Senator Arlen Specter: Dishonest and Dishonorable

Now Specter opposes the telecom immunity bills he voted for.

Mike Lillis:

The Washington Independent » Specter: Telecom Immunity Remains a “Festering Wound”: You recall the issue: The White House wanted not only expanded powers to spy on Americans without court oversight, but also demanded across-the-board immunity for the telecom companies that had broken the law by cooperating under the program. After a few months standing up to the administration’s wishes, Democrats caved on the issue. Then it virtually went away.

With the arrival of news that Eric Holder has been picked to be attorney general under the Obama administration, however, the topic has resurfaced. In an interview with MSNBC this afternoon, GOP Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), a vocal critic of the warrantless spying program, said he hopes Holder will “re-professionalize” the Justice Dept. in the wake of the Bush administration. That means taking a closer look at the legality of the wiretapping program, he said. “You have to have law enforcement with adequate tools,” Specter said. “But this business of warrantless wiretapping is not really in accordance with constitutional rights. And where you have the immunity granted to the telephone companies, that is still a festering wound”...

Comments

[Gary]

Why on earth does that make Arlen Specter dishonorable? It seems like he's actually trying to stand up for the rule of law here.

Also, why do you have a religious-themed picture of the twin towers on your home page? That photo looks like the cover of a "God Wants You To Be Rich" brain fart book. Creepy.

[Michael]

Huh?
You support immunity for the telecoms? I think you botched this post. Otherwise, is anyone who disagrees with Obama about anything automatically "dishonest and dishonorable?"

[Dilbert]

Specter railed against the bill and voted for
it.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/07/09/fisa_vote/

[MobiusKlein]

Here's the google search to help Gary understand:
search for "spectering" (with quotes) on google ( had a link, but the spam catcher bitched me out.)

eg: from http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=8488

"Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) irritatingly tends to stand by his maverick principles right up until his influence might mean something, and then drop them like a prom dress. During the GOP trifecta years his behavior got so predictable that I named a category after it."

I don't have links presently for this particular facet (immunity), but based on past history, I can make a guess.

[joel]

Gary:

Specter frequently talks and votes out of different orifices. It's nice of him to vocally express his consternation at the ongoing violations of the Fourth Amendment, but it would be even nicer if he'd actually vote to protect the Constitution once in a while. Especially given his position as one of a scant few dozen people actually in a position to do -- rather than merely say -- something about it.

Specter voted for telecom immunity. If it's a festering wound, he ought to at the very least admit to dipping the rusty scalpel into a beaker of rancid lake water and telling the President where to make the incision.

[Barry]

Also, it's clear what this is - after voting to give the Bush administration whatever it wanted, he's now going to be shocked! shocked! to find that the Obama administration has the power to do unpleasant things.

[Fan]

You said it - Arlen Spector is more despicable to me than those who honestly and wrongly and frankly supported the stuff. He likes to think he's a sophisticated hotshot but he's just utterly insincere and untrustworthy.

[Steve]

Looks like there are lots of dishonorable senators:

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00168

If doing the right thing belatedly makes him dishonest, then so be it. Like a broken clock, spineless politicians can happen to be in the right every so often.

[ed]

Specter's done this before, and Greenie was there to catch him before:

" "What the bill seeks to do is set back basic rights by some 900 years" --

Sen. Arlen Specter on the Military Commissions Act, in a speech he delivered on the Senate floor almost immediately before voting in favor of that bill (that was actually from September, 2006, but I cheated and included it anyway because it's my all-time favorite political quote). "

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/12/26/quotes/