There He Goes Again

I know some people are enamored with Joe Lieberman. I even know of an ostensibly "center left" blog whose proprietors were dreaming a few months ago about a Democratic "McCain/Lieberman" ticket. (Yes - they do seem to qualify as "people unclear on the concept".)

But I've never cared for Lieberman. When he speaks about an issue, his comments usually betray a surprising lack of acumen - he doesn't seem to know the facts, nor does he seem to understand the issues. The alternative explanation is that he does know what he is talking about, but rather than advancing a sensible approach based on fact, logic, and law, he instead panders to the "family values" crowd, railing against immorality in a manner that, for somebody sworn to uphold the Constitution, is reckless and irresponsible.

Case in point: "JFK Reloaded. Lieberman starts with righteous indignation - and surely, if anything is offensive, it is that particular video game. "I hope somebody in a position of authority will review whether this game has gone over the line." But then this:

"I hope somebody in a prosecutor's office will take a look at this," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., referring to "JFK: Reloaded," a game by the Scottish video-game company Traffic in which players peer through a rifle scope and attempt to re-create Lee Harvey Oswald's assassination of the 35th president.

"You can get arrested for threatening presidents and any behavior that suggests you are contemplating taking violent action against an elected official. The line between this and this 'JFK: Reloaded' game is, in my mind, close," said Lieberman, who has led earlier Senate decency campaigns involving movie, video and music ratings.

So is he that ignorant of the law and Constitution? Or is he engaged in mindless, irresponsible pandering? A little of both? A lot of both?