First Judge Showdown: Specter asks, "Can we agree to disagree?" Democrats say no.

National Review Online ^ | March 18, 2005 | Byron York

[zook]

I'm a PA voter and I just sent a letter to Sen. Specter. Here's hoping he'll listen.

[blackdog]

Arlen Specter chairing the judiciary committee is like bringing a pocket knife to a gunfight. When Specter got thru his rough patch right after the election and got his chaimanship, the democrats were assured the lay of the land. The time to go nuclear was over putting Specter in the chairmanship. That would have made the point to the democrats loud and clear.

[Poohbah]

But if Arlen Specter is the one who raises the "point of order" on the judicial nominations, that changes the whole ball game. Specter is seen as the maverick, the moderate, the person who tries to build the bridges. It is harder to attack him as the Nazi than it would be to attack Frist as the Nazi.

Wonder what the my-way-or-no-f***ing-way folks who want to throw out Santorum will say then.

[Psalm 73]

Great article by Byron.
With W renominating fillibustered nominees, John Bolton to the UN and Wolfie to the World Bank, successes in Iraq, Lebannon, etc. - the Dems have more fires popping up than they can handle.
Watch 'em twitch and squirm - they are confused and demoralized by W's political Blitzkrieg. "Brilliant".

[Al Gator]

So what was Benedict Arlen expecting? Senate demoKaRatz are a bunch of scum sucking maggots.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Y'know... in a way, having Specter as the Judiciary Committee Chairman may be a benefit. Unlike Hatch, he is not seen as a hardliner on judicial nominations, and in fact is seen as a moderate. I suspect it will not be Frist who makes the motion to go nuclear. Frist is seen as the President's man in the Senate. It will be too easy for the Rats to paint this as Dubya's bidding. But if Arlen Specter is the one who raises the "point of order" on the judicial nominations, that changes the whole ball game. Specter is seen as the maverick, the moderate, the person who tries to build the bridges. It is harder to attack him as the Nazi than it would be to attack Frist as the Nazi.

Perhaps, but that assumes that Lucy will finally hold the football until Charlie Brown kicks it.

[fish hawk]

Specter = P.T. Barnum
Senate = Circus
Us = suckers born every minute. 

[Danae]

Push the button for the people's sake!

[Zeroisanumber]

Both sides have their "go nuclear" options, I think that it's better to give a little on this and find some compromise candidates.

[Zack Nguyen]

I am contemptuous of all attempts to cater to leftists that despise us all, and barring an act of God always will.

If Specter thought he would get cooperation from the radical left on the committee, I hesitate to ask where he has been for the last twenty five years.

[Zack Nguyen]

That is an excellent point. Yet I have my doubts as to whether Arlen Specter would be willing to compromise his precious reputation as a "reasonable" Republicna in the Senate to confirm a set of judges that he doesn't like anyway.

The fateful decision was made a year ago, when the PResident and Senator Santorum barnstormed Pennsylvania to re-elect Specter in the primary. He would not have won otherwise. As it stood, with total establishment support and a popular President by his side, he barely squeaked by.

[AmishDude]

You make a brilliant point. If Specter brings up the nuclear option, it's over. And he might. One thing that everybody should know is that you don't piss off Arlen Specter.

[AmishDude]

If Specter thought he would get cooperation from the radical left on the committee, I hesitate to ask where he has been for the last twenty five years.

Arlen Specter is no political naïf. He knows exactly what will happen. He asked the Democrats very very nicely to behave and they flipped him the bird. Specter will get his revenge, make no mistake. He may not care about the GOP, but he cares about himself and his reputation.

[Raycpa]

But if Arlen Specter is the one who raises the "point of order" on the judicial nominations, that changes the whole ball game.

Mother Teresa could come back from the dead to raise the point of order and the democrats would demonize her.

[hchutch]

It's probably the only shot we have to hold 51 votes to uphold the point of order.

[AmishDude]

I don't know about that. But I love how the Democrats, for no other reason than to feed their own ego, decided to mock Specter. I wonder if the GOP got more concessions from Specter than that one speech.