Posted on 11/16/2004 6:43:18 AM PST by deaconjim
The same Arlen Specter who awaits his expected coronation as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has a long record of betraying both his party and America's gun owners.
To hear Specter talk, his fellow Republicans count on him. They do. Senate Republicans count on Arlen Specter to vote their way only until his vote is absolutely critical to the issue at hand. When he is most needed on the political battlefield, Arlen is either AWOL or preening in the enemy's tent about casting a difficult vote of conscience, to the applause of CBS, NBC, and the Washington Post.
Proof? The good people of Pennsylvania like to hunt and they think highly of the Second Amendment. Arlen Specter knows he can't always vote with anti-gunners like Ted Kennedy and remain in office. So he saves his anti-gun votes for when they are most needed — as on July 20, 1989.
That day, the Senate Judiciary Committee was voting on a broad ban of certain rifles and shotguns. Arlen Specter was not present. Excuses were offered. At the last minute, in came Arlen Specter, only to announce he was not prepared to vote on the issue, thus allowing the gun ban to pass by a single vote.
Wayne LaPierre of the NRA told the Erie Morning News, accurately, that "basically, Specter just decided to be absent." Had Specter voted against the bill in committee, that would have killed it then and there.
Specter's real views on gun ownership were made crystal clear in the days following September 11, 2001. Even antigunners such as California Senator Barbara Boxer saw the need to allow airline pilots to once again carry handguns if they chose to do so, if only to provide a last line of defense against terrorist hijackers. On September 6, 2002, Arlen Specter was one of just six senators to vote against arming airline pilots.
As a lame-duck senator and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter could be as antigun as he wished to be in deciding the committee's agenda. That post will also allow him the power to decide which, if any, pro-Second Amendment judges attain the federal bench.
Senate Republicans, many of whom owe their seats to pro-gun voters, would do well to tell Arlen Specter he has no shot of chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee.
— Larry Pratt is executive director of Gun Owners of America.
Remember, Democrats will lie to you. Some of them will even lie and tell you they are Republicans.
Ping
This guy has got to be sacked!
Specter is an even worse RINO than Chaffee or than Jeffords the traitor was.
I think there are at least a few Democrats in the Senate with a higher ACU rating than this clown.
I don't know why Bush supported him over Toomey. I'm sure it was a political calculation, i.e. "Arlen, if I support you, you gotta support me" and then Arlen stabs Dubya in the back.
This guy's of real POS.
This guy's a real POS.
RINO ping
The next Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee must be a person of firm convictions. One who will not flinch when a bloody confrontation occurs. When push comes to shove, he must be prepared to throw himself into the mud and get behind the cart and push. Not throw himself in front of the wheels.
Sorry Arlie. "Get thee to a Nunnery!"
Then why did the NRA back him in PA? They could have been neutral but put up ads/billboards in rural areas. I saw them. NRA even endorsed him on the cover of my magazine.
Battle Over Senator Arlen Specter Heating Up
-- Please ask President Bush to oppose Specter as
Judiciary Committee Chairman
Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org
Monday, November 15, 2004
Your calls and e-mails have been burning up the Capitol Hill phone lines and computer terminals!
Senators once believed the elevation of anti-gun trial-lawyer-stooge Arlen Specter to the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee was a "given." But no more.
As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Specter would have jurisdiction over:
* Virtually all gun-related legislation -- a troubling development, given his extensive support for gun control (lock-up-your-safety, gun show bans, semi-auto import bans, the Lautenberg amendment, etc.);
* Legislation to relieve gun manufacturers of frivolous lawsuits -- an unfortunate fact, given his indentured status to American trial lawyers; and
* All judicial nominations, including the two to four Supreme Court nominations expected to come up over the next few years.
On the issue of nominations, it turns out that Specter promised the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, prior to his reelection, that he would block all "extremists" nominated for the federal bench. The Post-Gazette fails to define "extremists," but the term is usually used by the liberal media to describe conservative activists (who also happen to be "gun nuts").
Perhaps even more troubling, Specter, assuming no one would find out about his Post-Gazette interview, appears to have subsequently lied about his views.
ACTION: Please contact President George W. Bush. Ask him to oppose the elevation of anti-gun Senator Arlen Specter to the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
You can use the pre-written message below and send it as an e-mail by visiting the GOA Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm on the GOA website.
Also, check out Larry Pratt's article on Arlen Specter at the National Review Online website. Simply go to http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/pratt200411150904.asp to read the editorial.
----- Pre-written letter -----
Dear President Bush:
Less than 24 hours after the presidential election, Arlen Specter was
warning you not to nominate pro-gun conservatives for the two to four
anticipated slots expected to be available on the U.S. Supreme Court.
He now says that he was misunderstood, and that he was only trying to
warn you about impending Democratic filibusters.
Obviously, he was hoping you would never find out about the promises
he had made -- before the election -- indicating he would oppose your
"extremist" judges.
Consider the promise he made to the editorial board of the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette -- a promise which was instrumental in getting the
endorsement of that newspaper on October 24, 2004:
"The best argument for [Specter's] staying on is his seniority, which
puts him in line to be the chairman of the Senate Judiciary
Committee. In that capacity, he would be in a position to block some
of the ideologically extreme federal judges likely to be nominated by
President Bush in a second term, some of them for the Supreme Court.
Before the Post-Gazette editorial board, he promised that no
extremists would be approved for the bench."
The last thing we need is for pro-gun Supreme Court nominees to be
blocked by a Republican senator who votes like a liberal Democrat.
Please do what you can to stop Arlen Specter from being named as
chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Because he was better for guns than his opponent, I guess (but he obviously is not the best )---
From NRA's American Rifleman,Nov 04, page 62 ---
Quote ---"Specter's opponent, U.S. Congressman Joe Hoeffel, has cast dozens of votes against your Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Congres, and has consistently been rated "F" by NRA-PVF."
Specter voted against KENNEDY's hunting ammo ban, against renewal of the CLINTON gun ban, and against federal regulation of local gun shows. -- But he also voted against arming airline pilots.
When the truth is revealed Specter is worse than maybe liberal democrats
This guy should have his citizenship revoked
imo
The US Constitution would like to know!
You can say that again.... :)
And yet George Bush campaigned for this man, against a true conservative, Pat Toomey...
Senate Republicans, many of whom owe their seats to pro-gun voters, would do well to tell Arlen Specter he has no shot of chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee.
>>>
Wow - I thought this was a 'single-issue-extremist-whacko-JesusFreak' thing.../XXXSARCASM.
I'm confident of two things:
1) The GOP Senate knows what they should do
and
2) If they don't, they will have blown ALL the capital we gave them b4 they could even deposit it. And they will have wasted it INSIDE THE BASE THAT JUST GAVE IT TO THEM.
The 'Base':
Family
Life
Smaller Government
Constitution, not Fiat
RKBA
Borders, Language and Culture
Sovereignty
And on and on...
No King Arlen - STOP! Specter *NOW*
King Arlen the RINO-RAT Backstabber Must Not Ascend to the SJC Chair (in this universe) BTTT
.
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