The Specter Among the Victory

Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is under attack.

He should be.

In his arrogance, he issued a warning to President Bush not to send conservative nominees to "his" judicial committee. It was a stupid thing to do, but vintage Arlen Specter. I'll never forget his quoting of "Scottish law" during the sham impeachment trial. And I'm old enough to remember his leading the charge against Robert Bork, and adding a new verb "borking" to the political lexicon.

Many respected conservatives are now calling the Senate to "throw Specter under the bus" to quote Hugh Hewitt. NRO is leading the charge. So is Laura Ingraham. The thought is that now that we have the majority, and a mandate, we should use it, by God.

I agree with that statement, but do disagree that Specter needs to go. President Bush has the opportunity to choose at least 2, and more likely at least 3 new justices for the Supreme Court. And to jettison Specter would create an open enemy of the President's nominees, who would drag along Chaffee, Collins, Snow, and maybe even Hagel along with him. We don't need that.

I leaned that way before reading Hugh's post, but his questions reinforce this. Let Specter stay close, with a clear understanding that his chairmanship is a privilege, not a right, Scottish or otherwise.