[GlarlraTpople]

I understand how government works.

1. There are two Independent Senators that now caucus with the Democratic Party, The other is Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

2. Some of the seats that were picked up this cycle, and several incumbent Democratic senators can be described as moderate-conservatives. If you're not getting bi-partisan support on a particular bill, don't assume your going to get unanimous support from Democratic members.

3. My desire to see Lieberman stripped of his Homeland Security Committee chairmanship has nothing to do with party loyalty. His support and campaigning for McCain was accepted by most in Congress; he was only asked not to speak at the RNC convention. He not only did so, but with relish, ripping at Obama. I guess at the time it looked like Sarah was going to get him a cabinet post. Now he's heaping praise on Obama. No character.

I generally support Israel, but Lieberman's fixation is an embarrassment.

He isn't worth the senate vote.

4. John McCain is still a Republican Senator. What are the chances that he's going to toe the Republican line? The same can be said for other Republican senators, especially those in states showing a demographic shift.

You make some good points on the Chairmanship... but I still disagree on kicking him out of the Democratic caucas. He voted with the party 86% of the time. That makes him better than a lot of other members of the party.

Thumbing his nose at the leadership and his obsession with Israel is a good reason for easing him out of the chairmanship. I expect that in the end, they'll just end up removing his chairmanship - perhaps with a face saving, ultimately unimportant, subcommittee chairmanship thrown in as a replacement.

In any case, we'll find out in the next few weeks (or sooner) what his fate in the 111th congress will be.
It seems to me that you're dwelling on it, assuming the partisan divisiveness of the Bush era will continue in the next Congress. This is the 3 president in a row I've heard talk about bi-partisan rule, decisions from the center, etc. Bush has a good bi-partisan record in Texas... we all see how far that went in Washington. I'll believe it when I see it.