OH, TEABAGGERS, WHERE'S YOUR POLITICAL PURITY NOW?

CNN:

Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, a former Democrat who sits with Democratic caucus, said Tuesday that he would not rule out running for re-election in 2012 as a Republican.

..."I like being an independent, so that's definitely a possibility," the Connecticut senator said. "But I'd say all options are open."

He called running as a Republican "unlikely" but added that he wouldn't "foreclose any possibility." ...

Some of us would argue that the Republican Party already allowed Lieberman to run as the de facto GOP candidate in 2006, as the nominal Republican candidate, Alan Schlesinger, took a dive by barely campaigning, while Lieberman practically lived on the GOP's house organs, Fox News and talk radio.

But it's different in the GOP now. Angry voices are demanding purity of Republican politicians. Lieberman is pro-choice! Lieberman supports gay rights! Lieberman thinks climate change is an actual problem!

Won't he have to be brutally purged? Won't he be facing a well-financed primary challenge from an angry tea party candidate?

Nahhh. If he wants to run as a Republican, he'll be in the clear. He'll be exempt from any tea party purge. Why? Because he pisses us off. Because we hate him. That's what's important to the angry right -- not issues, not the totality of one's political philosophy. What's important is infuriating and thwarting us. Lieberman's a master at that, so he won't be Dede Scozzafava or Charlie Crist. He'll be spared.