Joe Lieberman Tag Teams With Chris Wallace To Blast Obama Over Syria

Former Democratic (turned independent) Senator Joseph Lieberman appeared on Fox News Sunday today as part of the panel discussion segment. It’s one thing to disagree with President Obama’s actions and inactions over Syria. It’s another thing for a former Democratic vice presidential candidate and U.S. senator who caucused with the Democrats (even if he did flirt with running as a Republican) to get in bed with Fox News’ inflammatory, anti-Obama rhetoric.

Throughout the show, host Chris Wallace attacked President Obama for announcing that he plans to seek Congressional approval before attacking Syria, with such “questions” as, “Haven’t you handed Syria and Iran at least a temporary victory?” to Secretary of State John Kerry and, to military analyst Retired General Jack Keane, “What message is the president sending to our friends and our enemies in the region with all this talk you just heard …(about) the restrictions on what we’re going to do in Syria and then putting the whole process on pause for more than a week to wait for congressional approval?”

So when Wallace turned to Lieberman, it’s almost impossible to believe he didn’t know where Wallace was trying to lead him. Wallace asked, “Senator Lieberman, I looked it up, you were a senator for 24 years. Have you ever seen anything like this where a president seems about to take us, if not to war, to a serious military action, and then says, wait a minute, I’m going to wait ten days for Congress to come back from vacation?”

Lieberman bit: “I was looking back myself, Chris, over the 24 years—never saw anything like it.”

Later, Wallace “asked,” “How much trouble are we in in the Middle East right now? …I mean U.S. policy.”

Lieberman replied:

I’m sure that our enemies are cheering now as a result of this decision ‘cause they realize it’s not clear that the president will get authority, and our allies are worried, …our allies in the Arab world and Israel. It’s not just in the Middle East. It’s in Asia, where a lot of countries depend on American strength and credibility.

If Lieberman is angling for a job at Fox, he almost surely got off on the right foot.

Video below via Crooks and Liars, which also noted that Lieberman said he'd urge his "amigos," Republicans John McCain and Lindsey Graham, to approve the strike. Full transcript of the show here.

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commented 2013-09-02 14:18:25 -0400 · Flag

Typical. The FNC squawking bobbleheads don’t want to give anything to Obama. He can’t win with them on anything. Brought out his short-form birth certificate. It’s not the complete one. Brought out his long-form birth certificate. It’s fake. Got bin Laden? Not really. Wants to intervene in Syria without congressional approval? Not so fast. Wants to wait to get congressional approval? Our allies can’t wait that long. These idiots tie themselves up in knots backtracking, forward tracking and sideways tracking trying to find ways to criticize Obama on everything.

commented 2013-09-02 00:37:56 -0400 · Flag

Is anyone surprised that FNC — in the fact the entire right wing broadcast cesspool — will now be attacking Obama for his caution?

Any bets on how fast Slanthead will turn on a dime tomorrow and smear Obama as a coward, when just last week he was attacking the president for rushing into an “unconstitutional” attack?

Obama = shorthand for “I can’t win for nothing!”

commented 2013-09-01 22:42:15 -0400 · Flag

Ray Michaels, I agree 100%. I just wish I had seen some Dems making those points forcefully on the Sunday shows today. I didn’t see all five but I don’t get why the GOP always floods the airwaves with their orchestrated messages and the Dems are almost always lily-livered with theirs.

commented 2013-09-01 22:21:51 -0400 · Flag

Rabbi Joe has never seen a Mideast Muslim nation that he didn’t want to start a war with. He, Gramps McDepends and Ms. Lindsey are the three amigo warmongers.

commented 2013-09-01 21:41:42 -0400 · Flag

Aria, thanks, but I’m working on that already.

commented 2013-09-01 20:27:18 -0400 · Flag

Another point that has not been discussed is how this looks that our congress is not backing the President by going on the air to denounce him as a loser who has ruined US credibility aboard! They can disagree about whether to go to Syrian or not but the character slams are not helping the US image one bit! The problem is the congress never did want a vote on this to be recorded for all to see. They would rather hide in the background and hurl rocks no matter which way the President goes! Blame him not us is their idea BUT now the tables have been turned and they know the ball is now in their court as they DEMANDED it to be so let them take their vote and lets see how smart they really are!

commented 2013-09-01 20:19:13 -0400 · Flag

Am I the only man on the planet who heard the congress rating and raving for the past week that they wanted a vote in this action and that the President should not proceed WITHOUT THEIR APPORVAL? Well now that they have been given that concession they now take to the airwaves to denounce the President for not taking action on his own? Are they NUTS? McCain and Graham are beating the war drums for a BIGGER involvement ! Well Graham’s home state happens to be the home of a lot of the defense industry jobs that were going to be cut by sequester! So naturally a nice new war would insure that wont happen

commented 2013-09-01 19:38:51 -0400 · Flag

Ellen, I was writing this up before I saw you did it, but I have something you you missed, for your update consideration: Wallace’s source for his argument? A middle Eastern propaganda outlet that’s owned by the Syrian regime.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Syrian-state-run-daily-calls-Obama-move-a-retreat-4779017.php

http://www.businessinsider.com/syria-state-run-newspaper-obama-move-the-start-of-the-historic-american-retreat-2013-9

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/09/01/217846873/syria-obamas-call-for-congress-ok-on-force-a-retreat

I’m looking into this rag- Seems that all they publish is ways to further conflict for the regime, it’s allies, and profiteers they favour, so that they can further their control and make it harder to topple them without turning the area into the next Mad Max.

If Fox is quoting these people in an agreeing context, then we have a very serious problem. Especially since some of the outlets that are desperate for a ratings boost are following their example.

commented 2013-09-01 18:38:54 -0400 · Flag

Lieberman merely said what he was paid to say, right Joe?

NewsHounds posted about Joe Lieberman Tag Teams With Chris Wallace To Blast Obama Over Syria on NewsHounds' Facebook page 2013-09-01 18:24:13 -0400

Now that he didn't run as a Republican, maybe Joe Lieberman will join Fox News as a Democrat.