No Moral Giant

Minoo Southgate - The NY Jewish Week - March 24, 2000

Excerpted from the August 8, 2000 ustice4JP Media Release:
Senator Joseph Lieberman for VP?

A recent letter published in the New York Jewish Week (03/24/00) takes an astute look at the would-be vice president:

There The Jewish Week goes again, glorifying Senator Joe Lieberman as the Jewish moral voice of the Senate, a politician with a "reputation for sobriety and rectitude - qualities in short supply in Washington ("Lieberman for Veep?", March 17)." More than once the paper has expressed such adulation, because shortly after the Clinton sex scandal Senator Lieberman broke ranks with fellow Democrats. And harshly criticized the President's unethical conduct. By taking a moral stand, The Jewish Week believes the senator made all Jews proud. What must have skipped the paper's attention is that shortly after his harsh words, Senator Lieberman backpedaled and moderated his criticism, sacrificing ethical principle to party politics. And at the impeachment trial, he acquitted Clinton rather than put his vote where his mouth had been. Moral cowardice and hypocrisy, not rectitude, account for such chasm between word and vote.

Caveat emptor.