Okay, I have to discuss Arlen Specter! I understand that his decision to leave the Republican party was long in the making. There was 14 talks in the Gym between Biden and Specter. No wonder Biden routinely used the Senate gym. I thought it was those many train rides where Biden was working Specter. Any way you look at it I am glad he came aboard. I think he merely wanted to continue his Senatorial career and saw this as his only way.
The Republican party was making him pay for voting with the Democrats on the stimulus Bill. If he stayed in the Republican party they got Pat Toomey a conservative to run against Specter and they would have succeeded in getting him elected. This was Arlen's only choice if he wanted to keep his seat so he took it. Whatever, welcome! This was the only way he would have won a primary in Pennsylvania a State that is increasingly blue. 200,000 in Pennsylvania registered as a Democrat to vote for Obama. If serving your constituents matters any more it is only right that Specter join the majority.
So he took the opportunity and jumped ship. I do not have a problem with that. In fact I am ecstatic. This was his only way to win a primary and continue his career. Obama too is ecstatic and promises to campaign and raise money for him. That is a shoe in election if you ask me. This gives the Republicans all the more reason to prolong the inevitable with Franken, That will give us the 60 seats require to stave off a filibuster but that in itself does not guarantee everything going our way. We do not have a blank check. I can only hope Democrats are smarter than we have seen and remain humble not cocky and combative as the Republicans were.
Now I want to see Olympia Snowe and Sue Collins come over from the dark side and join the new right. I do not see it happening but being moderates they are better off with us. That Republicans have not given them the treatment they gave Specter for voting with Democrats has nothing to do with them being women. Republicans simply do not want to lose Maine too! Votes 61 and 62 would not make a difference as far as vote outcome goes but I would love to see it because it would certainly break the back of the Republican party.
As you know, Arlen Specter was Joe Biden's track mate every day on the train every day so I will say without a doubt that Biden was the point man in the drive to get the once moderate Republican to leave the dark side and come over to the new right, the Democratic Party. As the Republican party already far right steadily moved farther right in their effort to make Obama fail Specter found himself increasingly alienated. He jumped ship. This lightening bolt caught me off guard. With only 21% of people registered as Republicans this may be pure pragmatic Politics but Republicans are in serious trouble and I am psyched.
I am cautious and do not want to get too hopeful but I am pleased to see every dirty trick Republicans pull backfire on them. This time they were going to try and bring moderate Specter to his knees in his next race for not voting as they told him. They backed conservative Pat Toomey to defeat him during his next run for his seat. Once again their interference has backfired and Specter may bring them to their knees. I will watch and hope. They are down but not out!
In closing this a great event to have marked President Obama's 100th day. Passing energy reform and health care for all is now looking more promising than ever. Arlen Specter said he was putting aside personal interests but hell it was all about Specter and his 28 year career. His coming over just happens to be the right thing at the right time to help the right President do the right thing for America. Both the Democratic party and Specter, as well as the country are going to benefit greatly from this. At this point I do not think it is possible for Democrats to overreach. We do need a complete makeover. We will have it unless Republicans succeed in Blocking Democrats and our good sense causing them to think the ugliness of conservative extremism is better for them. I do not see it happening. For me with Arlen Specter at this critical time in righting the ship called America I see a marriage made in heaven. Happy 100 Days President Obama and America. It should be a very good next few years!
James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
www.anaveragepatriot.com
10 comments:
Yes, the Specter defection couldn't have been timed more perfect falling on Prez O's one hundredth day...
LOVE IT! :o)
Hi Karen
I agree! Now I see Health care and energy reform passing. Those are Specter's babies too!
I remain a skeptic until I see how he votes. Remember he is against Dawn because she's pro choice. How will that sit with him if health care reform involves funded abortions?
Specter is a self-serving *sshole. His switchover had absolutely nothing to do ideology OR politics. It only serves his lust to hold onto power. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the many times he railed against Bush and in the end, voted exactly like the Neocons instructed him to. The only ones getting screwed by this is the American citizenry.
The only difference between Arlen Specter and Harry Reid is, one lives in Nevada and one lives in Pennsylvania.
Has anyone stopped to think that he just may be a Republican-planted mole, just like Joe Liebermann?
Demuer
You have a point there. I do think he is right behind energy reform and health care as they are his pets too. As for funding abortion if he is not needed he will vote nay because of that. If his vote is needed he will state why he is against it but for the general good he will state his opposition but vote yay if needed.
Hey Brother, hope you are well! Yeah he could be a mole but I think you are right, he is self serving. Jumping ship kept his job at the least. I am hoping the extremist conservatives drive the 2 Maine Senators out too.
true, pretty self-serving. but pragmatism is often a good thing. hey, anything that gets us closer to filibuster-buster is good by me. now, minnesota - get your SHIT together!! obviously franken won! of course, they could ship the ballots off to florida -
I agree Weezie. Coleman does not care about the people he will never give up figuring the Feds will give it to him where the state did not.
Now that the anti-science, superstition-based initiative presidency ends, we need several public works science Manhattan projects to make us great again and boost us out of this Grotesque Depression. First we must provide free advertising-based wireless internet to everyone to end land line monopolies. Then we must criscross the land with high speed rail. Because bovine flatulence is the major source of greenhouse gases, we must develop home growable microbes to provide all of our protein. Then we must create microbes which turn our sewage and waste into fuel right at home. This will end energy monopoly by putting fuel in our hands. We must address that most illness starts from behavior, especially from parents. Since paranoid schizophrenia is the cause of racism, bigotry, homelessness, terrorism, ignorance, exploitation and criminality, we must provide put the appropriate medications, like lithium, in the water supply and require dangerous wingnuts who refuse free mental health care to be implanted with drug release devices. Churches should be licensed to reduce supersition and all clergy dealing with small children should be psychiatrically monitored to prevent molesting. Osama bin Laden and Timothy McVeigh were the ultimate superstition based initiatives. Aborting future terrorists and sterilizing their parents is the most effective homeland security. Widen navigation straits (Gibraltar, Suez, Malacca, Danube, Panama and Hellspont) with deep nukes to prevent war. In order to fund this we must nationalize the entire financial, electrical and transportation system and extinguish the silly feudal notion that each industry should be regulated by its peers. Technology mandates a transformation of tax subsidies from feudal forecloseable debt to risk sharing equity. Real estate and insurance, the engines of feudalism, must be brought under the Federal Reserve so we may replace all buildings with hazardous materials to provide public works. Insects, flooding and fire spread asbestos, lead and mold which prematurely disables the disadvantaged. Disposable manufactured housing assures children are not prematurely disabled and disadvantaged. Because feudalism is the threat to progress everywhere, we must abolish large land holdings by farmers, foresters or religions and instead make all such large landholding part of the forest service so our trees may diminish greenhouse gases. We must abolish executive pay and make sure all employees in a company are all paid equally. We must abolish this exploitative idea of trade and monopoly and make every manufactured disposable cottage self sufficient through the microbes we invent.
Hi Vernon
Welcome! We certainly have our work cut out for us after Bush sending us back to the dark ages. Much of what you said I agree with. I have to laugh, Republicans would hate it all. I would like to see our lives and future taken out of the hands of a few.
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