Turncoat – Anti-Flag
So what to do with Joe Lieberman? There are plenty of good arguments for stripping him of his role as chair of the Homeland Security Committee. Those deal with establishing a deterrent effect for future possible defectors, and to demonstrate that party unity is important (by rewarding those who held the firm line by moving them up the ranks). I find them persuasive, and I hope that they carry the day.
Note that (despite what many media outlets insist on saying) this would not amount to kicking him out of the Democratic Caucus. It would simply remove him from that position – he would probably be free to retain his place in other committees. Should that be unacceptable, well…don’t let the door hit you on your way out, Joe.
However, all that said, there is one terrible reason that the netroots crowd keep latching onto. That is that Lieberman will have subpeona power if he stays as the chair. As I mentioned a few days go, there is absolutely nothing wrong with someone in Congress being interested in oversight over the Administration.
Remember how we moaned (justifiably) for years that Bush was operating without any Congressional check? Given that, how could we complain with a straight face that one person in Congress might be interested in keeping an eye on the internal workings of the Obama administration?
I don’t even think Lieberman would actually provide it (he likes to bluster far more than he cares about being a cog in the Democratic machine), but the mere possibility that he could is not a legitimate reason to chuck him out.