Posted on 12/14/2004 5:07:11 PM PST by The_Eaglet
Pro-Life Groups Work to Block Arlen Specter’s Appointment to Chair Senate Judiciary Committee
By (EP)
Days after the Nov. 2 election, Sen. Arlen Specter remained at the center of a political firestorm of his own making. The Republican senator from Pennsylvania raised the ire of conservatives across the country with comments that he made about pro-life judicial nominees the day after President Bush’s re-election.
(Excerpt) Read more at wisconsinchristiannews.com ...
Pretty soon we will see posts from knee-jerk conservatives saying, "Don't Worry, SPECTOR is a REPUBLICAN. He can't do no wrong."
I have already resigned to having Specter in. It looks like a done deal to me. Supposedly, he has been de-fanged.
Don't you mean knee-jerk Republicans?
I'm sure he'll find them again once he's ensconced as chairman.
Don't you mean knee-jerk Republicans?
=====
I think he really means pen!s-jerk RepublicRATs !!! ;-))
Unfortunately, this species is known to regenerate its fangs after its next moult.
Don't Worry, SPECTOR is a REPUBLICAN. He can't do no wrong.
Controversy Swirls Around Chairmanship of Key Senate Committee
The campaign to block Arlen Specter from the Senate Judiciary Chair is over. It was a profound failure on numerous levels.
There was no rational prospect of bullying Senate Leadership, GOP Committee members and the larger caucus into breaking protocol and denying him the post. Specter has a record of supporting jurist nominees and JD officers ... Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy, O'Conner, Estrada, Pickering, Pryor, Ashcroft etc. ... who likely did not share his personal Pro-Choice position but who had the temperament, intellect and experience to serve the Bench. His comments stating Roe v. Wade was "inviolate" and any nominee with a clear written or oral record challenging the basis or scope of the ruling COULD NOT BE APPROVED were not a threat. That was his expert political calculation and a word to wise. Those ARE the dynamics at play.
The entire "Bork Specter" caper was an amateurish debacle. The ardent Pro-Life activist groups foolishly wasted their political capital and any legitimate standing as a respected, measured and serious GOP partner and influential bloc as a result of this mess. It was a grossly overplayed, severely underthought, overt purge of an icon of the GOP moderate, pro-choice wing. Two days after the election. What a needless train wreck.
Specter is the one guy who has the independent standing, parliamentary skill and institutional memory to initiate, and defend, the infamous "Nuclear Option" against RAT filibusters. Among his comments after his show of support by the Committee Pubbies, he noted four occasions where Robert Byrd suspended Senate rules and made an Advise and Consent vote exempt from 3/5 majority Cloture votes. Vaporized the filibuster, and the House Parliamentarian assented. How about that? Well, Arlen Specter can pull that bold maneuver off, nobody else in the GOP caucus (maybe McCain) has the media-pounded non partisan bona fides Snarlin' Arlen wields.
If the Pubbies would have been bullied into blocking Specter, it would have caused a political blowback from a significant segment of the 2.9 million Keystoners who voted for him November 2. Rick Santorum would have been toast, guaranteed. A indispensibly large number of the 62 million Americans who voted for George W. Bush do not want Roe v. Wade overturned, or abortion outlawed. This immediate and co-ordinated purge on Specter, one day after the election, if successful would have screamed "Pro choice social moderates not welcome in the GOP" across the land and the GOP would have paid heavily in '06 and '08. Alrighty then.
Freepers need to stop being so vaingloriously principled, and commit to being politically effective at some juncture. Let's start acting like savvy, effective Conservatives committed to the FR mission statement.
Tough love: the Pro-Choice, socially moderate (RINO) faction of the GOP is critically important, highly appreciated, and will NEVER be subject to any ideological purge by fringe elements. Single issue, my way or I walk, bullies have no place in any Party tasked with securing the governing majority necessary to pass legislation and set policy. Political Parties are all about what you contribute, what you invest, what new ideas and solutions you offer ... not WHAT YOU DEMAND! Specter was never imperiled, his groveling and furtive sales pitches was a ruse, he was always on board with the President and his caucus regarding the disposition of Judicial nominees. Bush and the GOP Senators all know Specter, understand his imperious quirks. This was never a crisis, these guys are world class political professionals. That's the way things get done, and that's the only way progress is achieved and secured in the big kids world. You want Arlen Specter working with you, not against you. If you want to win.
You may now return to your regular FR Illegal Immigrants staging an "epic invasion over open borders" and "Islam is a Death Cult" programming.
Given that calls continue to go into the Senate about this issue, and several activist groups have launched campaigns both before and after Judiciary committee members made their positions known, this is anything but over.
This is true for FReepers, second amendment advocates, and proponents of the right to life such as Concerned Women for America.
If the Senators ignore our concerns on this, I suspect that many voters will ignore their re-election bids in favor of someone who takes the Constitution, the right to life, and the right to bear arms seriously.
Keep the pressure on ~ we have just begun to fight ~ Bump!
"
Pressure ~ Bump!
Stop Specter ~ Bump!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.