This is a Matter of Self Respect

Elections Matter.

Votes Matter.

What officials do with those votes once they are in office matters.

I am a Democrat.

I drink the kool-aid flavored with the words all of us are created equal.  It blew me away that Arlen Specter became one of us because he knew his time was up in the GOP.   What really blows me away is that any Democrat would seriously consider him as our candidate for anything, much less Senator.

Arlen Specter was chairman of the Judiciary Committee when Clarence Thomas was nominated to take Thurgood Marshall’s place on the Court.  This is the same Clarence Thomas who had the Anita Hill problem. Specter let him on the Court.

We arrive at the year 2000. Five – count them five – votes on the Supreme Court ruled against the country and gave us the loser of the 2000 election as our president.  The people had it right in 2000.  Unfortunately we lost the World Trade Center because we had the wrong guy at the controls.  We blew the baby-boomers’ nest egg on two wars that never should have been fought because we had the wrong guy at the controls.

Do I want to tie Arlen Specter’s vote for Clarence Thomas to the result of Gore v. Bush?  (Remember it was a 5-4 decision.)

Absolutely.

It is fair to do so?  Absolutely.

He had the opportunity to change history for the better, but he was a GOP flak when he allowed Thomas to plug in the shredder to dispose of the Constitution.

As we rode through the last decade, Specter had the opportunity to make a mark on the court twice again.  He stained the court with Roberts and Alito.

Do I want to tie Arlen Specter’s vote for Thomas, Roberts and Alito to the result of the Citizens United decision?   (Remember it was a 5-4 decision.)

Absolutely.

It is fair to do so? Absolutely.

These appointments of Arlen Specter allowed these three guys to turn on the shredder and feed the Constitution through it.

The Supreme Court is a life-appointment.  Unfortunately these decisions are giving “We the People” the life terms.  Who do we hold responsible?  We are a democracy, where does our system allow for redress of the wrongs committed?  We are told at the ballot box.

Specter screwed up when he acted as a flak for the GOP.  When does he pay for this?  How does allowing this man entrance to the Senate AS A DEMOCRAT do anything to redress the wrongs committed by his actions?

Allowing Specter to be taken seriously as a candidate for nomination to this party in an indictment of our own self-respect as Democrats.  Any official that gives aid and comfort to this man in the Democratic party is aiding and abetting our own demise.

“You have to stand for something or you will fall for anything”.  From here on out, if I am in a room where Specter is speaking I will simply rise and turn my back to him.  I will not yell at him.  I will not address him.   It will be hard to do.  I don’t care if I am the only guy in the room doing this.

When the elections come I will go into the booth, stand and turn my back on him as he turned his back on this country, by allowing such fools into positions of high power.

I will stand as a Democrat.  This is a matter of self-respect.