The American Spectator

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(Page 8 of 20)

Oh, Mr. Freire, you might be a Connecticut native, but you've obviously haven't been back to the ol' homestead recently. Your article contains some elementary basic mistakes. In the first instance, Lieberman is not from Stamford, he's from New Haven. The former governor of Connecticut is John Rowland, not Jim Rowland. I'm afraid you've been in D.C. way too long.

Additionally, your analysis of Lieberman's plight starts off woefully shoddy, primarily because you begin your analysis quoting an equally clueless pundit, Ron Brownstein of the Los Angeles Times. Brownstein has absolutely no understanding of what is propelling an unknown leftist kook to perhaps an astonishing victory in August against this once invincible three-termer. Contrary to Brownstein's assertions, Lieberman, has never sought to provoke his base. He has always been the consummate protean, calculating politician, ever since those days in the late '70s, when he decided that being Attorney General of the state would propel him to greater heights. It failed then, but only temporally. Fortunately, you begin to draw away from Brownstein's analysis and ask some redeeming questions about what is actually happening here. The hard left is indeed in full anti-Lieberman mode; they are rabid and angry against anything that smacks of support for the war in Iraq and any policy proffered by the Bush Administration. Talk to them, which I have, and you walk away wondering how MoveOn has managed to take control of these seemingly intelligent people. Their anger is palpable, driven by mostly irrational dogmas. You can see it like heat off the pavement on a hot summer's day. You are right about Lieberman's religiosity on pro-choice issues, but it fails him now with the base, due to the uncomfortable fact that many within his base are both anti- Israel and anti-Western Civilization. They parrot the MoveOn pro-Palestinian, Hamas mantra. Lieberman, for all his faults, has always been faithful to Israel both because of his deeply held religious views and his appreciation of this modern (western) democracy surrounded by 11th century fanatics.

p>I have no sympathy for Lieberman; in many ways he is a victim of the adage that you reap what you sow. Lieberman has for years stoked the fires of the hard left in Connecticut when it suited his purpose. A confluence of events, that he could not have imagined, has now propelled an unknown hack to the very edge of victory. Lieberman knows, but will never acknowledge, that he and others in his party, have spawned an irrational force that cannot now be controlled. br> -- A. DiPentima /p> p> J. Peter Freire replies: br> Mr. DiPentima will forgive me the error of going from Jim to John (the difference between myself and my brother, as luck would have it), I hope, as I'm forgiving Mr. DiPentima the error of forgetting where Joe was born. On his website, it says: /p>

"Lieberman was born in Stamford, Connecticut on February 24, 1942, and attended public schools there. He received his bachelor's degree from Yale College in 1964 and his law degree from Yale Law School in 1967."

My impression was always that he spent a lot of time in Stamford growing up, though I'm aware he lives in New Haven currently. I forgive him the relocation only because the architecture is better.

That said, any politician knows when to stoke the fires for his own advantage, and Lieberman's no different. I don't exactly agree with Brownstein's assessment, so I'm confused why you nitpick there. What I'm pointing out is that the national pundits don't seem to understand Connecticut politics, which is generally difficult to understand. Joe is a Democrat, pure and simple -- some lefties are just mad because he's not a socialist.

p> HEALTH QUESTIONS

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