Via John Lott (who’s book I’m finishing up, and will write a review on shortly), Senator Specter is trying to inflate his own sense of importance again:
Specter, who championed their confirmation, said Tuesday he will personally re-examine the testimony to see if their actions in court match what they told the Senate.”There are things he has said, and I want to see how well he has complied with it,” Specter said, singling out Roberts.
The Specter inquiry poses a potential political problem for the GOP and future nominees because Democrats are increasingly complaining that the Supreme Court moved quicker and more dramatically than advertised to overturn or chip away at prior decisions.
Specter, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, who served as chairman during the hearings, said he wants to examine whether Roberts and Alito have “lived up” to their assurances that they would respect legal precedents.
Hey, GOP leadership, are you regretting throwing Pat Toomey under the bus yet? I am. I’ve always voted for Snarlen Arlen, because the other choices have been worse, but I’ve never enjoyed it.
Is it just me, or is it a little strange that in an article talking about the judgment of Supreme Court justices (whose rulings, afaik, are supposed to be based on the Constitution first and foremost), the word “Constitution” does not appear once?
It ought to be strange, that’s for sure. But when I was watching Specter at the confirmation hearings, my thought was that he was a lot more interested in preserving his own power, than he was about the constitution being followed.