax, affirmed Roe v. Wade, and voted against development of battlefield nuclear weapons.

And does anyone think that Republican Governor Rell would find an appointee who would score 100% ratings from Planned Parenthood, NARAL, the NEA, the Leadership Council on Civil Rights and the Human Rights Campaign. Or even Joe's 92% from the AFL-CIO or 88% from the League of Conservation Voters?

My biggest gripe with Joe Lieberman is having to come to the political defense of someone I find so personally unappealing, but in the end, he is one of ours. If he's going to go, it should be because Connecticutt Democrats make a better choice, not via a Bushco raid on the Democratic Senate caucus.

Note: Julia reminds me that she, too, saw the No More Mr. Nice Blog post, and gave him props for prompting a second look at her first assessment of a Lieberman cabinet appointment.

Like I said, NMMNB gets it right, and Julia, who gets most everything right with a remarkable frequency, spotted it and copped to it first.

On the other hand, Joe does persist in making himself an easy target...