Something about not just the Democratic party but a part of America died along with Joe Lieberman’s passing this past week.  Senator Lieberman was one of the last national happy warriors—always fighting for his politics with a happy, cheerful, and willing countenance, never berating or slandering his opposition.

We couldn’t and didn’t agree with him on most things, but he represented a version of the Democratic party John Kennedy and the late New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynahan would have a least recognized, a party today’s Democrats abandoned long ago—that’s why his own party primaried Senator Lieberman in his last campaign for Senate. 

He fought for decency in our culture, and joined conservatives like Bill Bennett, in scolding music producers who profited off filth, crime, and rape culture. He was a stalwart champion of our embattled ally, Israel  And he came to office with the support of his fellow-Connecticut resident William Buckley, and he leaves this life for the next with the love of a grateful people committed to his legacy of decency.