the rumors have been swirling that lieberman will replace rumsfeld as secretary of defense. personally, i would welcome it if it turned out to be true.
i'm not a fan of rumsfeld or lieberman and i can think of 5 reasons why swapping one for the other would be a net gain for the country:
(1) we would get rid of rummy. rumsfeld has been a disastrous secretary of defense. his public statements show an utter contempt for the concept of a free press and a stunning lack of understanding of middle eastern politics. the latter is particularly frightening considering just how influential the u.s. secretary of defense is in that part of the world these days.
my point is, i don't think we can do much worse for secretary of defense than rumsfeld. i have no idea how lieberman will handle the job, but i can't imagine he will be rummy-bad.
(2) it will get lieberman out of the senate. ever since zell miller left office, lieberman has held the title as the worst democrat in the senate in my mind. it's been a long time since i read anything he has said or done that i actually agreed with. the only disadvantage with him leaving is that then i would have to decide who is the new reigning worst senator. but i would gladly trade that minor inconvenience for someone else.
(3) it will make lieberman's senate seat more honest. currently, lieberman's seat is occupied by a person who gives speeches and votes mostly like a republican, but who calls himself a democrat. connecticut has a republican governor, so lieberman will be replaced by a republican. sure, normally i would think that's a bad thing. but practically speaking, there won't be all that much difference in the way the senator occupying that chair speaks or votes. getting a real republican in there at least makes things clearer what we are dealing with.
(4) it will make it easier to elect a real democratic senator in connecticut. incumbants are hard to beat. temporary replacement appointees are not. although lieberman might face a democratic primary challenge if he doesn't become defense secretary, a win by the challenger would be a longshot. it always is. lowell weicker (who is technically an independent) would probably kick the ass of any political newbie in a senate race.
(5) it will assure that lieberman never becomes the democratic nominee for president. this is also probably lieberman's number one reason of turning down a SoD nomination. it's a pretty long shot that lieberman will ever end up president, but he seems to want the job. it would be better if he just got on with his life instead.
