PHILADELPHIA — The Republican expected to chair the Senate Judiciary Committee next year bluntly warned newly re-elected President Bush today against putting forth Supreme Court nominees who would seek to overturn abortion rights or are otherwise too conservative to win confirmation.
Sen. Arlen Specter, fresh from winning a fifth term in Pennsylvania, also said the current Supreme Court now lacks legal "giants" on the bench.
"When you talk about judges who would change the right of a woman to choose, overturn Roe v. Wade, I think that is unlikely," Specter said, referring to the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. [Source]
Now what was Senator Rick Santorum saying about needing a Republican plurality to be able to advance the culture of life? Senator Santorum and President Bush both supported Senator Specter reelection and of course in gratitude he waits all of one day to slip the pro-choice knife into their backs. This is what happens when you try to rationalize support of pro-abortion politicians – you never get the effect you desired. I would rather have had Specter’s pro-abortion opponent Joseph M. Hoeffel win. It would still have been a pro-abortion Senator but he would be a freshmen in the minority party and would not be chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee. There is much to respect about Senator Rick Santorum but this move was pure blunder.
9 comments
Sad, sad news. I will pray for Senator Specter and the rest of the Senate in the hopes that they will give America’s babies a chance!
Pray and contact the white house and RNC about this…plus, possibly most importantly, your own GOP senators. Here is what could be written:
Senator Arlen Specter has told President Bush not to send him any pro-life judges if he is chairman of the Senate judiciary committee.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/politics/2883040
Further, Arlen Specter did not campaign for President Bush and his political director ran a 527 that was placing “Kerry/Specter for Working Families” signs in SE Pennsylvania. There must be consequences for this disloyalty.
I urge you to ensure that Senator Specter is NOT selected for chairman of the judiciary committee. He is not a loyal Republican.
What piece of sh…
Someone please explain to me how the American Congress works. Who gets to decide which senator gets this position?
Couldn’t they just get another guy (who’s pro-life) to do it?
If that doesn’t work…couldn’t they just kick this Specter guy out of the party? Would that let them choose another guy to head this judiciary committee? The Republicans have a big enough lead in the Senate now that they can afford to run this guy out of the party.
Ya…Santorum and Bush were reallllllly dumb to support this poor excuse for a human being.
You can never trust a man who’d stap a pair of scissors into a baby’s head to not stab you in the back.
Katherine J Lopez at National Review was pushing a campaign yesterday to contact the senate majority leader, bill frist, as well as other republicans on the senate judiciary committee.
go here and scroll down… there’s lots of stuff, so i can’t link just one:
http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/corner.asp
Stop Arlen Specter!
I’m asking everyone who reads my blog to do everything they can to stand up for the dignity of human life in this country. With a pro-life President in the White House, with a pro-life Senate and House of Representatives, and with a moral mandate fro…
We must definitely let the Republicans, including President Bush, know we are displeased with Arlen Specter’s nonsense.
If someone else on the Senate judiciary committee challenges Specter, the the whole Senate GOP votes on who the next chairman will be. I’ll post contact info in a few minutes. In addition to your own Senators and the white house, the Judiciary committee and the Senate leadership would be worth contacting, if you have the time.
My mistake – only the republicans on the committee vote.
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch
104 Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-5251
Fax: (202) 224-6331
Sen. Charles E. Grassley
135 Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-3744
Fax: (202) 224-6020
Sen. Jon Kyl
730 Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-4521
Fax: (202) 224-2207
Sen. Mike DeWine
140 Russell Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-2315
Fax: (202) 224-6519
Sen. Jeff Sessions
335 Russell Senate Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Tel: (202) 224-4124
Fax: (202) 224-3149
Sen. Lindsey Graham
290 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-5972
Fax: (202) 224-1189
Sen. Larry Craig
520 Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-2752
Fax: (202) 228-1067
Sen. Saxby Chambliss
416 Russell Senate Building
Washington, DC 20515
Tel: (202) 224-3521
Fax: (202) 224-0103
Sen. John Cornyn
517 Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-2934
Fax: (202) 228-2856