Joe Lieberman, Brutus or Moses?

摘要

The question is short, and for the Sunday morning viewers of NBC's "Meet the Press" absolutely to the point: "Do you believe that Bill Clinton has the morality and integrity to be president of the United States?" Senator Joe Lieberman's answer is immediate: "I do. I've known Bill Clinton for a long time. I think he's a good person." Can this be the same Joe Lieberman who three days earlier, on September 3rd, stood up in the Senate and told his colleagues that the president "by his disgraceful behaviour... has compromised his moral authority"? The same Joe Lieberman who feared "that the president has undercut the efforts of millions of American parents who are naturally trying to instil in our children the value of honesty"? Given Mr Lieberman's 28-year friendship with Mr Clinton, some cynics will doubtless accuse the senator—all protestations to the contrary—of playing Brutus to Clinton's Caesar.