You go, Joe!

15 Replies

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All sorts of people don’t want Joe Lieberman to be the new head of the FBI. The identities of these people — Roger Stone, partisan Democrats — and their reasons for opposing him are, for me, arguments for giving him the job immediately.

Joe’s my main man, one of my favorite Joes — and I like me some Joes. I literally talked myself hoarse over the course of three hours browbeating my editorial board into endorsing him for the Democratic nomination for president in 2004. (He got skunked in the SC primary, which I expected, but to this day I have the satisfaction of knowing we endorsed the right guy, rather than Edwards or Kerry).

I was cheering like mad when he gave his hostile party the back of his hand and ran for, and won, re-election as an UnPartisan (not overtly, but in spirit). I was sad to see him retire from office.

So I’d like to see him out there in the forefront again.

But… I say that with some trepidation. Being head of the FBI with Donald J. Trump as POTUS sounds like the perfect example of the kind of job you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.

So I’m happy to see Joe in the news again, but a little worried for him if he gets it. Some others who like him feel the same way. Also, while I’m sure Joe would do a great job at whatever he set his mind to, “FBI director” isn’t the first job I would think of in looking for a perfect fit for Joe. I’d vote for him for senator, or president, in a skinny minute — but I don’t look at him and think, “cop.”

I don’t know what’s best. But it’s good to see ol’ Joe again….

15 thoughts on “You go, Joe!”

  1. bud

    Too old
    Too fickle
    Not a cop
    Way too much of a politician
    And of course he sold out his country by endorsing a war mongering neo-con

    Aside from that he’s hunky dorey.

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    1. Juan Caruso

      Too old: Therefore, in a hurry to do what is most necessary ( cleansing the swamp )
      Too fickle: Therefore, prefers fact-based decisions — not a typical Democrat.
      Not a cop: Neither is the respected Robert Mueller (longest Director service than anyone since Hoover).
      Way too much of a politician: Therefore,
      And of course he sold out his country by endorsing a war mongering neo-con

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  2. Harry Harris

    My preference for a chief cop is an experienced cop. A politician, however viewed as a centrist on some issues, doesn’t fit the bill.

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  4. Dave

    A 75-year-old partisan politician trying for a 10 year position, with absolutely no federal law enforcement experience, with a history as an ethical poseur who folds the first chance he gets (see his resolute commitment not to become a lobbyist when he left the Senate only to become a lobbyist after he left the Senate). Combine that with the fact that he was just outraged, outraged I tell you, at Bill Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky, but has no moral qualms about working for a guy who bragged on a tape about sexually assaulting women.

    Yes, just a wonderful pick. A wonderful pick.

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  5. Richard

    I bet you’d like Joe Kennedy. He ran a campaign the old fashioned way… by buying people off.

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    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      Not at all. If you followed the link above to my list of 12 Joes that I ranked from best to worst back in 2007, you’ll see that Joe K. ends up at No. 9, toward the bad end — just ahead of McCarthy, Goebbels and Stalin:

      1. Joe Riley (gets extra points for being a South Carolinian)
      2. Joe Lieberman (whom South Carolina scorned, and who deserved better)
      3. Joe Biden (a really smart guy — just ask him; he’ll tell you. And tell you some more.)
      4. Joe Wilson (I don’t always agree with him, but I give him a boost for being quite possibly the most breathlessly enthusiastic guy in the U.S. House of Representatives. And besides, it didn’t seem fair that Democrats were running away with it, but that might be because Irish Catholics have a leg up on Joe-ness, Lieberman excepted)
      5. Joe Darby (the S.C. preacher is a reliable op-ed contributor, but our differences over the NAACP boycott bring him down to the middle of the pack)
      6. Joe Erwin (nice guy, thoughtful party leader, but he does business with some unsavory types)
      7. Joe Sixpack (the ultimate regular Joe, but a lot of really stupid stuff happens in efforts to pander to him; same problem with his cousins Joe Average and Joe Doakes)
      8. Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (spiffy wigs, but did he really tell Mozart, “too many notes — leaves some of them out?”)
      9. Joe Kennedy (another Irish-Catholic Joe, but he didn’t stick up for the good guys early in the war, and had too much in common with the bad guys)
      10. Joe McCarthy (“Tail-gunner Joe” might have been Irish, but ultimately, “Have you no sense of decency, sir?”)
      11. Joe Goebbels (history’s most foul spinmeister)
      12. Joe Stalin (Uncle Joe beats out Goebbels for worst because he didn’t just help kill millions, he was the guy in charge)
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          1. Brad Warthen Post author

            Well, we might have to leave him out on account of his being fictional, but we could include Sir Joseph Banks.

            Then there’s also Joseph in the Old Testament, he of the coat of many colors, and Joseph the carpenter in the New.

            And you left off Shoeless Joe Jackson. He and DiMaggio both should definitely have made the list…

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  6. Bob Amundson

    Senator Lieberman was an opponent to the public option (aka, single payer) during the healthcare “reform” process in 2009. IMHO, (former) Representative Mike Rogers is a better pick.

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    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      Actually, that sounds to me like a recommendation.

      I’d much rather have someone attuned to the politics of, say, 1960 or 1965 than someone at home with this mess today…

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