Joe Lieberman: I won't investigate Katrina

Fresh from Newsweek, Joe Lieberman has decided that he is not going to investigate the government's response to Katrina:

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.

I guess he is backing off of because holding your government accountable is partisan. In addition, keeping your campaign promises must also be a sign on partisanship. In true Lieberman style-- this is what he said during last summer's Senatorial campaign

Asserting that there were “too many important questions that cannot be answered,” Lieberman and other committee Democrats complained in a statement last year that the panel “did not receive information or documents showing what actually was going on in the White House.”

Yet today he is singing a different tune. Joe Lieberman got what he wanted, he got the top spot on the Homeland Security committee; now he wants to push his ridiculous war in the hopes that it will further his shameless career ambitions:

But now that he chairs the homeland panel—and is in a position to subpoena the records—Lieberman has decided not to pursue the material, according to Leslie Phillips, the senator’s chief committee spokeswoman. “The senator now intends to focus his attention on the future security of the American people and other matters and does not expect to revisit the White House’s role in Katrina,” she told NEWSWEEK.

Phillips said that Lieberman may still follow up on some matters related to Katrina contracting. But in listing the Connecticut senator’s top priorities for the panel, she cited other areas, such as reform of homeland-security agencies and legislation promoting tighter security at U.S. seaports. Asked whether Lieberman’s new stand might feed complaints that he has become too close to the White House, Phillips responded: “The senator is an independent Democrat and answers only to the people who elected him to office and to his own conscience.

Apparently, the spokesperson is talking about the neocons and Republicans who put Lieberman back into office. Because if Lieberman had any conscience, he would listen to the stories of people who lost everything in this disaster. Even his colleagues in the House are asking for an investigation into the failings of the government:

Rep. Charlie Melancon, a Louisiana Democrat who participated in House investigations on Katrina last year, also said the Katrina disaster needs further inquiry and that he will continue to push for such a probe in the House. “It is still important to my constituents—many of whom lost everything, including their loved ones—that we learn from the mistakes so that they aren't repeated,” he said. “We deserve to know what happened."

Unfortunately for the American people, Joe Lieberman answers to only one constituent-- his enormous ego.