How does one go from being a former Vice Presidential candidate to party outcast in one election cycle?  One could argue that it happened quickly with the rise of the lefty bloggers and the Democratic  opposition to the war.  Another argument could be made that this is the result of a decades long transition of the Democrats from the party of FDR, Truman and JFK to the party of Cindy Sheehan, Michael Moore and George Soros. 

Prior to this election, the Democratic party was beholden to the unions and abortion rights crowd.  In recent years, the party has seen the rise of the anti-war crowd.  These forces want to bring our troops home.  Or at least they want to bring them home from Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.  They apparently had little complaint about our troops being in Germany, Spain, and other countries where conflict is not an issue.  That would force the realilzation that a military is used for the projection of force and the advancement of security goals.

I prefer to call it anti-American.  I do not use anti-American epithet to mean unpatriotic.  I believe these people simply want the US diminished.  They are uncomfortable with the US as the world's sole superpower and want more power given to international alliances such as the UN.  They are, however, no less dangerous than if they were unpatriotic.  A diminished America will mean that there is no power in the world that can address violent hegemonic actors such as Saddam, bin Laden, the wackjob(s) from Iran, the nutjob dictator with a bad haircut from North Korea, etc.  The UN has clearly demonstrated in their decades of futility that they are incapable of effectively using military force to achieve clear, moral goals.

The ousting of Lieberman from the Democratic fold is emblematic of this trend.  Leiberman was the closest to an old-style Democrat the party had as the party leaders move further and further to the left.  If this primary election portends the fate of the Democrats in general, the choice at the ballot box will soon become more and more stark.  A voter can choose a party that wants a strong military that can protect, preserve and defend our values, whereever that may lead, or a party that wants a diminished military that only goes abroad wearing pretty blue helmets, participating in meals-on-wheels programs.