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On August 4, the Republican National Convention concluded its media-saturated week of obeisance to cultural "inclusiveness," officially launching the Presidential and Vice Presidential campaigns of Texas Governor George W, Bush and former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, two rich white Protestant conservatives. A few days later, Vice President Al Gore, Bush's inevitable Democratic opponent, one-upped the Republicans in the minority-outreach department by selecting Connecticut Senator Joseph I. Lieberman as his running mate.

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Lieberman, a 58-year-old member of an Orthodox Jewish congregation in New Haven, is the first Jew to appear on the Presidential ticket of a major American political party. The breakthrough is long overdue. Because he is pro-choice, pro-gun control, supportive of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and opposed to barring gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military, Lieberman's candidacy has been uncritically embraced by many left-leaning voters. On August 16, Lieberman added luster to his halo of tolerance by addressing the Gay and Lesbian Caucus at the Democratic National Convention.

But civil libertarians, advocates for the poor, criminal justice activists, and proponents of sexual freedom are voicing strong reservations. The Connecticut politician's current ACLU scorecard adds up to an unimpressive 57 percent. In a recent press release, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force noted that while Lieberman has worked to facilitate some of its goals, the former Attorney General of Connecticut "has a decidedly mixed record overall on issues important to the progressive community."

In 1998, Lieberman voted for passage of the Defense of Marriage Act, a measure enabling individual states to deny recognition to same-sex unions that have legal standing elsewhere. He favors barring people with AIDS from immigrating into the US. During the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the first prominent Democrat to denounce President Clinton's carnal exploits publicly was Joe Lieberman-- a gesture carefully noted by Democratic strategists seeking to link Al Gore with old-time sexual propriety. (Reflecting the Lieberman era in Democratic politics, those same strategists threatened to deny California Rep. Loretta Sanchez the right to speak at the Democratic Convention because she had planned to host an Hispanic fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion.)

In with the Fundies

Lieberman's alignment with the Theocratic Right emerges further in his tireless clean-up-the-media crusades, his wrath-of-God positions on law and order (including advocacy for increased police surveillance powers), and his participation in the religious conservative movement to undermine public schools. He favors vouchers enabling parents to place their children in private religious schools at taxpayer expense. In February 2000, he appeared on Pat Robertson's 700 Club to deplore "moral relativism," the lack of religion in public life, and "the anything-goes mentality and morality... being advocated by the entertainment media."

His alignment with corporate power is inherent in his support for forms of corporate Welfare, and in his hawkishness. Through two terms in the Senate, he has voted on the side of the monied elite. Representing a state where the defense industry wields economic might, he favors heavy defense spending and frequent US intervention abroad.

But Lieberman's deepest legislative commitments pursue a morally righteous social agenda. Cyberspace journalist Declan McCullagh has called him "Washington's most indefatigable proponent of slapping labels on everything he finds personally offensive." A self-proclaimed friend of the First Amendment who has voted against flag desecration bills, he is nevertheless a believer in the kinds of gimmicks and ratings systems that engender censorship pressures. He selectively supports government interference with freedom of expression. He bears partial responsibility for the law requiring every television set sold in the US to contain the V-chip, a parental blocking device whose chief advantage seems to have been its ability to gather votes for its promoters.

With Senator John McCain (R.-Arizona), Lieberman cosponsored post-Columbine legislation that would have required all branches of the entertainment industry to place labels describing "the intensity of violence" on films, videos, video games, TV programs, and records. The same team also introduced legislation to form a commission on media incitements to youth violence. In May, 2000, Lieberman and McCain filed the Media Violence Labeling Act, which would institute a national ratings system for all media, subject to oversight by the Federal Trade Commission and monitoring by the Justice Department.

In 1998 and '99, Lieberman and Reagan-era cabinet official William Bennett, self-appointed morality czar and editor of The Book of Virtues, jointly presented "Silver Sewer" awards to CBS, the Fox Network, and Seagram's, Inc. for perpetrating such outrages to public morals as the television series Malcolm in the Middle. (It's worth noting that Lieberman's wife owns stock in both CBS and Fox.)

Less amusingly, Lieberman and Bennett have joined Senator McCain in pressuring the FCC to review the broadcast licenses of stations offering programs with "graphic sexual depictions and vulgar dialogue." Lieberman has teamed up with anti-rap activist C. DeLores Tucker and Senator Sam Brownback (R.-Kansas) in dog-and-pony shows aimed at demonizing popular culture, and in campaigns to punish record producers economically by panicking stockholders of parent companies like Seagram's/MCA.

Lieberman's sex-and-violence mobilizations rely on decontextualized snippets of images and language, and rarely reflect much knowledge of his targets. His hit list of pop-cult scourges includes gender-bending rocker Marilyn Manson, rap artist Dr. Dre, radio gadfly Howard Stern, and the film Basketball Diaries.

In an August 8 interview with Larry King, Lieberman said he was looking forward to working with Al and Tipper Gore to improve "the moral future of our country." He praised Mrs. Gore for being ahead of her time when she cofounded the moral watchdog Parents Music Resource Center ( PMRC) in 1985, and said he expected her to be "a great partner" in his efforts to clean up America.

During the Clinton administration, Tipper Gore distanced herself from the PMRC but remained supportive of its agenda. A Gore-Lieberman administration would revitalize the PMRC or continue its work in another guise.

"This prospect is unbearable," says Nina Crowley, Executive Director, of the Massachusetts Music Industry Coalition, a grassroots anti-censorship group. "But no matter who wins in November," she adds, "it's going to be awful."