"I don't need to be lectured by you. You are no more a protector of the Constitution than am I," Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, shouted [at] Sen. Russ FeingoldAre you sure, Arlen? Sen. Feingold does seem to take his oath to protect the Constitution rather more seriously. I suspect that he might even put a key witness under oath at a hearing. But that's just me. He's certainly not averse to taking a stand. Specter, you might recall, is pretty useful on these issues "as long as you don't need him", "taking a stand" by mouthing some platitudes about oversight and then...well we've heard that story from the gentleman from Pennsylvania a few times now.
If there is a positive, it's that I can fairly safely put Specter into the 'pandering' category any times he "takes a stand" on something. This blowup came in the midst of commitee debate over the proposed amendment same-sex marriage ban. Specter, being a good guy, voted "yeah", however:
Not all those who voted "yes" support the amendment, however. Specter said he is "totally opposed" to it, but felt it deserved a debate in the Senate.
Right. Having your cake, as well as eating, absorbing, ingesting and possibly even smoking it for good measure.
Update 5/19/06: Via Ezra, apparently Jack Cafferty went off on a similar tangent on CNN. C&L has the video.
Ezra also asks "but really Mr. Chairman -- what would ya say you do here? to which a commenter offers "I have PEOPLE skills! Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?" HehIndeed.
1 comment:
Ugh. Specter almost inspired the debut of the "Asshole of the Week" at my place after his stunt with the NSA program earlier this week.
He needs to be lectured by someone.
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