NO, WE'RE NOT THE EXTREMISTS, YOU ARE, SENATOR SPECTER

NROTC ^ | 11/5/04 | KJ Lopez/Jack Fowler

[swilhelm73]

NO, WE'RE NOT THE EXTREMISTS, YOU ARE, SENATOR SPECTER [KJL] A campaign letter from Arlen Specter blasting the likes of many of you as "extremists." A lot of it is exactly what you would expect from Arlen Specter. But I especially enjoy this line: "I don't think the Republican Party should be blackmailed by any special interest group." He is refering to pro-lifers wanting pro-life candidates. But...uh...Arlen Specter as chairman of the judiciary commitee would be...the Republican party blackmailed by a special interest group (be it the Arlen Specter ego dream machine or the abortion lobby, which, the NYtimes tells us today is delighted and relieved by the spectre of a Specter chairmanship).

DRAFT GRASSLEY [Jack Fowler] Iowa state Rep. Dan Boddicker has launched a “Draft Grassley” drive to block Arlen Specter chairing the Judiciary Committee. But a Grassley aide says her boss, who has most seniority of panel members, “will be serving four more years as chairman of the Finance Committee." BTW, the trump card Specter holds in this game is his Labor/HHS Appropriations subcommittee chairmanship. Any Senator who helps ditch Specter as Judiciary chairman knows he will eat daily of the dish of revenge the spiteful Pennsylvania solon will serve (“Sorry Chuck, but there’s just not enough money for that Des Moines hospital project …”).

TRENT LOTT [KJL] In conversation, more than one person has compared this Specter campaign to the end of Lott as judiciary chairman, for obvious reasons. As one Senate type put it to me (and as our editorial gets into): The Senate is a chummy place....but the senators cannot/will not really act unless "the outside world comes crashing down on the Senate." That is beginning to happen right now--I say that to those of you who are asking me if there is really any point to this. I'm told it is. I believe it is. I can't promise you the end product--because this is tough, and different than Lott (Lott's a more chummier guy than Specter for one, so he'd give in ways I can't yet see Specter giving in)--but I can tell you you are being heard--the right people are talking, are anxious. Keep at it, is my reccomendation.

[swilhelm73]

Come on people. KEEP UP THE PRESSURE!!!!

I've emailed and written Frist. If you have a Republican senator, email and write them.

Sen Frist's email address;

bill_frist@frist.senate.gov

and mailing/phone info;

Washington, D.C.: Office of Senator Bill Frist 461 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3344 202-228-1264 (fax)

Nashville: Office of Senator Bill Frist 28 White Bridge Road Suite 211 Nashville, TN 37205 615-352-9411 615-352-9985 (fax)

We may have won the election, but Specter by himself could defeat half of our agenda if he is allowed to!

[pypo]

Senator Benedict Arnold from Pennsylvania, where they are in dire need of a good natural disaster.

[BoBToMatoE]

Ive tried to call frist office a couple of times. Phone line is busy. MUHAHAH.. KEEP IT COMING GUYS!

[drc43]

Wonder why I keep getting a busy signal at Senator Frist's office?

[truthandlife]

This is a good lesson to the Senate if RINO Republicans do not support this President. The backlash against them will be so bad that they better get on board or become irrelevant.

This will finally wake up the country club Republicans. They don't think they have to pay a price for supporting liberal causes but this is a new day in November '04. It is the 'conservative revolution.'

[OldFriend]

They've taken the phones off the hook. Don't want to hear from us!

[blackdog]

Spunkter is beginning to feel a lot like Dan Rather. It seems to me that the Pajama Army has decided to take a flanking blog on the POS senator. He thought the good fortune of the Bush victory would buy a little safe passage. I think much like Dan Rather found out, the Pajama Army is relentless once they order themselves into battle. It's too late to recall the mission I'm afraid.

[ken5050]

Ole Arlen managed the hat trick with those few words..He pissed off W, tens of millions of conservatives, and God..

[mrsmith]

I can't believe these simpletons at the NRO are getting away with this.

I can't be the only pro-life person who knows this is a stupid vendetta.

[stumpy]

I called his Tennessee office, after e-mailing his Washington office. Spoke to a very gracious female staffer. Told her that since I reside in the communist democratic socialist republic of california, I as a republican am not reprented in the Senate and have to rely on Sen. Frist to represent me. I explained that I consider Arlen Spectre to be partially responsible for 9/11/01 with his "not proven" vote in the impeachment of keeping clintoon in office and his siding the the murderer of Mary Jo Kopechne teddy kennedy with keeping judge Robert Borke off the court. asked if he can't throw spectre off the judiciary committee altogether to please keep him out of the chairmanship.

[justa-hairyape]

Sorry Specter,

but the extremist barbarians are the ones who are killing their unborn children.

[Paloma_55]

B-A-L-A-N-C-E

When approaching the problem of abortion, I always seek a balance between the rights of a human being to live, and the right of a woman to deal with her own medical privacy.

After all, our personal privacy is very important. It should not be tossed into the wind like chaff. I certainly don't want the federal government talking to my doctor about what I am doing.

But then on the other hand, life is the most precious thing that exists in this world. The constitution protects life, it really does not explicitly protect privacy.

So, when forced to make a decision on whether to protect life, or preserve personal privacy, I don't see any other answer than to protect life.

Now, when does life begin? Seems like this question *should* be answered before we start making laws that allow someone to kill something that *may* be human life.

A lot of people think that pro-life, by definition, is extreme. Personally, I think it is the most balanced perspective because it actually weighs the alternatives.

The pro-choice crowd, refuses to accept that a life is snuffed out in the name of personal privacy. THAT is extreme.

[swilhelm73]

If you are so blind to realities so be it.

Arlen Specter will screw us over come judge confirmation time. How do I know? He did it before to Bork, and continues to toe the "conservatives have no place on the SC line".

I for one will NOT allow a RINO to steal a good part of our election victory away from us.

[mrsmith]

He can't screw you over.

But 40 Dems can- just like he said- unless the cloture rule is changed.

If you're too blind to see that, have a ball borking Specter.

[Norman Bates]

Specter. That name says it all.

[swilhelm73]

He can't screw you over.

Pure, unadulterated Barbara Streisand.

Perhaps you should actually listen to what Specter has to say, and pointedly, over his whole time in office.

RINOs have a place in the party, controlling its agenda, however, is not it.

[monkeywrench]

Is he the only one who can change the cloture rule? I heard another senator, right after the election, say that was job one.

[TBP]

Well, if more Pennsylvanians had voted for the only conservative in the race -- Jim Clymer -- perhaps someone more supportive of the President's nominees would be in line to run Judiciary.

As noted here, The Specter has already said he will oppose constitutionalist nominees.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1269800/posts?page=81

[mrsmith]

Specter has nothing to do with changing the cloture rule.

Here is an explanation of how it would be changed:

http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/954214/posts
"The nuclear option, which has been floated by Frist, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and other Republicans, is a parliamentary device aimed at halting Democratic filibusters of judicial nominations. It would seek a ruling from the Senate parliamentarian that the filibuster of executive nominations is unconstitutional.
It is possible that the parliamentarian would advise the chairman to rule against the GOP. In that case, Republicans could force a vote overruling the chairman, ramming through the decision on a simple majority vote."

That is how the the Dems changed the Cloture rule in the Senate in 1975.

[monkeywrench]

Well, the President mentioned strict constructionists in the debates. I guess the barely elected senator, who's feeling pressure even now, will have to give way to the popularly elected President.