Arlen Specter Always Uncomfortable, Never a Leader

The problem for Arlen Specter (PA) and the Democrats is that this man who knows better will probably be as uncomfortable as a Democrat as he was as a Republican.

Arlen Specter's  jump to the Democratic Party surprises no one. For the past half dozen years it was clear that Specter was uncomfortable with the Neocons and right-wing zealots in his party. The addition of one more vote in the Democratic column is all he brings, along with his desk and chair.

Over two years ago we posted Arlen Specter Makes a Deal: Sells Out The Constitution for Power. At the height of one of the Constitutional crises presented by the out of control Bush White House that had no recognition of civil liberties, Specter made a lot of noise about freedom and then collapsed:

Specter went into negotiations with the White House and his own party, knowing that his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee was at stake. He caved.

...It is hard to believe that the Arlen Specter of the nineteen-eighties—the maverick who defied his party on an issue of the magnitude of the Bork nomination—would have considered yielding on a question as fundamental as habeas corpus ...

He destroyed the foundation of Anglo-American jurisprudence and took us back to the days of the Star Chamber Courts.

...Specter is hoping the courts will restore the rights of the detainees to bring habeas cases. “The bill was severable. It has a severability clause. And I think the courts will invalidate it,” he told me. “They’re not going to give up authority to decide habeas-corpus cases, not a chance.” Others are less sure.

When you look at Specter's record on all matters Constitutional in 2006, the man has no shame. He signaled all year that he was unprincipled and shallow.

Unlike most of the Republicans in power at the time, Specter knew better as to what was right and what was wrong. Like all of the Republicans, he failed to show any leadership.

Specter is as good as those who surround him. He is not a leader.

That is why he choose to be a Republican in the first place, that he why he failed to lead during the Bush Constitutional crisis, and that is why, faced with sure defeat as a Pennsylvania Republican, he switched parties.

What power he gathered was through seniority, not command.

His vote is welcome; his addition to the majority is welcome.

Never count on him to lead.

Comments

[nonheroicvet]

Specter has all the class of Norm Coleman and all the charm of Michelle Bachmann. But a vote is a vote. Nonetheless expect a stinging sensation in your back.

[antpoppa]

A great summation, very kind of you. Too gracious, amigo.
A cursory Goggle search shows that this Ass-Hat started in politics as a Democrat. When it looked like he could no longer benefit by that title he became a Republican. My complaint is when will these professional politicians give it up? The guy brings nothing but age, he's not progressive, never has been. We need people with new ideas who can envision a world without financial growth and profit as the goal of society. He is removed from participation as a leader by age and ideals.

[Brian]

Well, he was a leader in covering up the Kennedy assassination investigation. Through his shoddy investigation, forced conclusions, ignorance of obvious conspiracy evidence, structured testimony for the Warren Commission that led witnesses away from the evidence or entered into the record untruth, Specter was perhaps the major figure in so mangling the case that it was never possible to follow up any legitimate leads. Of course, Hoover's FBI and the CIA were major players in deception, too, but here we are talking about Specter. (As a side note LBJ saw through this all believing there was a conspiracy and when he admitted this to Walter Cronkite on a CBS interview, he got Cronkite to omit it from what was broadcast, CBS ever willing to hew to the government line on the Kennedy killing.)
When presented with forceful, informed criticism of his cockamamie idea that one bullet caused all the non fatal wounds in both John Kennedy and John Connally by the Army's top wounds ballistics expert, Specter ignored this best evidence and didn't call the authoratative Col. Joseph Dolce as a witness before the Warren Commission. Dolce told Specter, in a conference on the bullet evidence, that bullets don't smash through hard bones and come out in pristine condition. But Specter didn't want to hear this. The Commission even gave Dolce ammunition and he conducted experiments for the Commission proving that the theory, known as the single bullet theory, was not true. The report, with the photographic proof, was classified top secret for eight years, but when released and discussed by such top critics of the official theory as Harold Weisberg and Howard Roffman was largely ignored by the mainstream media and Congress (they prefer to focus on defenses of the official theory or wacky theories of the Oliver Stone kind that are easily discredited).
Dolce tried to testify to the House Select Committee on Assassinations and give them the report he had created for the Warren Commission that Specter prevented them from having. But by that time, lead counsel, Richard Sprague, was fired because he actually intended to investigate the case and replaced by mafia conspiracy theorist G. Robert Blakely. Dolce was ignored.
Only the excellent research of Weisberg and filmmaker Chip Selby, who brought Dolce to a larger audience with his awarding winning film on the Kennedy cover up, Reasonable Doubt (you can see much of it on youtube) saved Dolce and his critical evidence from the memory hole. But it's still ignored to this day. Vincent Bugliosi, in his book Reclaiming History, cites Dolce without demonstrating any understanding of the significance of his views or his experiments disproving the single bullet theory. UW-Stevens Point Emeritus Professor of History David R. Wrone has rightly criticized the factual numerous factual inaccuracies and unwarranted assumptions that litter Bugliosi's massive book.
But, back to Specter.
Moral of the story: if you cover up something really big and it gets the stamp of official approval the truth doesn't stand a chance.
We still don't know who killed JFK and Arlen Specter played a big role in that.

[R.J.]

At first I was picturing Specter knee-deep in the Chappaqua waving off investigators. OK, got it, Oliver.

[Brian]

This is really cool. I remember reading this article about one of the only times, maybe the only time, Specter was questioning by someone knowledgable about the actual facts of the JFK case, in this case, attorney James Lesar. He pretty much embarrassed Specter off the stage after only a few questions which exposed the Senator's lack of knowledge about the case he brought against LHO.

Public officials, when they get high enough, do their best to avoid situations where they are actually challenged on fundamental issues. The mainstream media often participates in this by their narrow focused questions. This was one time where Specter was confronted with the truth about the crime of the 20th century. He bailed out.
http://www.ctka.net/specter.html

[antpoppa]

This song is for you Brian

Power comes from lying, lying big and getting the whole damn world to go along with you.
Once you got everybody agreeing with what they know in their hearts ain't true, you got 'em by the balls.
SIN CITY

[Ex-pat cheesehead]

I lived in PA for a while, in the late 80s.

At that point it was well known that Spector would grab headlines by taking tough stands on any number of issues, usually as an "independent Republican", often bucking his party line. However, when it came time for a vote, he followed the straight Republican line almost every chance he got. Essentially, he was placating the liberals in Philly and Pittsburgh with his statements and placating the vast conservative swaths of PA in between those two cities with his votes.

When it came time for re-election, he would trumpet his speeches in the cities and trumpet his voting record everywhere else. He's been a purely political creature since day one, and I do not expect him to change one iota.

[Ex-pat cheesehead]

Sorry - "Spector" was a Freudian typo...