Things I Learned From Arlen Specter’s Office Today
“Accomplished and shameless liar” must be a requirement to work in Arlen Specter’s office: whether it’s providing constituents honest answers to “who doctored the PATRIOT Act so the President could bypass the Senate’s confirmation of US attorneys general”, his knowledge of abuses at Walter Reed or last night’s filibuster, you can count on Specter’s staff to tell you outright lies that they’re unprepared to answer for when they get caught in the act. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, just 7 short months ago… (make your own time travel music).
I called up Senator Specter’s office this morning to inquire about the White House purge on US attorneys, and not five minutes ago had an interesting conversation with Specter’s Judiciary Legislative Aide, a man named Andrew Mountain.
He told me, with regard to the purge, that Arlen Specter stands up for the role of Congress and that while the Senator hadn’t released a formal statement on the matter, he was concerned about what was going on. The Senator, he assured me, was aware of the matter. The Senator had always emphasized the role of the Judiciary Committee, and had always insisted on fair, unbiased hearings for nominees. He would pass my concerns along to the Senator. He wasn’t sure if the Senator knew about these provisions, but would look into it.
Within one minute of hanging up, I went back to Josh Marshall’s Talking Points Muckraker site and learned that “Former Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) slipped the language into the bill at the very last minute, according to one of the Republican managers of the bill.” Interestingly, Mr. Mountain never mentioned that fact in the course of our ten minute conversation. Not once. Kind of a glaring omission.
[snip]
So I called back, and asked Mr. Mountain why he had neglected to inform me of his boss’s role in this particular provision. Mr. Mountain suggested that I was “attacking his integrity”. That Mountain “was not there when the legislation was passed.” That he had not “intentionally misled me.” That Specter always stood up for the role of Congress. When I pointed out Specter’s oh-so-brave-and-independent-and-maverick decision, in the face of the illegal warrantless NSA wiretapping, to give the administration everything they wanted and then some (including retroactive immunity from prosecution), Mountain denied that this was true.
So I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised this morning when another of his staffers told me damnable, black lies that were as transparent as they were false.
When I called up to inquire into what other necessary legislation supported by the majority of Americans that Specter intended to filibuster, I learned, for example, that it’s actually not the Republicans filibustering, but the Democrats. or so Specter’s liar would have me think.
“That’s not true,” I told the young lying woman on the other end of the phone. “The Republicans are the ones filibustering. It’s simply that the Democrats are refusing to extend the courtesy of pulling legislation off the table when the GOP threatens to filibuster. We’re holding you to your promise. So please, tell me what other legislation Arlen intends to filibuster? I just LOVE to hear that man talk. Talk talk talk. So, will it be more funding for troops attached to timetables? More drawdown bills? I know he wants to keep the troops in Iraq as long as possible, with no oversight, no change in course, and no downtime.”
“The Senator believes the troops need downtime, sir,” the liar responded.
“Really? Then why’d he vote against the Webb Amendment? He voted against downtime for the troops.”
Here’s where I learned that it’s not so much that Specter opposes downtime for the troops. The little liar explained that he opposes “specific amounts of downtime”. Oh. I guess that’s different. Except it’s not.
Furthermore, the liar explained “I’ll have you know that the majority of Pennsylvanians support the Senator on this matter”, which is incoherent. Pennsylvanians support the Senator’s filibuster? But I thought he wasn’t filibustering? Didn’t she just say that five seconds ago? Oh that’s right: Specter’s staffer was LYING. Surprise, surprise!
“That’s simply not true,” I responded, “because the majority of Pennsylvanians voted the Republicans out of power in 2006: we kicked out Rick Santorum, Kurt Weldon, and Mike Stack, and replaced them with people like Patrick Murphy and Joe Sestak who campaigned on bringing the troops home. You’re telling me that the same people who overwhelmingly supported bringing the troops home support Specter’s efforts to keep them there indefinitely?
“Listen, 70% of Americans want this war over and they want it over now. They want the troops to come home. This is unwinnable, and Arlen Specter is obstructing the will of the American people. So tell me, again, what other legislation he intends to obstruct? We know he doesn’t think Congress should exercise oversight, he doesn’t believe that the minimum wage should be increased, he wants to stay in Iraq indefinitely…”
“Sir, that’s not what the Senator wants?”
“Oh no? Then why does he keep voting to keep them there? No Webb amendment, no timetable for withdrawal, no withdrawal plan at all. Our troops are in 130 degree heat, they’re hauling hundred pound packs, they don’t know who their allies and enemies are, or when they can come home, and Arlen is intent on keeping them there!”
“Sir…”
“How much combat time has Specter seen? How many times has Arlen Specter been on the business end of a rifle? Did he go to Viet Nam? Korea? How much combat did he see? Has he ever seen combat? Have you ever seen combat? Do you know anyone in Iraq?”
“Sir… sir… SIR! Sir, I’ll pass your opinions…” She said “opinion” as if it was a dirty word. “…Along to the Senator.”
“Thanks, and have a nice day!” I said, “And enjoy killing our troops, you guys are doing a heck of a job!”
July 18th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Nice, Brendan.