Bill Clinton deserves credit for coming to the aide of his old friend, Sen. Joe Lieberman. Some would call it cronyism, but if you can't stick up for a friend of 36 years -- when he's down -- then you aren't much of a friend.

... Of course, the skeptic in me says Bill Clinton knows Lieberman will remain a Senator (whether he is as an "I" or a "D", is the real question), so this wasn't as much of a gamble as it might seem.

Still, give Clinton credit for having another Sister Souljah moment, and standing up to an important constituency in his party (the liberal bloggers). This is the kind of counter-intuitive political maneuver that endears regular folks to Bill. Hillary would never have thought to make this move. She would have hung old Joe out to dry. Not Bill. Not when there's a chance to work his magic.

A few years ago, former Clinton advisor James Carville wrote a book titled Sticking': The Case for Loyalty. When I look at the way Bill is sticking with Joe, and compare it to what happened Trent Lott and Tom DeLay, I wonder if the GOP is more willing to throw people under the bus than the Dems are. I guess sometimes this instinct isn't always a bad thing; most Republicans wisely abandoned Nixon (not that I would compare him to these more recent examples).

Still, Americans admire political courage, and Bill Clinton has once again proven that -- despite his flaws -- he has it.