Arlen Specter

From dKosopedia

Category: Pennsylvania Republicans

Arlen Specter is the Republican senior Senator from Pennsylvania. He was first elected to that office in 1980. Some consider Arlen Specter to be one of the few moderate Republicans left in Congress. His voting record belies that image. In their 2004 Congressional Scorecards, Specter received a score of only 20% from the Sierra Club, only 32% from the League of Conservation Voters, only 36% from the NEA, only 46% from the AFL-CIO, and a perfect 'A' from the NRA.

Additionally, with much help from Rick Santorum and George W. Bush, Arlen Specter squeaked out a narrow win in the 2004 Primary against Pat Toomey. Many agree that Arlen owes his policital life to Santorum and Bush. They predict Arlen will lose what little independence he has shown and go fall in with the Republican party line now more than ever. During the Primary Election against Toomey, Arlen bragged about how it was his questioning of Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas hearings that helped place Thomas on the Supreme Court. He promised to fight hard for Bush's judicial nominees if both are reelected.

Senate Judiciary Committe Chair

In the wake of the May 11, 2006 USA Today report of the enromous scale of NSA telephone surveillance and the decision of the Department of Justice to dropm its investigation of NSA activites because its lawyers lacked security clearances, Spector was almost ready to almost threaten to withdraw funding from the NSA. Spector said, "I made the point that the president doesn't have a blank check. He didn't choose to engage me on that point." Source: n.a. "Sen. Specter Threatens To Block NSA Eavesdropping Funds." Associated Press and USA Today. May 12, 2006.

Kennedy Assassination Investigation Role

Arlen Specter entered the national political scene as junior counsel to the Warren Commission, where he was the architect of the "single bullet theory" to explain the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and injuries to Governor John Connally:

In light of this, Specter arguably could be credited with singlehandedly spawning a cottage industry of conspiracy theorists across America.

External Links

• The Truth About Arlen Specter, containing additional information about his role on the Warren Commission and in the Clarence Thomas hearings.