Senator Joe Lieberman, a Democrat from Connecticut, died unexpectedly in April from complication from a fall. He was 82 years old and his loss from the scene will be incalculable. For Joe Lieberman was one of those rare public figures who was not just respected, but beloved, by both sides of the aisle. He was unafraid to take on controversial issues, and he could disagree without being disagreeable and, most importantly, he was committed to bipartisan leadership. He could reach across the aisle, find common ground, and work to find a real, workable, solution.
Like a good chunk of the American public, Lieberman was fed up with the current breakdowns in our political system so he went out and helped form a solution, the "No Labels" organization. The organization actually predates the rise of both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. It foresaw our problems in their earliest stages. That vision was in large part due to the contributions of Joe Lieberman.
Lieberman is unique in that position. He was once the Vice Presidential nominee of his own Democratic Party, speaking at their Convention in a prime slot, and then just 8 years later, a keynote speaker at the opposing party's Republican National Convention. To my knowledge, only Former Georgia Governor Zell Miller has ever pulled that feat off (though Miller was not a Vice Presidential nominee) and spoke at both political parties conventions. Lieberman was that committed to standing up for what he thought was right.
He did it during the Clinton Impeachment, standing with President Bush 1 and 2 during their Wars in the Middle East, he stood up for Israel including recently in the current war situation facing the country. the fact was Senator Lieberman was so independent that he was eventually defeated in his own party's Senatorial Primary but he then filed as an independent and won his seat for yet another term. While he caucused with the Democrats, he would serve as one of the chambers two independent Senators.
That was just one of the signs of his independent streak, and the other major one, was his long friendship with Republican Senators, John McCain and Lindsey Graham. They were known as the Three Amigos, and they worked tirelessly strengthening our national defense and working to find solutions to issues ranging from Immigration to Judiciary Reform.
In all it was an extraordinary life and career, for the first Jewish American nominated to a national ticket from either party, and Lieberman not only set a shining example of how to lead and be bipartisan in doing it, but he did it all as an observant Jew, who was proud of his Judaism, and followed it strictly, so strictly, in fact, that often the Senate calendar was accommodating to his religious schedule. We hope in this episode we project to you our admiration for a man who set such a good example of what a true leader should be. We did not always agree with him politically, but Joe Lieberman will be missed and missed at a moment when the country needs more leaders like him to set the example for us all.
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