Posted on 11/23/2004 9:56:01 AM PST by concretebob
On November 18, Dr. Gary Cass, executive director of the CENTER FOR RECLAIMING AMERICA, delivered 66,443 petitions to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s Chief of Staff and each Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asking the senators to “do everything in your power to prevent Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) from serving as the next chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.” Dr. Cass also delivered petitions to Senator Arlen Specter’s staff, asking him to withdraw his candidacy for the position.
(Excerpt) Read more at reclaimamerica.org ...
Okay, but they have him by the short hairs.
FYI!
I'll forgive the Republicans unless:
1. There is a filibuster, or
2. Bush names some Souter-type like Alberto Gonzalez to the USSC.
Agreed. I'm not happy but will take a wait and see attitude.....for now.
Specter as Chairman after being scared straight is a lot less of a threat than Specter as a maverick having been screwed out of his post.
Let me explain: He was read the riot act. He had to beg and grovel to get his chairmanship. He was shown the light...and knows that if he goes back on whatever word he gave to get the votes for the chairmanship, that he will be publically humiliated with the very public loss of his chairmanship. He has given his word that he would not block any of Bush's nominees. I think he will keep his word.
Conversely, if he would have just been left alone, and got his chairmanship, he may well have blocked some of Bush's nominees. Had he been stripped of his chair, he would be pissed off and looking for trouble. He would relish the press he would get as an "independent" and "maverick" and, like McCain, start believing it and getting bolder.
He's been neutered, folks. The effort paid off. The one thing I've learned about the conservative movement is that they/we don't know when we've won and always find a way to screw it up. Recognize victory and accept it! We've won. If we push too far, we lose. As I said, Specter is neutered...let's not give him back his balls.
I'll second that but don't get too optimistic.
You can't be so naive as to think you can bind Specter. Frist is gone in 2 years Bush is gone in 4 years, Specter has a new 6 year contract.
You right wing, no abortion, penny-pinching, no big government nuts just don't get it. Republicans got elected with your votes and a bunch or regular folk's votes and don't need you until 2006.
So, be quiet and we'll get back to you with some fund raising letters in early 2006. We know you won't be voting for those nasty Democrats, no matter how much we ignore your hot button ideas. /satire
Not really, but it must be nice to be so naive. Specter will be the Pubby's excuse for things not changing ... at least until the 2006 election cycle is over.
I understand that Frist also made him WRITE down an agreement w/him. The first written "contract" was not strong or clear or complete enough for Frist, so he had Specter rewrite it and make it VERY clear. Now if Specter reneges, there is always the option of booting him from the chairmanship. He's on a short lease. LOL!
I'm glad to hear that coals are being heaped on Specter's head. Both leverage and groundwork if his dismantling becomes necessary. Frankly, I'm sick of these club-minded senators feeling above their constituents. I'd just as soon whack their nose with a newspaper. They are trying to wear people down into what psychologists call 'learned helplessness'.
On the other hand, whether Bush admits it or not, he can recess appoint to get around Specter, which would embarass Specter and the GOP senators. That is not Bush's style. It might be necessary to heap coals on his head as well. According to some rats, Bush is testing peoples' wills, to see how serious we really are about this. This is no game. This is the murder of 40 million unborn. If he's treating that like a political football, the same as he did the National Endowment of [Anti-Christian] Art, then he should get on his knees and beg God for forgiveness. From this point on, the blood is on Bush's hands if he games this.
I like Bush a lot. But he did, in fact, game the issue of the National Endowment of [Hate-Art against God]. I don't see why he increased the taxpayers' funding of that by force, when he's a Christian. God comes first. He did not seem to think so then. And he would have won on that issue if he had stood up to the NEA, with an even stronger mandate. Nobody outside the beltway likes it. I've talked with hundreds of people about that issue. People are simply uninformed about it.
With that in mind, I'm not certain about Bush on abortion, to be quite honest. He could have recess-appointed prior to the election, right? Then he saves Specter's miserable hide when he could have let a conservative step in. Is Specter worth a few more million human lives? I don't think so. Does Bush think so?
Is Bush just using pro-lifers as pawns? Yes, I proudly voted for him, considering the alternative. But trust is not something I do easilly. We'll just have to wait and see.
Have you ever asked yourself why Specter would promise so much to have a position of power if the promises he made render the position so powerless? For vanity, for the title only?
I don't think so. Specter craves power and if given to him he will use it.
"He's been neutered" That remains to be seen. I for one plan to keep up the pressure.
"The changes were meant to ensure the screening would not be done over the parents wishes."
There's a viper in every garden. Sad but true. We should keep our eyes open. Many college-educated types think that parents' judgment is inferior to a college-educated judgment. But horse sense is not well-taught in college. I know my school councellor messed me over in high school. I'm no dummy. But I didn't conform well with liberal arts-minded people, even though I was a soft-lib at the time, myself. They did not make much sense.
Oh, regarding learned helplessness, that is one of the biggest problems we face right now. People think 'this can't be done', or 'that was never done, or 'that's been tried', and so on. It's a new world. It needs us to look at it with fresh eyes. We need to listen to fresh eyes, to find out what even ticks off democrat voters about the leftists.
More calls and letters have continued to come to the Capitol, including some of mine.
These need to continue so that the Judiciary Committee won't be headed by someone who is infamous for subverting the right to life and the right to bear arms.
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