Posted on 11/09/2004 6:00:30 AM PST by schaketo
Well, that didn't take long.
The ink was barely dry on last Tuesday's election, the promises of reconciliation barely out of the President's mouth, when the Far Right leveled its howitzers at a favorite old nemesis.
In the crosshairs was not the typical liberal irritant. Not Teddy or Hillary or Teresa; not even the vanquished JFK II, who now limps back to the Senate to lick his wounds.
It was a fellow Republican who dared to break out of lockstep with the New Order. Yes, it was our own Milquetoast moderate senator, Arlen Specter.
Pennsylvania's senior senator was warmly endorsed by President Bush, not only in the general election, but in the primary against conservative anti-abortion barnstormer Pat Toomey.
None of that now seems to matter.
Specter's liability is that he is something other than a social conservative. His latest sin was speaking candidly after Tuesday's election about abortion rights, Roe v. Wade, and future appointments to the Supreme Court.
As next in line to chair the all-important Senate Judiciary Committee, Specter, an abortion rights supporter, had every right to voice his opinion on those tinderbox issues. Unfortunately, he did not quite follow the approved script.
And now, just a week after breezing to re-election, Specter finds himself scrambling to mollify the nation's newly emboldened social conservatives, who have branded him Public Enemy No. 1 for not being fully on Team Bush. Talk about a short honeymoon.
"A big-time problem"
James Dobson, founder of the way-out-there Christian lobbying group Focus on the Family, called Specter "a big-time problem for us," adding: "He must be derailed."
So it has come to this: Five-Term Arlen, unassailable in his home state, finds himself dodging incoming mortars from within his own party. Those mortars seek to blow up what just a week ago was a foregone conclusion - Specter's ascension to lead the Judicial Nominating Committee.
Specter has been dancing a conciliatory jig ever since, promising he would never apply an abortion litmus test to judicial nominees and reminding the world that he has supported conservative nominees before, including Clarence Thomas. (And my wife still hasn't forgiven him for his insulting treatment of Anita Hill.)
Still, the controversy won't die. The So-Cons smell blood. With the President's whopping 51 percent "mandate," Specter is all that stands between the Emperor Bush and the new social agenda. Off with his head!
The word is that Specter is being pressured to promise to support all Bush judicial nominees if he wants to lead the committee.
Talk about a litmus test.
The internecine treachery is downright Shakespearean.
Seditious speech
It's all the more surprising considering what Specter actually said in his victory speech the day after the election. He merely stated the obvious - that if the President thinks he can ram conservative ideologues through the nominating process, he is likely mistaken.
A woman's right to choose is "inviolate," Specter said, and an effort to reverse the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion would rip the nation apart. He pointed out, accurately, that the Democrats may be weakened but they are not toothless. They still have enough votes in the Senate to endlessly filibuster judicial nominees they consider extreme.
For those seditious utterings, he has been branded a party turncoat. Three cheers for post-election healing!
The President is largely staying above the fray, yet his words no doubt have inflamed his conservative core.
Just a day after vowing to unite and serve all Americans, he could not resist crowing, "I earned capital in this election, and I'm going to spend it."
Bush was referring to his overall domestic agenda, but his words were like high-octane fuel to the So-Cons, who interpreted them to mean, "With the election won, I don't need to court those pesky moderates any longer; so stand back while the faith-based presidency kicks into high gear."
If Sen. Specter is just a tad nervous about all this, he can take comfort in knowing he is not alone.
ID - jpra150@yahoo.com
Password – temple
>>>>>when the Far Right leveled its howitzers at a favorite old nemesis<<<<<
Who shot the first volley?? What Sen. Specter asked for, he did receive.
This is a joke. They conveniently leave out the part about Spectacle opening his big YAP right after the election and threatening the President.
Perfect example why I do not and many of my friends do not subscribe to the Inquirer. They did 21 editorials in a row for Kerry and they are incapable of being either truthful, fair, honest, or coherent.
"Yes, it was our own Milquetoast moderate senator"
Spector IS a milquetoast, but FAR from "moderate". Only a leftist rag like this one could paossibly refer to him as such, and to label those who support blocking his appointment to the Judicary Committee as "far rightist".
Far more of the U.S. population disagrees with Mr. Spector's views than approves of them.
There is nothing moderate about Specter. He's an unprincipled man who enjoys a Feingold-like vernier of independence, which is really nothing but a murky layer of contradictory positions. It's not at all anything independent. It's popping smoke from the electorate inquiry.
We have never demanded judges being rammed thru the judiciary committee and appointment. All we've ever demanded is that they be moved thru the committee for a vote in the senate. That's hardly zealous. But hey, call it what you want if you're a member of the enlightened bunch. You've gotta fill up the pages and airwaves with something. Might as well be the same o'l crap we're accustomed to.
Newsflash to the leftists at the Inquirer: He wasn't warmly endorsed by us!
I think editorial boards are seminar products. Their themes run too consistant and are supported by curious detail that seems to be very consistant with their peers within the industry.
Far Right, howitzers,old nemesis, crosshairs, lockstep, conservative anti-abortion barnstormer, sin, approved script, emboldened social conservatives, branded, way-out-there Christian, dodging incoming mortars, blow up , dancing a conciliatory jig, smell blood, Off with his head!, The internecine treachery, downright Shakespearean, Seditious speech , branded a party turncoat, inflamed his conservative core, like high-octane fuel,
And we are called extremists.
Nope, it was Arlen who put our president in the cross hairs just moments after his own election victory.
He hasn't contributed anything to the battle except to allow the Old Media to write us all of as "religious right" extremists.
If Specter gets the chairmanship it will probably be because Dobson poisoned the debate. Please don't send him money.
GRASSROOTSPA CALL TO ACTION
STOP SPECTER FROM BLOCKING BUSH'S JUDGES
Contact Senator Frist
202-224-3135
Contact Senator Santorum
202-224-6324
Tell them in no uncertain terms that Specter cannot be made Senate Judiciary Chairman
Do NOT take "no" for an answer!
Bush has no Mandate?
Just say "NO" To Specter's Games!
Senate Judiciary Committee GOP Members
Contact Senator Orrin Hatch
202-224-5251
Contact Senator Charles Grassley
202-224-3744
Contact Senator Jon Kyl
202-224-4521
Contact Senator Mike DeWine
202-224-2315
Contact Senator Jeff Sessions
202-224-4124
Contact Senator Lindsey Graham
202-224-5972
Contact Senator Larry Craig
202-224-2752
Contact Senator Saxby Chambliss
202-224-3521
Contact Senator John Cornyn
202-224-2934
Glub, Glub.......
An 'Extremist' from the Liberal left wing Democrat's dictionary is anyone to the the right
of Karl Marx, Vlad Lennin,Joe Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Mao Tse Tung, Fidel Castro, Hollywood, any and all media, the world of Academentia
For those who wish to committ mass sucide and take everyone else with them....a lifeguard is an extremist.
Spector is but the first wave of the left's propose attack on the appointment of 'conservative' judges
END THE SENATE FILIBUSTER against the President’s judicial nominees and STOP SENATOR TED KENNEDY’S LITIGATION.
Our job is to convince Senate leadership to change the judicial filibuster and restore the intent of the Constitution. Our legislative
and legal team in Washington, D.C., will work with the new Senate to overcome the obstruction that keeps conservative, pro-life,
pro-family judges off the bench.
In addition, Sen. Ted Kennedy has been leading this minority of Senators that consistently obstructs President Bush’s judicial
nominees. He has backed a lawsuit to remove from the bench the President’s appointment of former Alabama Attorney General Bill
Pryor to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals - because Judge Pryor is a conservative Christian who is pro-life.
Now Sen. Kennedy
has stated that he is taking this case to the SUPREME COURT, and we are preparing the necessary legal briefs to meet this
challenge. We will not sit idly by and allow Sen. Kennedy to rewrite the U.S. Constitution.
American Center for Law and Justice
P.O. Box 64429
Virginia Beach, VA 23467
Phone: (757) 226-2489
Fax: (757) 226-2836
www.aclj.org
James Dobson is probably the most intelligent, reasonable, prudent spokesperson for religious conservatives out there.
I think that he serves as a good counterpart to Ralph Reed, who represents the same type of values from within the GOP establishment. In Dobson's case, he is the main conduit to religious conservatives at a grass roots level.
He's also partially responsible for the election of senators like Jim Talent, Rick Santorum, Sam Brownback, et. al., who've completely changed the ideological composition of the U.S. Senate.
Plus, Dobson serves as a much-needed antidote to the unbridled hucksterism and easily discredited statements of figures like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.
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