Joe Lieberman gives the president a pass on Katrina.

From Newsweek

Jan. 11, 2007 - Sen. Joe Lieberman, the only Democrat to endorse President Bush’s new plan for Iraq, has quietly backed away from his pre-election demands that the White House turn over potentially embarrassing documents relating to its handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans.

This is more than shameful; it's cowardly and disgusting. Joe Liebermann, profile in gutlessness. Let's hope that the Democrats pull Liebermann's chain hard on this one. What's going to be the reaction of Vitter and Landrieu?

UPDATE: Crooks and Liars has more.

Congressman Charlie Melancon, a relatively conservative Democrat from Louisiana, has just hammered Lieberman's decision in an interview with Election Central.

"I'm just disappointed that he's not going to pursue it, particularly pursue it in terms of — I can understand that there's a whole lot of things we haven't had oversight on in six years — but Katrina is a major national occurrence."

They're tryin' to wash us away.

2theadvocate.com | News | Hurricane protection bill dies:

"WASHINGTON — Though Louisiana gained billions in offshore oil and gas royalty revenue at the close of Congress, it was unable to push through funding for the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection project over the objections of a lone Oklahoma senator.

U.S. Rep. Charles “Charlie” Melancon, D-Napoleonville, and U.S. Rep. Richard Baker, R-Baton Rouge, were able to get partial funding of the 1,700-square-mile project approved in the House but couldn’t get it through the Senate.

Likewise, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., introduced legislation in the Senate for full funding. U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., the chief advocate of the plan, proposed a bill that would at least partly fund the project.

But in the waning hours of the Senate’s conclusion Saturday, no one was able to persuade budget hawk U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., to lift his hold on any project legislation. Under Senate procedure, any senator can block legislation."
. . . . . .
"Jerome Zeringue, executive director of the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District, called the setback “frustrating.”

Only one of two things can happen in the future, he said. “We’re either going to wash away, or Congress will authorize it and we’ll build.”"

Tom Coburn, remember that name. He's up for re-election in '08. Maybe you can jump-start his opponent's campaign with a few bucks.