U.S. Senators Call For Release Of Photo Of Dead Osama Bin Laden

I think the photo of a slain Osama bin Laden needs to be presented to the world.  For me, I trust the words of President Obama, and need not see it to know what happened.  I also think there is some justification not to post the photo so as not to roil fanatics around the world.  But given the sceptical nature of so many people there would be no end to the conspiracy theories that would hound us for years absent a photo.  In addition regardless of the photo being presented to the media the fanatics will still try and seek revenge.

U.S. Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins said Monday photos of Osama bin Laden’s body should be released to resolve any doubts about his death.

Lieberman, Ind-Conn., and Collins, R-Maine, said they would defer to President Barack Obama’s judgment on whether to release the photos, but said they would prefer the photos or some other evidence be released, Politico reported.

Both are senior members of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

Politico reported Lieberman said, “Unless there’s an acknowledgment by people in al-Qaida that bin Laden is dead, then it may be necessary to release the pictures — as gruesome as they inevitably will be because he’s been shot in the head — to quell any doubts that this somehow is a ruse that the American government has carried out. So my own instinct is it’s necessary to release those pictures, but I will respect whatever decision the president makes.”Lieberman and Collins said they personally have no doubts bin Laden was killed Sunday.

Sen. Joe Lieberman For Defense Secretary?

Defense Secretary?  Of America or Israel?

His age will surely preclude him from the job he’s always wanted most: Supreme Court justice. But Lieberman would love nothing more now than to become secretary of Defense, either in Obama’s second term or in the administration of whatever Republican might be elected instead in 2012. As a fallback, he’d happily accept an offer from a president of either party to be director of national intelligence or to claim a high-profile ambassadorial posting. His only challenge is whether he could win Senate confirmation to any of these jobs, given his record of confounding and infuriating colleagues of both parties during his passage from Democratic vice presidential candidate in 2000 through independent Senate winner in 2006 to McCain enthusiast in 2008.

Senator Joe Lieberman Not To Seek Another Term, Very Unpopular With Voters

Good.   Let him go back to private life and ponder his past.

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman — deeply unpopular with voters in his home state — is unlikely to seek reelection, a knowledgeable source tells POLITICO ahead of the senator’s announcement on Wednesday.

Lieberman remains a registered Democrat and continues to caucus with Democrats in the Senate.

The Democrats’ 2000 vice presidential nominee on the ticket with Al Gore, Lieberman today is deeply unpopular with Democrats in Connecticut as well as nationally.

They feel betrayed by his strong support of the Iraq war, his opposition to the public option in health-care reform, and his endorsement of GOP nominee John McCain in 2008.

What Is Behind Joe Lieberman And His Strong Support For Repealing DADT?

This is one of the those interesting inside the beltway stories that could very well impact the U.S. military and allow for civil rights for some gay Americans. Don’t Ask Don’t Tel’ needs to be flushed, and anyway that is done is fine by me.  Even if it takes Joe Lieberman to make it possible.

When last we checked in on him, Joe Lieberman was facing an essentially hopeless predicament as his 2012 reelection year approached: Winning the Democratic nomination would be out of the question (too many burned bridges), running as a Republican would be a dead end (unlike in 2006, the party will field a real candidate in ’12), and another independent bid would be futile (Lieberman is broadly unpopular with Connecticut voters). The most logical scenario had him eventually realizing all of this and, at 70 years old, opting to hang it up in ’12.

With this in mind, it’s worth asking: Are his fierce efforts to win repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” designed to alter this bleak reality?

Again, it’s possible he really is acting purely out of principle. But it’s hard to ignore the possibility that a political calculation is at work here: using a high-profile issue that matters deeply to the Democratic Party base to reestablish some goodwill with 2012 primary voters. And it’s especially hard to ignore this possibility in light of a new report from Politico that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is “quietly urging” Lieberman to run as a Democrat in 2012.

Political Future Of DADT In Lame Duck Session

From Roll Call

Joe Lieberman says he and Susan Collins are sure they have at least 60 votes for a stand-alone repeal measure and Reid is willing to push it, but only after the tax and appropriations bills are through the Senate — because otherwise such legislation would run into the “first things first” Republican filibuster wall. If the debates over taxes and spending drag on too long, supporters of the repeal will try to attach language to the spending bill itself. And there are more than enough votes in the House to go along with whatever strategy is pursued in the Senate.