Arlen's Aberration

In her Daily News op-ed piece, ARLEN THE CHAMELEON, Deborah Leavy takes on the not so illustrious Arlen Specter, Senator of PA. She writes:

The senator has long been considered a moderate Republican, a term that by now is almost an oxymoron. On occasion, he can be a thorn in the side of the administration, but he doesn't stray far, or for long.

Speculation is that Specter sold his soul to conservative Republicans after they threatened his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee over his remarks about the poor chances of pro-life Supreme Court candidates.

Maybe that satanic bargain explains why his courage failed just recently over the administration's bill on enemy combatants. Specter, a former DA who knows the meaning of the Constitution, saw that the bill gave the president unbridled power to designate anyone, even U.S. citizens, as "enemy combatants" who could then be imprisoned indefinitely without charges or trial - and, in the case of non-citizens, including legal permanent residents, even access to federal courts to challenge their imprisonment.

Specter called the bill "patently unconstitutional on its face" - before he voted for it, explaining he expected the federal courts "will clean it up."

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When push comes to shove, Specter almost always folds his cards and lets the administration win.

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Unfortunately, Specter hasn't strayed far from a Republican president since. He believed Clarence Thomas over Anita Hill, and badgered her mercilessly. He asked tough questions of Supreme Court nominees John Roberts and Sam Alito, but accepted evasive non-answers.

Sen. Specter may say he is pro-choice, pro-labor, pro-environment, pro-civil rights and women's rights, but he's had no problem voting to confirm three Supreme Court justices, as well as numerous appellate court judges, with records opposing all those things.

Ahh, yes. That's the real Senator Specter. He never had a soul to sell. The Bork vote was a one time deal, which he's been using to fake out liberals ever since. An aberration.

That's why he's been called The Manchurian Senator, see Mutt & Jeff,

A Gutless Republican Worm, and

Wafflin' Arlen, see We're in Trouble.

Tags: Commentary, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Politics, Specter