[Henchman]

Please list all the violations of trust. We will stop when the GOP BORKs Specter and does what is right on all issues. Hold politicians to high ethics and standards others are held to; and work to improve the life of Americans, not foreign workers.

[Commander8]

Pat Buchanan is right, an ideological civil war is shaping up in the GOP. The battle lines are being drawn now.

[sinkspur]

What's your problem with Tom Delay, bub? He's not in trouble. He hasn't been indicted for anything, nor even charged with anything.

[PhotoFixer3]

[Henchman]

PING

[Read2Know]

GOP and conservatism are not synonymous. Don't expect them to carry out conservative ideals. These guys live to be reelected.

[expatpat]

It's probably better to have Specter inside the tent pi$$ing out than outside pi$$ing in -- provided he swears fealty to Bush on the nominees.

[steplock]

I also am infuriated at their increasing the DEBT ceiling!

The RNC had best tread very carefully....

[MHGinTN]

Frankly, I don't buy tomatoes imported from Mexico, if I know where they come from. I don't like being fed foods from countries that use less than acceptable agricultural methods. You folks want to eat veggies grown in human fecal waste, harvested by workers immune to diseases that we are not immune to and treating the produce with less than acceptable handling techniques? I don't. I spit on the GOP move to take away some of my ability to make informed decisions regarding my foods. Anyone remember the recent baterial illness outbreaks due to imported foods? You won't be able to deal with future ones by switching sources because you won't know one from another! Nanny state will have you at their mercy.

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

I think the biggest problem is that "some people" want everything to be exactly as they would choose. It doesn't work that way and we have to do the best we can with what we have.

I heard Tony Snow say that the conservative senators have Specter right where they want him and he (Specter) is backed against the wall now if he is the chairman.

According to Snow, Arlen knows he can quickly become yesterday's news if he doesn't toe the line that has been quietly and invisibly drawn and will indeed be replaced.

Therefore, Snow believes that conservatives may get a very cooperative Specter if we get him at all.

Let's give it a chance before we jump over the cliff.

[First_Salute]

1994 de ja vu all over again; same Senators who wimped out, then.

Gutless, spineless, can't stand the heat of leadership.

[Henchman]

In reading the replies, it seems that there is a positive sense on two items

- DeLay needs to be protected from a run-a-muck democRAT;

The Specter deal is not as bleak as it may seem. BUT THAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN, he is a RINO! Personally, I want a judge to have a traditionalist, strict constitutional interpretation of matters and not be an activist other than to correct prior abominations (well perhaps pack the 9th Circus)

The fruit and vegetable aisle still needs labeling!

A sense that there is a need to return to fiscal responsibility is also coming up. Reagan promised and delivered an "honest dollar." Lookimg at the EURO, we have a big problem here. Any ideas on what is being done?

[Soul Seeker]

1) I am in favor of removing labels. If people want to know where their fruit comes from, ASK YOUR STORE CLERKS. It served us well for a few hundred years. Americans by large don't give a damn where their fruit and veggies come from so long as they are safe and cheap. I know this from experience.

2) If Delay wasn't the target of an out of control political vendetta, I might side with you. As he is, I endorse the decision of the House.

3) The issue of Spectre and his influence on passing G.W's judges through remains undecided.

[kalee]

You forgot to add the psychiatric assessment and treatment of EVERY child in the nation.
I am sickened at the thought of this intrusion into the parent child relationship. My children are mine and I will fight this with my last breath. I will decide if they need a doctor and I will choose the doctor and I will follow through with treatment that my chosen doctor and I determine to be best for MY children. Government-----MYOB!

[geekchick]

Please list all the violations of trust. We will stop when the GOP BORKs Specter and does what is right on all issues. Hold politicians to high ethics and standards others are held to; and work to improve the life of Americans, not foreign workers.

Borking Specter, not a good idea. The GOP's majority is not large enough to steamroll the opposition or to divide the party with infighting over every issue. They're going to need the cooperation of Specter and other RINOs for some time yet. Read some very thoughtful and pragmatic commentary on this over at PowerLine and follow the Hewitt links for more.

It's highly improbable that any of us will ever get the perfect politician according to our personal standards. Better to focus on the most important issues and evaluate the party based on its performance on those issues. In my book, the GOP is doing far better at this time than any alternative we might have,

As to Specter, he has been put on notice. He knows what he has to do in order to justify his chair. And if he doesn't, then unleashing the full fury on him will be more understandable in the minds of the moderate public and the other RINOs, whose votes will be needed to advance the President's agenda on other issues. The goal on this issue is to get a floor vote to approve judges who won't legislate from the bench. Bork Specter and we may lose that opportunity.

As to the food labeling thing, I want labeled food too. But think about it... if USA-grown is perceived as a market advantage, then USA growers will certainly continue voluntarily to label their own food as "produce of USA."

[Nosterrex]

I hope that Specter is the chairman of the judiciary committee. That would insure his support for Bush's selections. If Specter isn't the chairman, he's going to be a thorn in the flesh of the GOP. Specter is also a big supporter of tort reform, and that is very important.

Delay's problems stem from a crazy partisan district attorney in Texas that is trying to undermine the GOP leadership in the House. It's a precaution, and a good one, too.

[blam]

Tom De Lay has been set-up but, I want to know where my food comes from.

[streetpreacher]

Well if Frist follows through and allows the Senate to go nuclear on judicial filibusters, Specter might not be much of a threat.

[ladyinred]

I detest Spector, always have, but what is the point of blaming the GOP for what he says or does? Why not put the responsibility on him? This is just ridiculous, and as soon as the election was over, up came all of these threads bashing the President and the party.

[L.N. Smithee]

The GOP is also in the process of knocking out the requirement to label foreign grown fruits, etc., as to country of origin.

Presuming this is an accurate portrayal of the facts, will someone explain why this is a step in the right direction?

[Dave S]

You are wrong. Conservatives are better suited by having Specter as chairmen after being chastised and forced to give commitment that he will support Bush judicial candidates than they are by preventing Specter from taking the chairmenship and having him on the outside and possibly taking Snow, CHaffee, and others to vote no on judicial candidates.

On Delay, he has not done anything wrong. There is a politically biased prosecutor in Travis County Tx that is threatening to indict Delay only because he knows that would force Delay from this leadership role, not because Delay committed any crime. This same prosecutor indicted Senator Kay Baily Hutchinson during the time she was making her first Senate run. He later dismissed all charges.