Alternating between his trademark sanctimony and a "who me?" false modesty, Joe Lieberman finds the ruckus over the Kyl-Lieberman amendment troubling:

Adopting a tone of sorrow and bewilderment, not anger, Lieberman said Tuesday before the debate that his and Kyl’s measure “ought to be non-controversial.”

He said the use of the resolution as a litmus test for Democrats “troubles me, as it troubled me when the amendment came up on the floor of the Senate that 22 senators voted against it.” . . .

Lieberman explained, “I thought it was so direct, factual, based on evidence the U.S. military has given us of the involvement of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps in training and equipping Iraqi extremists who… have been responsible for the killing of hundreds of American soldiers.”

Chuckling a bit, apparently in disbelief, Lieberman asked, “How can you vote against a request that the administration impose economic sanctions on a group that the U.S. military has presented us ample evidence is a terrorist group killing American soldiers?” . . .

Lieberman acknowledged Tuesday that some senators don’t trust Bush, but said, “At some point, we’ve got to get over this distrust and partisanship.”