Who is the Real Arlen Specter?
Is it this guy?
Or is it this guy, who appears in this MUST READ Daily Kos front page by Eve Gittelson, filled with heartbreaking videos of hundreds of working class individuals and families with children lining up at the Kansas City Free Health Clinic for services they can’t obtain because they can’t afford insurance:
Why has not one Congressperson or U.S.Senator had the courage to come and see this Grapes of Wrath suffering with their own eyes? Why do you take junkets across the globe, but you fail to take the time to bear witness to the results of your own inability and lack of resolve to deliver healthcare to the American people? Would you no longer sleep soundly having to look in the eye all the suffering for which you are responsible?
I was on a conference call earlier this week with Arlen Specter. I issued the challenge to him, and much to my delight, he agreed. Senator Specter said that if given enough notice, and barring any extraordinary Senate business, he would attend the next free clinic, and I will be there to personally thank him. When I further pressed him about using his power and office to include colleagues, he readily agreed to do this as well. I’d ask the cynics to stand down for a moment. Yes, Senator Specter is in a tough election struggle, but let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. And I’ll add, after an initial stumble or two, as he got his Democratic sea legs, he’s been a very loyal Democrat on healthcare.
I honestly don’t know. The Sestak team is certainly correct to slam Arlen for his role in 40 years of Republican bullshit, much of which has directly hurt his constituents at home (but I think Sestak calling bullshit on Arlen for supporting warrantless wiretapping is a little precious, considering Sestak himself eventually voted for the FISA Amendments act, which gutted the Fourth Amendment).
But NYCeve is also right: Specter has been REALLY GOOD on health care. I’ve written before that he has better leadership instincts than Harry Reid, and a much better sense of discipline.
Now, personally I have given up on the Democratic Party as a force for change (or for much of anything really, other than protecting corporations and banks). The odds that I’m going to vote at all beyond the local level are incredibly low right now. so I’m in kind of an interesting position in that I’m happy to point out the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate with a certain level of disinterest.
If Arlen follows up on this pledge to witness what Eve accurately describes as “Grapes of Wrath suffering” that’s going on RIGHT NOW IN OUR COUNTRY, it will speak volumes about his sincerity and humanity.
Maybe: because if there’s one thing you can rely on from Arlen Specter, it’s unreliability.
