Just A Theory.

For some reason, the President Elect has decided that he doesn't want to see renegade Senator Joe Lieberman expelled forthwith from the Democratic Party. The mind fairly reels. If one can't be expelled for vigorously supporting the other side's candidate for President, what can one be expelled for? It's ludicrous on the face, unless...unless the two parties are essentially the same and banishing someone to the other side doesn't have any practical value. Hmm. Or perhaps this is just the result of Obama's saintly character having difficulty dispensing what amounts to richly deserved payback. Even though I think the first conjecture is true, (the two parties are effectively the same), I don't think that's why Obama supports the retention of Joe Lieberman. Nor do I think Obama supports Lieberman remaining in the party because Obama is afraid to smite a foe. After all, one would be hard pressed to find a smuck more deserving of being smote than Joe Lieberman. Now, before I provide my answer to this seemingly strange circumstance, a bit of history:

Way back in '06, during the primaries for the mid-term elections, the Democratic party supported another candidate against Lieberman. As you can no doubt tell, I have no affection for Senator Lieberman, but it is hard to argue that the smarmy Senator from Connecticut didn't have a right to feel some sense of betrayal by his party. Lieberman's subsequent support of Republican, John McCain, was, therefore, in my view, in no small part, an act of revenge. So, here we are, a few days after the Dems have cleaned up in the national election, with say it ain't so Joe very much on the losing end of things and his political career hanging by the thinest thread imaginable. So what does a savvy President-elect do? Save the renegade from certain political oblivion, because in doing do the aforesaid renegade now owes you big time.