[Speed Gibson,
Tuesday July 12, 2005 at 10:45pm]
Dumb and Dumber
Arlen Specter is back with another dumb idea: Sandra Day O'Connor for Chief Justice. But who is dumber? The Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee or the Republican leadership who left him there?
If I had the time and resources of more promiinent bloggers, I would go back to that last alleged trip to the woodshed when Specter last babbled his way off the GOP reservation. He promised to behave we were told.
But now with O'Connor, Rehnquist (counts as two), and maybe Stevens stepping down this year, the old Specter is back, with a worthless, insulting proposal. His stated reasoning is that a speedy, uncontested confirmation is more valuable than the competent rule of law.
No doubt Specter knows how bad it would look if the GOP leadership moved against him now. But that is just what should now happen, before Specter can play another card off the bottom of the deck.
Majority Leader Frist could make it work, saying that we need a chairman fully committed to thorough, fair, and timely hearings for the critcal appointments ahead.
My larger point is that this all would have been so much easier last year, when Specter had no political cover. In any organization, you can't afford unpredicatable liabilities like this. Once you find them, you get rid of them now - on principle.
If I had the time and resources of more promiinent bloggers, I would go back to that last alleged trip to the woodshed when Specter last babbled his way off the GOP reservation. He promised to behave we were told.
But now with O'Connor, Rehnquist (counts as two), and maybe Stevens stepping down this year, the old Specter is back, with a worthless, insulting proposal. His stated reasoning is that a speedy, uncontested confirmation is more valuable than the competent rule of law.
No doubt Specter knows how bad it would look if the GOP leadership moved against him now. But that is just what should now happen, before Specter can play another card off the bottom of the deck.
Majority Leader Frist could make it work, saying that we need a chairman fully committed to thorough, fair, and timely hearings for the critcal appointments ahead.
My larger point is that this all would have been so much easier last year, when Specter had no political cover. In any organization, you can't afford unpredicatable liabilities like this. Once you find them, you get rid of them now - on principle.