Free Republic

(Reuters) - The United States should "put the brakes on" new nuclear power plants until fully understanding what happened to the earthquake-crippled nuclear reactors in Japan, the chairman of the U.S. Senate's homeland security panel said on Sunday.

Two Iranian warships are headed towards the Suez Canal en route to Syria with Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman hinting the Jewish State may respond. Lieberman said in a speech: "Israel cannot forever ignore these provocations." Israel has long accused Iran and Syria of providing weapons to Islamist groups seeking its elimination.

Pundits have lamented the disappear ance of Republican moderates for years. It's time now to lament the disappearance of moderate Democrats. Last month, Sen. Joseph Lieberman announced he wouldn't seek re-election. He lost the Democratic primary in Connecticut in 2006 because of his support of the Iraq war, but won in November as an independent. The irony was that the 2000 Democratic nominee for vice president was re-elected largely by Republicans who spurned their party's little-known nominee. But Republicans seem likely to field a stronger candidate in 2012. Then last week, Rep. Jane Harman announced she'd resign soon to become...

(CNSNews.com) - Senate Homeland Security Chairman Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) said on Thursday that his committee's review of the Fort Hood massacre that left 13 dead and 32 wounded demonstrated that the killings could have been prevented if the Defense Department and FBI had acted in an appropriate and timely manner, but that instead government officials had been guilty of "negligence." “Throughout our investigation the victims of this attack and their families have weighed heavily in our minds because our report’s painful conclusion is that the Ft. Hood massacre could have and should have been prevented,” Lieberman said as he and...

The leader of the United Civil Front, Garry Kasparov, held a meeting at the U.S. Congress on introducing visa sanctions against senior Russian officials responsible for violations of civil rights and freedoms, and complicity in corruption. According to the Vladimir Bukovsky press center, the topic of personal sanctions was discussed in a meeting of Kasparov with U.S. Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman and Congressman James McGovern. The negotiations also involved a member of the Federal Political Council from the Solidarity party, Vladimir Kara-Murza. In November 2010, a proposal to ban entry into the U.S. of officials involved in violations...

Last Thursday was the 50th anniversary of John F. Ken nedy's inaugural speech, and while the anniversary did not go unmentioned, it got less attention than I expected. Those of us who can remember that snowy day are inclined to overestimate the hold that Kennedy has on Americans five decades after he took the oath of office. Two events just before that anniversary fortify that conclusion and snap the links between us and President Kennedy. On Tuesday, Sargent Shriver died at age 95. This Kennedy in-law never attained elective office, as the three Kennedy brothers and assorted offspring did, but...

McCain: Hopes Obama considers Lieberman for defense secretary By: CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash Washington (CNN) - Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, tells CNN he believes his good friend Joe Lieberman would make a good defense secretary for President Obama, calling him "one of the most informed members of the Senate on national security issues and homeland security issues." McCain was answering a question from CNN in a telephone interview about whether the president should consider picking Lieberman for the post, since Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he wants to leave this year. "You know its funny you mention...

<p>Republican Senator John McCain has traveled the world as part of a “three amigos” group with Senate colleagues Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham, and he is sad that Lieberman plans to retire when his term expires in 2012.</p> <p>McCain told us in a telephone interview that Lieberman told him that after 40 years in politics, “every once in a while you just get a little tired.”</p>

With independent Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman likely announcing his retirement later today, it comes as the end of his three-term career. He was the Democratic Party's Vice Presidential nominee in 2000 and made headlines for his consistent support of American efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. This support angered Connecticut liberals so much that he was defeated in the 2006 primary but later won the general over both the Democratic and Republican candidates. He endorsed and campaigned with John McCain in 2008 and even spoke at the Republican convention.

Another abondoning ship.

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman (I) will not seek a fifth term in 2012, according two Democratic sources familiar with the decision. Lieberman's office did not offer any comment on his plans, saying only that he would make an announcement tomorrow in Stamford, Connecticut. "The Senator's remarks tomorrow will stand on their own," said a Lieberman spokeswoman. Lieberman will be the second Democratic senator to make public his plans to leave the chamber in the past 24 hours. On Tuesday morning, North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad said he would not seek a a fifth term in 2012. On the Republican side,...

Snip~ 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… “After many thoughtful conversations with family and friends over the last several months, Sen. Lieberman made a decision about his future over the holidays which he plans to announce on Wednesday,” said Erika Masonhall, a Lieberman spokeswoman who declined to comment further… Snip~ Lieberman’s announcement comes on the heels of Tuesday’s declaration by Susan Bysiewicz, the former Connecticut secretary of state, that she plans to enter the 2012...

Source: Joe Lieberman unlikely to seek reelection in 2012 By: Molly Ball and Manu Raju January 18, 2011 02:28 PM EST 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. The four-term senator’s decision comes after months of speculation on the political future of the independent Democrat. “After many thoughtful conversations with family and friends over the last several months, Sen. Lieberman made a decision about his future over the holidays which he plans to announce on Wednesday,”...

Middletown, Conn. (WTNH) - A blogger and Hartford Courant columnist says that Sen. Joe Lieberman will not be seeking another term. The news comes hours after Susan Bysiewicz announced that she is seeking his seat. Kevin Rennie, who is also a former state Senator, posted the news about Lieberman on his blog today. Lieberman angered many in the Democratic party in 2006 when he lost the primary against Ned Lamont, turned Independent and won the general election. Adding fuel to the fire in 2008, he endorsed GOP presidential candidate John McCain. Bysiewicz, a Democrat, was elected Secretary of the State...

Susan Bysiewicz, a former Connecticut Assemblywoman and Secretary of State, has announced her intention to challenge Independent Senator Joe Lieberman in next year's much-anticipated Senatorial election. The Senator is expected to seek his fifth term next November, but odds are he will be unable to survive the election. Bysiewicz is known for successfully pushing an Amendment to the Connecticut State Constitution in 2008* that will allow seventeen year-old residents to vote in future Presidential primaries if they turn eighteen before the general election in November. The Progressive Huffington Post has already declared Bysiewicz a challenger "from the left".

Israel's foreign minister said Sunday a peace deal with the Palestinians is impossible under current conditions and that Israel should pursue a lesser deal instead — a concept the Palestinians swiftly rejected. The latest diplomatic spat between the two sides came as violence along the Israel-Gaza border simmered. After days of accelerated Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel and Israeli airstrikes in response, Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinians on the border early Sunday. Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister, told a conference of Israeli diplomats that instead of a full peace deal, Israel should seek a long-term, interim agreement on...

The repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy owes much to Sens. Susan Collins and Joseph I. Lieberman, who kept the issue alive when it appeared dead in the kind of partnership that is likely to become a model for getting things done in next year's divided Congress. Mr. Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-independent from Connecticut, and Miss Collins, a Republican from Maine, plan to join President Obama at the White House on Wednesday when he signs the bill into law. The signing ceremony caps off a late-season effort that saw the military's ban on openly gay men and women...

2011 could bring some quick indications on whether this year's collapse of energy and climate legislation in the Senate created lasting wounds.

 Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) chatted Wednesday about reviving their partnership on energy, Lieberman told E2. “It is one of the things we want to work on together next year, start again,” Lieberman said Wednesday in the Capitol. His comments come as President Obama in the new year will seek talks with Republicans on energy. Lieberman said areas on the table include a “clean-energy standard” for utilities, which Graham is already pushing, and efforts to...

(snip) Saturday's debate on the repeal of the "don't-ask-don't-tell" policy was only half an hour old when the Arizona Republican burst onto the floor from the cloakroom, hiked up his pants and stalked over to his friend Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). Ignoring Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), who had the floor, McCain hectored the men noisily for a few moments, waving his arms for emphasis. When McCain finally stormed off, Durbin shook his head in exasperation and Lieberman smiled. A minute later, McCain returned - he had apparently remembered another element of his grievance -...

A new political organization is looking to give the political left and right a run for their money. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an Independent, is joining a number of other Independents, Democrats and Republicans in launching “No Labels,” a group that hopes to solve some of the nation’s largest problems with non-partisan solutions.Besides Bloomberg, among those participating in the kick-off: Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Indiana; Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York; Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia; Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut; Reps. Mike Castle, R-Delaware and Bob Inglis, R-South Carolina; former Republican congressman Tom Davis and Republican Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who ran for...