NYT: Lieberman's fate's up in the air at this point.
As I read it, it looks like Reid may have offered him a less prestigious committee chairmanship if he'd voluntarily step down from his Homeland Security chair. (I'd read this earlier today, in the
Huffington Post, but waited to comment until I'd seen that part of the story corroborated by a major outlet.) I think that's a reasonable compromise -- it's more than a slap on the wrist, but still jibes with Obama's message about coming together and putting past rivalries behind us.
I see three possible outcomes:
1. Lieberman blinks, agrees to Reid's terms.
2. Reid (or the Steering and Outreach Committee) blinks, pussies out, lets Lieberman keep his chair.
3. Neither blinks; Lieberman refuses Reid's terms and is forced out of his chair, throws a tantrum and decides he's going to caucus with the Republicans.
I see #2 as the worst possible outcome. Lieberman has had this coming for a long time -- at least since the Clinton impeachment proceedings -- and at some point somebody is going to have to show him that being a backstabbing piece of shit has consequences.
In the meantime, some Connecticut Dems are pushing
censure. I don't expect that to pass, and it doesn't actually DO anything if it does, but hey, at least they're talking about it.
