Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has thought for a while, and continues to believe, that Joe Lieberman is the most powerful man in the US Senate. By extension, Joe one of the most powerful men in the whole country. (By further extension, Joe is one of the most powerful men in the world…) It is Joe we can thank for pulling the plug on the public option in the health care bill. We can also thank him for (apparently) killing the expansion of Medicare in the bill.

So long as Joe Lieberman is that 60th vote in the Senate he will likely get his way on lots of items.

Joe is what your Maximum Leader would call a moderate Democrat. In this case moderate modifies Democrat to mean “not completely loopy.” Certainly in foreign affairs your Maximum Leader and Joe Lieberman are often on the same side of issues. And while Joe and your Maximum Leader don’t as frequently see eye to eye on many “domestic” issues; your Maximum Leader finds that the can side with Joe with enough regularity to make it noteworthy.

Of course, this power that Joe has now comes at a price. His sometimes Democratic collegues will hate him for his current stance. Harry Reid and others are waiting for the time they can stab Joe in the back and put him in his place. Your Maximum Leader is sure that Joe knows that they are gunning for him; but he’s played the game a while and will not likely be taken unawares.

Way to go Joe… Now if only you could get some tort reform in the bill… That would be sweet.

Carry on.