Know the whole story if you're going to trample Specter.

All of you who continue to throw Arlen Specter to the wolves are amazing to me.

I wish I could prove it, but I would bet big bucks that he is responsible for the biggest percentage of Bush's drop in the polls. I would almost guarantee it.

The Katrina effect put Bush into the 40's when more and more people finally realized how pathetic he really was. But he was still floating around in the 40's. Then the NSA story broke. Specter and only Specter kept this in the news for two months by holding 4 hearings. He forced the news channels to keep covering it night after night. Bush's approval number started to plummet.

More people emboldened by the publicity started to come forward with deeper revelations. It forced the bombshell with the telephone companies. Bush kept sliding. Then the Boston Globe rocked the nation with the 750 signing statements. The credibility of any White House spin couldn't get traction to change the subject from their schemes and coverups. This has held all the way to today. Bush is lucky if he's at 33% in any respectable poll. And this dominoes one hundred percent back to Specter beating up this administration since January.

Now, news comes that Specter had appeared to change his mind about bringing the telephone companies before the judiciary committee. At first glance it looked like he had been herded into the White House corral and hypnotized with the other sheep. But not so fast. I was initially disgusted myself reading the article but kept thinking this just doesn't fit with what I had come to believe about Specter, and kept reading.

I found at the end of the article that the reason he changed his thinking to bring them in to testify wasn't because he caved, but because he was told Cheney would not allow any of them to answer questions. They were under the threat of don't you dare testify. And simultaneously Hatch the White House whore argued that he could get the cropsucker in chief to accept his demand that he submit to FISA for a ruling on the legality if Specter held off.

Specter realizing that he would have phone company execs sitting in front of him taking a "floating fifth" would be just as fruitless as it was when Gonzalez was sitting there, so he agreed to give Hatch a little time to deliver on his assurance.

But then he learned that Cheney had been secretly pressuring the committee members on the judiciary committee to nix any testimony from the phone companies, and to thwart any effort. Specter lost it! Cheney was effectively committing obstruction of justice openly right there in his committee, but behind his back. Now you see the result of that revelation with his letter to Cheney. It's almost unprecedented language directly to the troll himself.

Specter is furious. He is going to exercise his muscle, if necessary now with subpoenas, and Cheney just bit the big one. Plus Cheney has assured more coverage of this coverup.

Stay tuned because this is going to continue to keep Bush and his crooks like an ant farm under glass. This will continue to drop his approval numbers and it's happening because of Specter. He's not John Conyers but he is a wrecking ball to that administration in more ways than you can count. If there is one person Bush would like to disapppear, it's Specter.

Dislike him all you want, but take him out of the picture and see where you are then. Bush would be at 45%. I guarantee it.

ill give him credit when he does something.

I thought Specter was a good guy, but with many of the rants on here I was confused as to what had actually happened.

I'm so tired of "trusting" people!!!

BRING HOME THE FUCKING BACON!!

Someone, anyone! Dem, Republican, anyone!! Someone do SOMETHING about this band of crooks!!!!!!!!!

time--We can hope and hope and hope

I'm not one to bash a guy who says the right things like Specter - I don't know why people here do that when there are so many rotten to the core bastards out there. I do think he plays a bit of good cop - bad cop though...

And for dessert-- blanket amnesty for all.

See my update downthread.

I can't figure out how Specter has gained such hero status and Russ Feingold goes completely unmentioned by dems in this thread.

Odd, that.

My heart still aches for poor James.

...I agree.

Specter's actions seem to have the ability to raise DUers hopes and then dash them.

NEWS FLASH!!! Specter is a Republican. We're not going to agree with most of his positions.

My take on this is that Specter realizes the value of moderation with a Prez below 30% and he's playing the moderate Republican card as far as it will take him. If there's a clear political advantage he'll make pseudo-liberal noises but still vote his conservative base.

Specter is neither to be demonized nor sainted. He's a product of the sloppy politics that WE'VE allowed.

he sent to cheney. Has he responded already?

to review the letter. I'm sure he's planning what his game should be.

I rarely agree with Arlen, but I prefer him to most of the other AH Pubs. At least he's willing to ask some good questions! Think how bad it could be if some idiot like Alan or a host of other extreme RW Pubs were head of the Judicial Committee!

the one who chopped up his girlfriend and left her remains in a footlocker-- later fled to some Scandinavian country.

Sorry-- Specter's got a lot to answer for for that one. Until he does, screw his lame little ass.

that so many people jump on him at the first kneejerk.

Just like they jump on our own-- it's just too easy to rant on a discussion board when things don't go your way. Far too many people just don't understand the pressures of getting anything done down there, and this administration is playing hardball like no one has seen in years, probably not since Johnson's time. And Johnson wasn't playing so loose with the law as these guys are.

There aren't all that many real heros or villains down there on the Hill, but Specter is one of the few who can be relied upon to try to do the right thing often as not. Sure, he's one of "them" and he has to play the game, but he does try, and he has the juice to get some decent things done here and there.

When he actually puts the phone company execs under oath:

or when he actually puts the nominee to head the CIA under oath:

or when he bothers to utilize the subpoena power that so proudly he hailed in today's press release:

or when he stops keeping his powder dry for whatever he's keeping it dry for:

or when he puts various Justice Department hacks, beginning with Gonzalez, under oath the next time they appear before his kabuki-performing administration-affirming committee:

or when he votes against any - ANY - of the president's nominees for this, that or the other thing:

or when he, say, adopts Pat Leahy's stance of "why should we hold hearings when Dick Cheney's just going to interpret the laws as to which laws we'll follow and which laws we won't":

Oh! My bad! He already DOES that, now doesn't he?!?

Arlen Specter can go sit in the corner with the rest of the bone-free Republicans and DLC Dems and suck his thumb until he works up the confounded gumption to actually use his subpoena power or whatever magic X-ray vision amazing wonder-skils at his disposal to fucking DO SOMETHING about this boatload of malignant clowns ostensibly running this county.

Until such time, you'll have to forgive me if I await further developements - which is all watching Arlen Specter amounts to anyway.

session. He said this on Wolf.B. tonight.


.....When he actually puts the phone company execs under oath:

As one who pointed out in a related thread that it's not even a matter of whether he will put telecom execs under oath--- he hasn't even committed for now to using his power of subpoena to bring them in at all.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1377670&mesg_id=1377805

And I'll reiterate: Refusing to put Gonzales under oath-- unforgivable.

action against Republicans.

For example, why did he refuse to make Gonzales testify under oath?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlen_Spector
Specter has been very critical of President Bush's alleged wiretapping of people in the United States and abroad without warrants. When the story first broke, he called the effort "inappropriate" and "clearly and categorically wrong." He said he intended to hold hearings into the matter early in 2006, and had Alberto Gonzales appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer for the program (though Specter declined to force Gonzales to testify under oath). On January 15, 2006, Specter mentioned impeachment and criminal prosecution as potential remedies if President Bush broke the law, though he downplayed the likelihood of such an outcome.

Specter is a very smart guy, I'll give him that. Too bad he isn't more willing to punish those who clearly deserve punishment, hold accountable those who should be held accountable.

Specter is furious. He is going to exercise his muscle, if necessary now with subpoenas,

I'm not one who's been skeptical of Specter in the past, but every time I've trusted him, he's backed down from doing anything meaningful. I've felt exactly like Cafferty -- that this man, finally, might make a difference and stand up for our Constitution and our democracy. Only to discover Specter's a "gutless Republican worm," after all.

If what I've quoted from your post above actually happens, fine. I doubt very much it will. I'd be curious when you think this is going to happen. I'll be looking for it.

I'll believe it when I see it. Arlen gets my hopes up then he dashes them. He talks the talk but it's way past time for him to walk the walk.

He is almost as evil as Cheney, IMO. He love publicity though just like all politicians and if offering up some opposition to the Administration gives it to him then that is what he does. He will never officially oppose them though, only talk a little about it.. He is nothing but a tool.

...yep. He is a tool, indeed.

This was my reasoning: (1) Specter recognizes the danger of the extreme right after his primary battle with Pat Toomey, (2) as a former Democrat, he shares some of our values, especially regarding the Constitution, (3) at his age, after beating cancer, and a lifetime fighting above his class as a bantamweight, he's not afraid of bullies like Bush and (4) he's smart

Deep down, I don't think he's drunk the Kool-Aid.

But we'll see if I'm right. I may be wrong, and if I am I'll go a lifetime with every political opinion I express to my best buddies answered with "What do you know? You voted for Specter!"

The one who is an accomplice to the cover-up of the murder of John F. Kennedy?

Is that the person you are coming to the defense of?

When he actually DOES something to deserve credit I may rethink my feelings about him. He makes a lot of noises but never comes through.

voted that idiot lascivious liar into his lifetime appointment to be removed from office ... preferably in a painful and public way. Biden is one of them - Specter is another. Our Illinois Senator lost his next election because of it - or so it was thought at the time. Can't remember his name - HA!

And that's a hell of a lot more than other republicans do, so lets focus on them instead. When he makes these moves, if he sees that both Republicans AND Democrats get pissed off, guess what, he won't even open his mouth next time. Then we've got another lock-in-step Republican.

But not without trying to protect Bush's and surrogates' asses as much as possible.

Specter Offers Compromise on NSA Surveillance

By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 9, 2006; Page A04


see it:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/08/AR2006060801992.html?nav=rss_politics


And oh yes, oh yes----

"Another part of the Specter bill would grant blanket amnesty to anyone who authorized warrantless surveillance under presidential authority, a provision that seems to ensure that no one would be held criminally liable if the current program is found illegal under present law."

Snake!!!!

referring back to the OP's defense of Specter. Thanks for the info. on the Specter bill.

The Repugs are trying to have their cake and eat it too: They have a pres. breaking laws. Specter plays the role of "tough guy" who's willing to smack down the repubs. But sneakily, Specter quietly writes a law which grants amnesty to anyone breaking the law, while in public, is outraged that people are breaking the law.