Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) said Sunday that he doesn't believe Clarke's charge that the Bush administration, which defeated him and former Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 election, was focused more on Iraq than al-Qaida during the days after the terror attacks.

"I see no basis for it," Lieberman said on Fox News Sunday. "I think we've got to be careful to speak facts and not rhetoric."

Will someone please hit this man over the head with a hockey stick and clue him in to what's happening, please? And while you're at it, give a few whacks to this loser as well:

Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that while he has been critical of Bush policies on Iraq, "I think it's unfair to blame the president for the spread of terror and the diffuseness of it. Even if he had followed the advice of me and many other people, I still think the same thing would have happened."

Frankly, I could give a rat's ass right now about "balance" and "objectivity" and "fairness". We are in a fight for the very life of this country, to prevent it from becoming so completely warped as to be unrecognizable to people who love the principles upon which it is founded. Those, like Biden and Lieberman (and Nader) who do not work to defeat George W. Bush are effectively helping him, and they rate nothing from me, no respect, no regard, and certainly no support in any future endeavors.

If they have concerns about what Clarke said, the only thing for them to do in this circumstance is to keep their mouths shut and say nothing. Pass their objections on to Kerry, certainly, the candidate should know what's what, but to make any public statement which has the ultimate effect of supporting Bush is unconscionable and the epitome of cluelessness.

Both of these guys join Zell Miller in my mind as worthless -- worse than worthless, in fact -- and I can only hope that they receive their comeuppance at a time when losing two Democratic Senators won't hurt us.

DHinMI has more on Liberman here.

Update: You can send e-mail to Lieberman here.

I wrote:

Dear Senator Leiberman:

Although I am not a constituent, I felt compelled to write after I read your comments in which you state your disbelief of Richard Clarke's charges that the Bush administration was focused on Iraq to the detriment of working to protect us from terrorism by al Qaeda.

I am extremely disappointed that you have chosen to defend the indefensible and make your qualms public. It may not have escaped your notice that there is a Presidential election campaign underway, one which it is vitally important be won by your colleague Senator Kerry.

We are no longer in a circumstance in which remarks of nationally prominent Democrats can be judged in any way other than whether they help to win the election, or help to keep Bush in office. In my opinion, your remarks were of the latter sort, and you should have exercised some discipline and refrained from commenting at all.

Look around you, Mr. Lieberman, the circumstances have changed, and the people who are now the vital core of your party are extremely serious about the necessity of the mission to defeat George W. Bush. If you wish to continue considering yourself a Democrat, you should share in that concern as well.