I know that we're supposed to be healing and reaching across the aisle and being all post-partisan with our upcoming Obama presidency, but I, like Rachel Maddow, need to be seriously talked down with the news that President-Elect Obama has counseled Harry Reid and the Democratic Party to not kick turncoat Joe Lieberman out of the caucus in the next congress.

Steve Clemons from The Washington Note tries to explain how there are ways to at least send a message to Holy Joe by removing his chairmanships to critical committees.

UPDATE: Think Progress has a new report out today showing how Holy Joe, who once proclaimed that he was "a Democrat with a 35-year record of fighting for progressive causes" has lost his way. And BraveNewFilms has a new site and video called "Joe Lieberman Must GO"

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From Late Edition Nov. 9, 2008.

Reid: Joe Lieberman told me yesterday "We got a big job to do. I'm going to do everything I can to help Barack Obama."

King: Does he owe him an apology?

Reid: Well I don't know, you know this is not a high school deal where you say okay you embarrassed me in front of my girlfriend therefore you apologize.

King: But you made peace with Sen. McCain. Should they do something like that?

Reid: Maybe they already have. I think a lot of this is very private stuff but Joe Lieberman has done something that I think was improper, wrong and I'd like that we weren't on television I'd use a stronger word of describing what he did. But, ah...Joe Lieberman votes with me a lot more than a lot of my senators. He didn't support us on military stuff and he didn't support us on Iraq stuff. But you look at his record, he's good. He comes from one of the most liberal states in the country. He is, Joe Lieberman is not some right wing nut case. Joe Lieberman is one of the most progressive people ever to come from the state of CT.

Considering how often Democrats have caved to Holy Joe's Machiavellian games in the past, these kinds of words aren't exactly heartening.

The blogosphere was abuzz today with the news that Joe Lieberman (I-CT) was about to be stripped of his senate committee chairmanship. Sam Stein at the Huffington Post wrote:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will meet with Joe Lieberman on Thursday to discuss how the disaffected, controversial Connecticut Democrat-Independent fits into the future of the party.

A source with knowledge of the situation says that Reid will likely tell Lieberman that he is being stripped of his committee chairs -- a retributive move for the former vice presidential nominee's anti-Obama, anti-Democrat advocacy on behalf of John McCain.

Nothing determinate has so far been mentioned but speculation remains that Lieberman's days are numbered. Harry Reid issued this statement later:

"Today Senator Lieberman and I had the first of what I expect to be several conversations. No decisions have been made. While I understand that Senator Lieberman has voted with Democrats a majority of the time, his comments and actions have raised serious concerns among many in our caucus. I expect there to be additional discussions in the days to come, and Senator Lieberman and I will speak to our caucus in two weeks to discuss further steps."

A chastened Lieberman then made the statement in the video above in a press conference. A man living on borrowed time.

Unless McCain's buyin'. Roll Call reports "Lieberman Unwelcome at [Democratic] Party Lunches."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) have agreed that Lieberman will no longer attend Democrats’ weekly caucus lunches or the biweekly chairmen’s lunches used to formulate policy, senior Democratic aides said Tuesday.

Kicking Lieberman out of the party altogether is a very good reason to vote for Democratic Senate candidates this November.

(h/t FDL for the video) Anita Dunn gave us an indication something was finally brewing. It's on CNS, but the word I have so far is it's true.

Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-independent and a close friend of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, still caucuses with Democrats, which allows them to control the Senate with a 51-49 majority . A spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., indicated Thursday that Lieberman may no longer be welcome.

"Lieberman went too far when he distorted Sen. Obama's record," said Reid spokesman Jim Manley. "From Reid's perspective, (Lieberman) has every right to give a partisan speech to whomever he wants. But he doesn't have the right to distort Sen. Obama's record like that. Sen. Reid was very disappointed in Lieberman's speech."

Added Manley: "The Democratic caucus will likely revisit Lieberman's situation after the November elections."

Asked if Reid was putting Lieberman on notice, Manley replied: "Without overplaying it, the answer is, yes."

I'm not sure what that means yet, but it is a step in the right direction that took way too long to happen. He's smeared Obama endlessly. The Democratic Party should have taken much stronger action against Joe many moons ago.

    Senate Democrats:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will introduce The Advance America's Priorities Act, otherwise known as the "Coburn holds" package. The following is Senator Reid's statement on the bill as prepared for delivery:

Mr. President, today I am joining with Senators Leahy, Lieberman, Feinstein, Inouye, Kennedy, Boxer, and Biden, to introduce an important bill, with provisions in a variety of areas - from advancing medical research in critical areas, to cracking down on child exploitation, to promoting important U.S. foreign policy goals, to helping improve America's understanding about the oceans. What unites this diverse package of bills? One thing - unprecedented obstructionism.

The bills in this package include initiatives that have broad bipartisan support. Initiatives that have passed the House by 411 to 3; by 422 to 2; by 416 to 0. Many of these initiatives had such strong bipartisan support that they passed the House and Senate Committee by voice vote or even by unanimous consent.

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In April, Joe Lieberman explained that he’s open to delivering the keynote address at the Republican National Convention in September. “If Sen. McCain, who I support so strongly, asked me to do it, if he thinks it will help him, I will,” Lieberman told The Hill. (The remarks came just days after Lieberman praised Rush Limbaugh for his “love for our country and support for our troops,” adding, “Rush has a big voice but he has heart that is even bigger.”)

At the time, the Democratic Senate leadership didn’t seem prepared to do anything about Lieberman’s antics. Asked whether Lieberman’s chairmanship was at risk in the next Congress, Majority Leader Harry Reid said succinctly, “No.”

A Lieberman aide told The Hill in May, “Sen. Reid has made it clear that the chairmanship is absolutely not in jeopardy.”

If I were Lieberman, I wouldn't count on that.

This is Harry Reid's statement in FISA:

"The Senate will soon vote on a FISA bill that represents the final result of negotiations among the White House and Democrats and Republicans in Congress. I opposed the version originally passed by the Senate. And although improvements have been made in the version now before us, this legislation continues to contain provisions that will lead to immunity for the telecommunications companies who cooperated with the Bush Administration's illegal warrantless wiretapping program.

"For that reason, I will vote no.

read on...

The vote is coming today. Please continue to donate to Blue America's FISA page. We're still very active and spending your dollars wisely. And here's our full page ad in the Washington Post.

Blue America launches FISA Whip count call tool: Let them know!    

Here's a quick update. There was a vote today on the floor in favor of cloture on the FISA bill 80-15, which means there will be 30 hours of debate on FISA. A lot is happening so please post about it in the comment section. Obama has fallen on the wrong side of the debate. It doesn't look good.

"The bill has changed. So I don't think the security threats have changed, I think the security threats are similar. My view on FISA has always been that the issue of the phone companies per se is not one that overrides the security interests of the American people."

Schumer has come out against FISA. Reid is obviously juggling a few bills at once and that is coming into play. This is from a rough transcript of a statement he gave on the Senate Floor yesterday announcing his opposition to the FISA bill:

Reid: I am not going to vote for the FISA bill. There are people, Mr. President, who have worked on this FISA matter for three months or more and again the Administration worked with them. Did they, on the FISA bill, move enough to make me vote for the bill? The answer is no.

Reid is joining Dodd and Feingold on their efforts to strip out immunity from the bill.

Blue America has placed some robo calls to Steny Hoyer's house on Telecom Immunity.

On Friday we told you about ads going up in the Washington Post that hold Steny Hoyer accountable for brokering this horrible bill, paid for by these donations. Today Color of Change and Blue America have robocalls going out to Hoyer's constituents, recorded by Reverend Lennox Yearwood who is from the district.

Emptywheel brings up some good points.

As you look at Reid's comments, remember that Reid is dealing with all three of these playing pieces, not just the one we're most focused on, FISA. And to the average American, the other two pieces are way more important than the FISA piece. As well-versed as I've become in FISA, frankly, I can't imagine telling my neighbors facing foreclosure that defeating immunity is more important than them keeping their house.

I'm just making an outtamyarse guess, but I'm guessing that Reid's delay comment last night may be tailored to get action on the housing bill, by holding the two things the Administration wants--FISA and the supplemental--hostage until a hold-out Republican and Bush agree to the housing compromise...read on

LA Times:  

President Bush's contentious nominee for the Federal Election Commission removed his name from consideration Friday, potentially ending a stalemate that had paralyzed the agency.

Hans von Spakovsky, a former Justice Department official who never had Democratic support to win confirmation, withdrew his nomination, saying it was time for the protracted deadlock to end.

Bush "reluctantly accepted" Von Spakovsky's request, the White House said.

Democrats have objected to Von Spakovsky's tenure at Justice, where he oversaw voting rights matters. The standoff has held up other Senate confirmations to the six-member FEC, which is without a quorum and has been unable to conduct business.

Don't look now, but it appears the Democratic party is acting like a true opposition party...  Harry Reid: 

"I welcome the President's decision to withdraw the controversial nomination of Mr. von Spakovsky.  It is an action I have repeatedly urged the President to take for more than six months.  Democrats stood united in their opposition to von Spakovsky because of his long and well-documented history of working to suppress the rights of minorities and the elderly to vote.  He was not qualified to hold any position of trust in our government.

"His withdrawal today is a victory for our electoral process.  With Mr. von Spakovsky now removed, I anticipate that we will be able to swiftly put a functioning FEC in place.  That too is what the American people deserve."

About a month ago, Joe Lieberman explained that he’s open to delivering the keynote address at the Republican National Convention in September. “If Sen. McCain, who I support so strongly, asked me to do it, if he thinks it will help him, I will,” Lieberman told The Hill.

At the time, the Democratic Senate leadership didn’t seem prepared to do anything about Lieberman’s antics. Asked whether Lieberman’s chairmanship was at risk in the next Congress, Majority Leader Harry Reid said succinctly, “No.” Majority Whip Dick Durbin added, “We have one difference of opinion, maybe two with Sen. Lieberman. As a whip, I can tell you time and again, he’s been there when we’ve needed him.”

Democratic discontent, however, seems to be on the rise.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) could be stripped of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee after the next election, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said.

Speaking to MSNBC host Keith Olbermann on Friday, Reid suggested the former Democrat, who lost to a left-wing primary challenger in 2006 and has now endorsed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for the presidency, is not guaranteed to keep his prestigious chairmanship.

Olbermann asked Reid if there was “anything that he could do that would make you move to take his leadership position away on Homeland Security.” The majority leader responded: “Yes, of course,” but did not elaborate.

Earlier on Friday, Reid added, “I think it’s wrong what he’s done [campaigning for McCain], and I told him that.”

A Lieberman aide told The Hill, “Sen. Reid has made it clear that the chairmanship is absolutely not in jeopardy.” A month ago, I’d say that sounded right. Now, I’m not sure.

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I like Harry Reid. I really do. That's why it kills me when he -- along with one of my other favorite Senators, Chris Dodd -- continues to defend Joe Lieberman by saying "he only disagrees with us on the war." First of all, "the war" is no small issue in and of itself. Indeed, it encompasses virtually every critical aspect of George Bush's presidency, from torture to the Military Commissions Act to FISA. And besides the war, Lieberman has split with his party on the oh-so-minor issue of supporting its nominee for President.

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"Lieberman, who supports us on virtually everything except the war, [actually gives the GOP a 50-49 majority]"

With a razor-thin majority, it makes sense politically to try and keep him happy. But do we really need to kid ourselves and pretend like Traitor Joe hasn't abandoned the party of every single important issue of the day? Hopefully Reid, Dodd and everyone else is just playing nice until we pad our majorities a little more. Then we can finally strip Senator Joe Lieberman (I) of his committee assignments and make his transformation into a full-blown neoconservative complete.

Let's not also forget that Lieberman has shown an eager willingness to assume the role of Zell Miller, 2008 edition. No doubt he will use that precious opportunity (most likely on prime time television) to repeatedly bash the party Harry Reid and others still believe he belongs to.

Glenn has a comprehensive rundown. You can also check below the fold for a few more one our readers sent us.

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Review Journal:

Question: Do you still think the Democratic race can be resolved before the convention?

Reid: Easy.

Q: How is that?

Reid: It will be done.

Q: It just will?

Reid: Yep.

Q: Magically?

Reid: No, it will be done. I had a conversation with Governor Dean (DNC Chairman Howard Dean) today. Things are being done.

Regardless of who you support, this is a promising development. The longer we allow John McCain to run unopposed -- while at the same time bashing each other over the head with petty insults and attacks -- the worse our chances are in the fall. I sincerely hope the Democratic leadership realizes this.

Make it happen, Harry.

Harry Reid took a tougher stance then we've seen on the FISA battle on the hill today during the State of the Union preview speech at the National Press Club. He called out President Bush over his trying to force the bill to pass and pushing immunity for the telecoms. Reid wants there to be a debate on all the amendments. He's still playing it close to the vest on immunity, but probably playing it smart at this point. It still comes down to Monday.

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Reid: The president has to make a decision. He's either going to extend the law, or he will…which is temporary in nature, or there will be no wiretapping. We have worked very hard to try to come up with a way to proceed on this but it's up to the President. The amendments that were offered in the Senate … they would have passed. The majority of the senate favored these amendments.

They refused to allow us to vote on what we call "Title 1' which is a procedural aspect of this, and then they never even dreamed of our going to the second part, which is the retroactive immunity. Which is…there is real controversy over that and there should be a vote in the United States senate as to whether or not there should be retroactive immunity. They won't give us one.

So again, it's up to the president. He can either continue the present law for an extended period of time, we would agree to two weeks, we would agree to a month, and we would agree to a longer period of time than that.

But it is up to the president. Does he want the law? It's up to him.

If it fails, he can give all the speeches he wants, including the State of the Union, about how we've stopped things, if he does that, it's disingenuous, and it's not true.

You can go to "giveemhellharry," and sign the petition: "If you care about your civil liberties and our national security, it is vital you tell your Senators to vote no on cloture Monday." (h/t MStoller)

Glenn Greenwald:

Harry Reid -- who has (a) done more than any other individual to ensure that Bush's demands for telecom immunity and warrantless eavesdropping powers will be met in full and (b) allowed the Republicans all year to block virtually every bill without having to bother to actually filibuster -- went to the Senate floor yesterday and, with the scripted assistance of Mitch McConnell and Pat Leahy, warned Chris Dodd, Russ Feingold and others that they would be selfishly wreaking havoc on the schedules of their fellow Senators (making them work over the weekend, ruining their planned "retreat," and even preventing them from going to Davos!) if they bothered everyone with their annoying, pointless little filibuster.

To do so, Reid announced that, unlike for the multiple filibusters from Republican colleagues, he would actually force Dodd and company to engage in a real filibuster. This is what Reid said:

[I]f people think they are going to talk this to death, we are going to be in here all night. This is not something we are going to have a silent filibuster on. If someone wants to filibuster this bill, they are going to do it in the openness of the Senate.

That is what Democrats have been urging Reid to do to the filibustering Republicans all year -- in order to dramatize their obstructionism -- but he has refused to make them actually filibuster anything, generously agreeing instead that every bill requires 60 votes. Instead, he reserves such punishment only for the members of his own caucus trying to take a stand for the rule of law and the Constitution, those who are trying finally to bring some accountability to this administration.  Read on...

Unbelievable.  So much for doing the people's work.  I'll echo John last night and say this is an opportunity for the Democratic candidates to show some leadership, since Reid is obviously not going to.  Clinton, Obama, Edwards?  Where are you?  This is a no-brainer to stand up for the American people. 

As angry as I am at this news (and trust me, it's a good thing John doesn't like swearing in posts, because I've got some words for Harry that would make a sailor blush), and as much as I encourage you to contact Harry Reid, I would also ask that you take a deep breath before doing so.  Tempting as it is to hurl some choice invectives and smack down Reid (metaphorically, of course) for forgetting that he is the leader of the opposition party, I'm fairly sure nasty emails will get us absolutely nowhere.  Think about how you'd react to a ranting and raving letter.  So I ask you to make your feelings known but do it respectfully and in a manner in which you'd like to be addressed.