V.P. Candidate's Role As Virtuecrat, Dangerous Record On State-Church Issue & "Tipper Stickers" Raises Concerns

Part one of a series...

onday's announcement that Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut will be Al Gore's running mate on the Democratic ticket is stirring up excitement in party ranks, and giving the press a field day over the fact that he is an Orthodox Jew. A Gore-Lieberman ticket breaks another American political barrier that some are comparing to John Kennedy's election in 1960. Up until then, no Roman Catholic had succeeded in winning the nation's highest elected office. A Vice President Lieberman would be another "first," since no Jew has ever successfully run for the coveted number two slot.

    Lieberman has been a harsh critic, though, of Democratic foreign policy under President Bill Clinton and Vice President Gore, particularly regarding the Middle East. The Jerusalem Post notes in today's edition that Lieberman wrote to Clinton in 1997 that "our government's Mideast policy of evenhandedness, in contradiction with reality, continues. It is wrong. Evenhandedness has not been earned." The letter, signed by Lieberman and four GOP senators, characterized PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat as "the villain who is unwilling to stop the terror," and called for "no more concession."

    The Connecticut Senator, a founding member along with Clinton and Al Gore of the influential Democratic Leadership Council -- the group most responsible for moving the party more toward centrist politics -- was also a harsh critic of the president when the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal broke. At times, Lieberman sounded as strident and judgmental as GOP stalwarts or Jerry Falwell in attacking Clinton for his "immoral" dalliances inside the Oval Office. Indeed, Lieberman's presence on the Democratic ticket is seen as part of continuing strategy by both the party and the Gore campaign to incorporate "values" and religion in their public image, something which has become High Art for their Republican counterparts. St. Louis University political scientist Joe Goldstein, an expert on the vice presidency, told Associated Press that Lieberman's selection for the number two slot "is a declaration of independence from Clinton because Lieberman was so outspoken on the Lewinsky affair."

    Unlike others who were mulled for the vice presidential position -- they included Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, and Sens. John Kerry of Mass. and John Edwards of North Carolina -- Lieberman is noted for reaching out beyond partisan Democratic ranks and courting religious right extremists. He has ties to a number of religious conservative leaders and groups, such as former Christian Coalition Director Ralph Reed and virtuecrat William Bennett. Lieberman is also plugged into various "interfaith" groups which include international religious extremists such as homophobe The Baroness Cox of the United Kingdom, and he is part of a "media morality" coalition which call for everything from warning labels on music CD's to a more conservative agenda inside the Hollywood entertainment industry. These latter associations could be a potential campaign issue for some younger voters, especially since Al Gore's wife, Tipper, established a notorious reputation as a censorcrat through her earlier activities with groups like the Parents Music Resource Center.

   ¶    On capitol hill, Lieberman has established a poor record on separation and civil liberties. He voted for S. 1965, which overhauled the welfare system and gave state governments (under the threat of lawsuits) a green light for farming out social welfare administration contacts to religious groups. The measure seriously affected the balance between church and state, and under the guise of "charitable choice" and other schemes, threatens to put sectarian groups on the public payroll. Lieberman also backed H.R. 3734, another welfare reform scheme that brought faith-based groups another step closer to taxpaying funding.

    Lieberman also supported school vouchers based on H.B. 2546. That legislation sought to establish a pilot voucher system in Washington, D.C. similar to the experiment in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Most of the "private" schools to benefit from the proposal would have been sectarian, and the majority of these were Roman Catholic. Another charter school which would have benefited shortchanged black youngsters by teaching bizarre theories regarding history having to do with aliens and flying saucers. Opponents blocked the bill in the Senate with a filibuster, but Lieberman announced his stand as a staunch supporter of voucher experiments. Today's Jerusalem Post describes Lieberman's position, saying that he "also broken with the Democrats in his support for school vouchers that could be used by parents to help pay tuition at Jewish day schools and other private schools." The teachers unions, a core Democratic constituency, oppose such plans..."

    As part of his outreach to Christian conservatives, Lieberman also voted yes for another hot button religious right issue, H.R. 3396, dubbed "The Defense of Marriage Act." This measure denied federal recognition of marriages involving gay couples. President Clinton signed this legislation that sailed easily through the U.S. House and Senate. On another gay-related item, S. 1124, Lieberman voted for legislation that compelled the military to discharge service members who tested positive for the HIV virus.

    Sen. Lieberman is a founder of the "Empower America" group along with religious right values guru William Bennett. That group has worked with other organizations such as the Gore's PRMC and the Media Social Responsibility Project in demanding that movie producers, writers, musicians, lyricists and others in the entertainment industry take steps "to curtail excessive violence and sexual content." While there is occasional lip service to asking for "voluntary" compliance, civil liberties groups have noted that these same organizations often back legislative proposals to mandate "tipper stickers" -- printed advisories which purportedly warn consumers about the content of a particular CD, movie or other item -- or even institute some form of more direct government censorship. The appeal of these groups, like Lieberman, crosses party lines and explicit political labels.

Unlike others who were mulled for the vice presidential position ... Lieberman is noted for reaching out beyond partisan Democratic ranks and courting religious right extremists.

   One example is Lieberman's involvement with the "Appeal to Hollywood" petition sponsored by the Institute for Communitarian Policy at George Washington University. The Empower America group is a cosponsor of the petition, along with a religious group known as Entertainment Fellowship. In addition to Lieberman and Bennett, other high-profile signers of the "petition" include Gen. Colin Powell (a keynoter at the recent GOP convention); millionaire publisher and former GOP contender Steve Forbes; Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch; Reform Party honcho Pat Buchanan; several U.S. Senators including Kent Conrad, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Kyl; and entertainers Steve Allen, Naomi Judd and Carol Lawrence.

    "The Appeal calls for a 'new social compact,' urging parents to take seriously their responsibility for supervising their children's exposure to entertainment media and urging the entertainment industry to devise a voluntary code of conduct..." declares a broadside from Empower America signed by Bennett and Lieberman. Continuing the theme of what some describe as "national nannyism," the release adds: "Creating a morally healthy and safe environment for our children should be a top priority for our society. Today it is one that will require moral leadership and courage from every officeholder, from the President on down...."

    One close associate of Lieberman's has been C. Delores Tucker, Chair of the National Political Congress of Black Women and a veritable Molly Hatchet over the issue of certain musical lyrics -- a fascination she shares with Tipper Gore. In an op-ed piece published jointly with Bennett and Lieberman in the June 6, 1996 issue of USA TODAY, Tucker piggybacked on the politically correct issue of bashing media giants, accusing companies like Time Warner, EMI and Sony of promulgating "a steady stream of mental poison," "obscene albums," "Rap Rubbish," and "cultural pollution." The trio attempted the weighty task of trying to differentiate this musical genre from "some of the rocks songs of past decades that triggered minor controversies in our time."

   The Lieberman-Bennet-Tucker trio soon became the brunt of jokes, criticism and scalding satire, especially from groups like The R.O.C. ("Rock Out Censorship") and civil libertarians. There were the usual First Amendment issues -- who should determine what is "smut"? -- and more than one critic noted that in the marketplace of ideas and tastes, many of the items which Tucker and friends were criticizing were wildly popular at the cash register. Writer John Woods of R.O.C. then plumbed Tucker's own background, starting with her Orwellian call to convert abandoned military bases into "labor camps" for (mostly black and poor) inner city youth.

    While calling for the nation to improve its moral standards, it appeared that Tucker herself needed to take the message to heart. Wood noted, for instance, that in 1977, when she was on the short list for President Carter's appointments to the Treasury department, Tucker was abruptly fired by then-Pennsylvania Gov. Milton Shapp because "she was running a private, profitable business at state expense," and had used state employees as speechwriters while raking in over $66,000 in lecture fees. Tucker later became involved in a legal imbroglio when she attempted to cut her own deal with one of the favorite targets of the Empower America trio -- Interscope Records. Even more bizarre were revelations about Tucker which appeared in the 10/24/95 issue of the Village Voice by civil libertarian Nat Hentoff, "Alleging a Conspiracy To Use Gangsta Rap for Ethnic Cleaning," The R.O.C., issue #20). The piece explores Tucker's relationship with Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, "who practices child and general psychiatry in Washington -- (and who) has helped shape Delores Tucker's thinking about racism."

    "Gangsta rap, Welsing (said) ... is part of a conspiracy to set up black people 'as the trash that should be eliminated.' So, too 'prior to killing six million people, the Nazis waged a systematic campaign in the media to make the Semites of the Jewish religion look less than human, to make them deplorable to the German people as a whole. The same dynamic is happening now. The issue is setting up black people as the trash that should be exterminated..."

    In a flurry of legal claims and counterclaims, Tucker -- and the whole bizarre campaign against "trash" lyrics -- have stepped into the background of the Empower America agenda. The latest rage is faith-based partnership, "charitable choice," and efforts to find ways of reinvigorating sectarian groups, even if they must be invited to feast at the public trough.

   ¶    Joseph Lieberman has "reached out" to Christian conservatives on more than just the question of salacious cultural "pollution." One example is his strange, though rarely profile working relationship with those supporting "charitable choice," "community renewal"and other efforts to bring organized religion into the administration of social service programs.

    Lieberman is cosponsor of the Senate version of the "American Community Renewal Act," which would use a combination of tax credits and government grants to promote faith-based drug and alcohol rehab programs and other outreaches. A version of the legislation has been knocking around on capitol hill since 1996 when it was dubbed the "Talent-Watts" bill. (Missouri Republican Rep. James M. Talent cosponsored the measure along with Oklahoma Rep., J.C. Watts, Jr., a frequent guest a Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition "Road to Victory" rallies.) In the Senate, Lieberman has introduced mirror versions of ACRA with the help of Sen. Spencer Abraham of Michigan.

    Along with its "angst" over salacious movies and uppity CD lyrics, Empower America has also been a supporter of forms of "charitable choice" and the "community renewal" fad. The group has already praised Gov. George Bush for support of a program to provide up $1,500 in voucher aid for parents wishing to send their youngsters to private or religious schools and a similar effort to spend $3 billion in tax money to establish 2,000 new charter (quasi-public) schools.

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