Reid should dump his skanky ass now, and work the numbers with the expectation that Lieberman is no longer a member of his side of the aisle. It seems pretty unlikely the Dems are going to pick up enough seats from the remaining undeclared races to reach the magic 60 anyway (which I believe already includes Lieberman and Jeffords), so it seems Reid would be in a better position to manage the vote count by cutting his losses now, rather than later (and with the understanding that there are going to be some issues that Lieberman will vote with the Dems on regardless - unless he just wants to spite them in response), and then let the voters in Connecticut settle the matter in 2012.

Blacks are not a good analogy. There, you are talking about an entire demographic of people, not one individual. Sociology, not psychology.

Sorry, Joe, this just isn't working out between us. Elections have consequences, and you backed the loosing team. Goodbye. Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out. Go on now. Get lost, before things get really ugly.

The Obama cabinet is not bi-partisan, but made up of every crook and crony from the Clinton administration.

Fuck you, Bailo. Lieberman is not an independent. And neither are you.

Just so you know: The Dems now have 57 Senate seats, 3 short of a filibuster-proof super-majority. There are 2 "Independents" and the rest [all 41 of 'em] are Republicans.

So the Dems are pretty secure and all they need to do is convince 3 of the other guys [Independents or Republicans] to 'cross the aisle' and vote their way for a super-majority.

Personally I'm glad the Dems do not have a super-majority at this point. Now they are required to find a bi-partisan middle way instead of doing anything they want [both parties get cocky when they have a super-majority]. I'm tired of all the red-state/ blue-state partisanship [read hate] of the past 8 years. It's time these idiots worked together to improve the country.

Thanks for the clarification. For some reason, I've always thought of the Indies as already being part of the "Democratic side of the aisle" since they tend to caucus that way most of the time.

And I certainly understand your point re: bipartisanship, and I think you are correct in that there ARE a handful of moderates on the GOP side who will occasionally step across the aisle, but aside from that, I fully expect the GOP to be an obstructionist party in Congress for the next two years, if only so they can point fingers come election time and say, "see, those do-nothing Democrats REFUSED to include us (whether this is factually the case or not - facts not being something the GOP seems particularly keen on in the first place) in the process!"

And @7:

Obviously, you have some serious "insider information", considering Obama hasn't even announced a SINGLE CABINET APPOINTMENT as of today. Perhaps you'd like to give the rest of us the benefit of your exclusive knowledge and tell us exactly which "crooks and cronies of the Clinton Administration" will be offered these positions?

Waiting...waiting...

He fucking ran in a Democratic primary. He lost. So instead of accepting the result, and playing by the rules, he suddenly becomes a non Democrat and runs in the general. So he gets in. Then he says "I will call myself a Democrat even though I just fucked you all by running in your primary but not accepting the result." And the D's in Congress let him!! They gave him a committee chair!! And now the "punishment" is he gets a lesser committee??

This is totally psychotic pathetic groveling enabling abused-person-who-can't-stand-up-for-themselves-behavior.

DUmp him from committee, dump him from the party, force him to be the turncoat he is, make him go over to the GOP, symbolically execute him and strip his insignia, courtmartial him, expel him, and when he's over on the GOP side guess what--no one will respect him because he is a turncoat.

And the longer they let him keep that D by his name the greater the chance he will run against and be perceived as "I" and be perceived as "okay." but making him an "R" in CT means he would lose.

Fucking dump him and tar and feather him and expel him and denounce and rejecthim as a turncoat. Make a verb out of his name.

What a bunch of wusses. If they don't.

Capisce?

Guess what--people who know him personally say he's an asshole too.

55 actual Democrats
Lieberman
Jeffords
40 actual Republicans
3 undecided races

So, the Dems have 56 solid votes (I'm including Jeffords there). Plus, Collins/Snowe of Maine are Independent-leaning Republicans who would probably side with the Dems on certain issues.

Depending on what happens with the undecided races, we may or may not need Lieberman, but at this point I'm inclined to agree with Dan. Lieberman being "not happy with Reid's offer" is total bullshit... fuck him.