Jonathan Alter just doesn't get it

Jonathan Alter tries to tell us this morning that if Lieberman loses Bush wins. After some meaningless reference to, yes, Monica Lewinsky he says this:

The fury directed at him by many Democrats is rooted not just in his support for Bush's Iraq fiasco but in his annoying habit of hedging his bets, as reflected in his risk-averse insistence that if he loses the primary, he'll run as an independent. His campaign poster when he ran for high-school class president featured him crouched on his parents' roof under the line: VOTE OR I'LL JUMP. The charm of that has worn off.

But there's something psychologically deeper going on in this campaign that is both understandable and depressing—a cannibalistic distraction from what should be the top priority of Democrats, namely booting Republicans. The same Democrats who are justifiably angry with Lieberman for not holding Bush accountable are harming efforts to, well, hold Bush accountable.

Explain to me how the failure to elect someone who won't hold Bush accountable is going to make it harder to hold Bush accountable. What an idiot!

And then there is this:

At the same time, the Senate needs collegial moderates who work across party lines. It's the only way to stop the really bad stuff.

Now that's shear nonsense - so 70s or 80s. The only way you can work with the Republicans in the senate is always agree with them 100% and give them exactly what they and Bush want. Lieberman is already doing that.

He concludes with this:

The challenge facing voters this year is not to hold Democrats accountable for their heresies but Republicans accountable for where they have taken the country. They are the ones in power, not Joe Lieberman.

Now judging from the last 6 years how is Joe Lieberman going to do that?

Or maybe Alter does get it. As we discussed the other day its less about Lieberman and more about the political aristocrats fear of populist movements.

The opposition to Joe Lieberman is an example of populist politics at it finest and yes the blogs are responsible but because they are giving the non-aristocrats a voice. The aristocrats are scared, we have an example of this today over at Real Clear Politics, Democrats Lose if Lieberman is Defeated. This continuation of the meme that the populist Democrats will do the party in by ejecting people from the "big tent". I say bull shit. The Democrats must present an alternative to the delusional mind set of the neocons and that includes the purging the Joe Liebermans, Marshall Wittmanns and yes the Hillary Clintons. The neocon ideology is a failed one, the American people realize it even if the DLC doesn't.

Update
Nathan does get it.