“No Labels”: An Interview with Joe Lieberman

“The last four or five years I was in the Senate, there was simply no Democrat more conservative than any Republican and no Republican more liberal than any Democrat. And that’s just wrong. It’s unnatural.”

Former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman’s career on Capitol Hill lasted more than two decades. During his four terms in the Senate, Mr. Lieberman would sit on the Senate Committee on Armed Services, serve an instrumental role in the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010, and become known for his involvement in the creation of the United States Department of Homeland Security. After serving as Al Gore’s running mate during the 2000 election, Sen. Lieberman would later seek the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. Today, Mr. Lieberman identifies as independent and is involved with the organization No Labels, a bipartisan political group aimed at finding independent, practical approaches to governing. On June 28th, Sen. Lieberman joined Merion West’s Erich Prince to discuss his new book: The Fifty-Day Journey from Egypt to Sinai, how No Labels is working to disrupt gridlock in Washington, and his ideas on combating the current trend towards increased polarization.

Thank you for being with us, Senator. Looking forward to our conversation. Getting started, you had a book out this March With Liberty and Justice, The Fifty-Day Journey from Egypt to Sinai this March. Could you talk a little bit about how you came to write this book and how you decided to tackle this idea of the intersection between religion and law?

The origin of this comes from my own religious experience, particularly the religious calendar, but it makes a larger point. I begin with this—as an observant Jew—to note that the holiday of Passover is the most observed of Jewish holidays, even well beyond the Sabbath. It is followed and connected to another holiday seven weeks later, which is called Shavuot in Hebrew. It translates into also being called the festival of the receiving of the law. Part of why Passover’s so popular—if I can put it that way—is because it celebrates freedom and the intervention of God to liberate the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt.

What’s clear from the biblical text is that there was a purpose to that liberation. It wasn’t just so that they would be free from slavery. Obviously, that was the beginning of it and the foundation of it, but it was all about going to Mount Sinai to receive the law, which is what is celebrated on that holiday seven weeks later. From that premise, I draw the conclusion that while we value freedom, freedom without law is likely to lead to chaos, violence, immorality, and maybe even self-destruction.