I typically don't post about something until after the story breaks. It gives me time to clear out any off-the-cuff emotional responses I might have and gives me time to think. I try to only blog in a manner that exhibits thought instead of pure emotion. This is not going to be one of those posts.

Sen. Arlen Specter (W-PA) (stick with me and you'll find out what the 'W' stands for) has switched parties from the Republicans to the Democrats, giving the Dems 59 seats in the Senate. The fate of the filibuster proof Senate now rests in the hands of that partisan jackass Al Franken. What a country, right?

Many people are thinking that signals the end of the Republican party. Or a sign that the Republicans are no longer big tent enough to win elections. As Olympia Snowe (R-MA) puts it, "it would be even sadder if we failed to confront and learn from the devaluation of diversity within the party that contributed to his defection." Before we get to Specter, let me tackle this first.

The idea that the Republican party is closed off to dissenting voices is absurd. The Democrats are just as closed to opinion on the right as the Republicans might be to the left. Let's face it, Republicans have more pro-choice and open-borders advocates with a voice than the Dems have pro-life and closed-borders. Name for me the last Democratic presidential candidate that was pro-life? The last to presidential election cycles were a joke on the Democrat side. I watched 7 or 8 people stand on stage and all give the same answers unless they were attacking someone. The creativity of the attacks were the only thing that set each apart from the other.

Arlen Specters swap in parties has nothing to do with any lack of diversity in the party. The fact that he was in the party for so long proofs that there is diversity. Specter switched parties because he is a politician. A calculating, cold, only thinks about himself politician. But worse than that, he is a whore politician (there's the 'W'). Let's look at the politician side first.

Specter stated himself that

The Pennsylvanian said he had decided that 'the prospects for winning a Republican primary are bleak' in his home state, and that he is 'not prepared' to have his 29-year record in the Senate decided by the the 'jury' of the Republican Party primary.

The "jury"??!? Sir, those jurors, as you call them, are your voters. They elected you to represent them. If they feel you are not representing them in the correct manner, than they have every right to throw you out of office. That is how our system works!!! Perhaps if you worried more about representing those that elected you instead of playing nice with the Washington elite, you wouldn't be in the position. Instead, Specter looks for the easiest road possible to hold his seat.

But that doesn't hold a candle to this. You might be surprised to know that this isn't the first time Specter has done this:



Specter is a whore. He sells himself to highest, political bidder in an effort to further his own career. The man has no principles (what are moderate principles anyway). His services (in this case, his vote) is up for bid to the person or person's willing to give him the most for it.

This man is the sad, but accurate, poster-child for what is wrong with Washington today. Politicians spend more time and effort trying to figure out how to bolster their careers and political futures than doing the job they were sent to Washington to do, represent the people.

So take him, Democrats. As a Libertarian, I couldn't care less. But be forewarned. The minute you spot being profitable for Specter, he is gone. Its happened several times before, it will happen again. Enjoy.