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Ear to the Ground

Voters Reject Party-Switching Specter

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Posted on May 18, 2010
AFL-CIO / Steve Dietz (CC-BY)

Former Republican Sen. Arlen Specter’s plan to switch parties in order to avoid losing a primary battle didn’t exactly work out. Despite support from the president, Specter lost the Pennsylvania Democratic primary Tuesday.

Specter’s opponent, Rep. Joe Sestak, made sure voters remembered the senator’s Republican baggage with this devastating ad:

AP via Yahoo:

Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter lost his bid for a sixth term Tuesday night, a party-switching veteran sent down to defeat by voters rejecting experience and clamoring for change. Political novice Rand Paul rode support from tea party activists to a rout in Kentucky’s Republican Senate primary.

In another gauge of anti-establishment sentiment, Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas led in her bid for nomination to a third term, but was below the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a costly runoff.

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By SteveL, May 19, 2010 at 8:58 pm Link to this comment

Will Arlen now confess to what a sham the Warren Report was?

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amunaor's avatar

By amunaor, May 19, 2010 at 12:00 pm Link to this comment

RE: thecrow, May 19 at 9:22 am

Much of the younger crowd is unaware of the slippery nature of this self-serving, loathsome slug.

In mob-speak, Specter became a ‘made’ man; with keys to the city, following his willful compliancy in assisting the Warren Commission’s sabotaging of the investigation.

A real scumbag!

Peace, Best Wishes and Hope

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thecrow's avatar

By thecrow, May 19, 2010 at 4:22 am Link to this comment

“The FBI took me to Parkland Hospital.  I had no idea what I was doing there.  They escorted me through a labyrinth of corridors and up to one of the top floors of Parkland.  I didn’t know where we were.  They took me into this little room where I met Arlen Specter.  He talked to me for a few minutes, trying to act real friendly, then this woman, a stenographer, came in and sat behind me.  He had told me that this interview would be confidential, then I looked around and this woman was taking notes.  I reminded him that the discussion was to be private and he told the woman to put down her notebook, which she did.  But when I looked around again she was writing.  I got mad and told Specter, ‘You lied to me.  I want this over.’  He asked me why I wouldn’t come to Washington, and I said, ‘Because I want to stay alive.’  He asked why I would think that I was in danger and I replied, ‘Well, if they can kill the President, they can certainly get me!’  He replied that they already had the man that did it and I told him, ‘No, you don’t!’ 

He kept trying to get me to change my story, particularly regarding the number of shots.  He said I had been told how many shots there were and I figured he was talking about what the Secret Service told me right after the assassination.  His inflection and attitude was that I knew what I was supposed to be saying, why wouldn’t I just say it.  I asked him, ‘Look, do you want the truth or just what you want me to say?’  He said he wanted the truth, so I said, ‘The truth is that I heard between four and six shots.’  I told him, ‘I’m not going to lie for you.’  So he starts talking off the record.  He told me about my life, my family, and even mentioned that my marriage was in trouble.  I said, ‘What’s the point of interviewing me if you already know everything about me?’  He got angrier and finally told me, ‘Look, we can even make you look as crazy as Marguerite Oswald [Lee Oswald’s mother] and everybody knows how crazy she is.  We could have you put in a mental institution if you don’t cooperate with us.’  I knew he was trying to intimidate me…”

- Jean Hill

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/he-who-controls-the-past/

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By PatrickHenry, May 19, 2010 at 2:44 am Link to this comment

What a great day it is for us to be rid of this entrenched fossil.

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By amunaor, May 18, 2010 at 8:42 pm Link to this comment

Good bye!!!

It was Arlen Specter, as member of the Warren Commission, who promoted the Single Bullet Theory, ‘essential’ to the Warren Commission’s conclusion that Oswald acted alone.

Now if they can only dump, two step, Joey Liebermann, along with all of the other entrenched chameleons, we might could make some progress.

Peace, Best Wishes and Hope

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