NYT: Abortion Remark by G.O.P. Senator Puts Heat on Peers

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 - Angry conservatives flooded Senate phone and fax lines on Friday demanding that Republicans prevent Senator Arlen Specter from presiding over the Judiciary Committee after he remarked that strongly anti-abortion judicial nominees might be rejected in the Senate.

Republican lawmakers and top Senate aides, speaking privately for the most part, said the uproar from the right was becoming an impediment for Mr. Specter, a Pennsylvania lawmaker who has coveted the chairmanship. They said while it was likely he would still get the post, it was no longer a certainty.

"He is not out of the woods,'' said one Senate aide who is closely monitoring developments on the Judiciary Committee, echoing a sentiment expressed by Republican senators and other party officials.

(snip)

But the Republican officials said that continuing resistance to his taking the chairmanship of the committee that examines judicial nominees was being fanned by conservative talk radio hosts and groups outraged over his comments.

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http://nytimes.com/2004/11/06/politics/06judges.html?hp&ex=1099717200&en=33c31dbc995e3185&ei=5094&partner=homepage

They can't get rid of the abortion issue - what would they run on?

sometime why * hasn't been trying to push an anti-abortion amendment through congress when he obviously had the votes needed to approve it.

They WILL push to overturn Roe v. Wade now. Their base expects them
to deliver.

> They can't get rid of the abortion issue - what would they run on?

Once they overturn Roe, they'll want to ban abortion everywhere,
since women will be crossing state lines to get abortions as all
the red states ban them. Then they'll go after birth control.
Then reinstating sodomy laws so they can imprison gay people.

They've always got the Crusade, of course, and Abu Gharaib is actually
a plus for those people.

I so hate it .

the best thing dems can do is to start a well-advertised nationwide
"dumpster patrol" to try and find all the babies that will end up in the trash, thanks to the restriction of abortion. and we need to seriously push for more laws that allow women to leave their babies in emergency rooms anonymously without prosecution. Just thinking ahead.

Herbalists need to unite in the next two years to find the old herbal formulas for abortion and that women used for tens of thousands of years before modern medicine, that were probably lost with the witch trials in the middle ages.

I wonder if they will bring back the old "laying over" laws, since they don't care about a child once it is born.

Texas!

If they had really wanted to pass the late term abortion ban across both sides of the aisle without the possibility of a court challenge, they would have added the exception for the health of the mother.

Most fundies don't understand what the objection to this ban by the congressional Dems really was. They all just think and are encouraged to think that we are all for these late term procedures.

They purposely refused to put it in so it would fire up their fundie base when our side challenged it before the Supreme Court.

It was all orchestrated.

They're like fireants! There's a blip on the radar, and they're all swarming, attacking in deference to their queen. Flooded Senate phone and fax lines on Friday?! Who are these angry conservatives? And why are they flooding phone and fax lines over a factual comment made by Specter?!

they strip him of his power.

if they don't fall in line with the neo cons

The radical right will eat their own.

If he floats, give him the chairmanship.

Or are you just quoting a White House press release?

to the Senator's demotion!

Yeah... they'll be so glad they supported such a powerful figure!

They cast their lot with the weasel.

And no, I hope Specter does not jump to the Democrats!

We don't need or want his ilk.

many there be many real victims among them.

... and one good thing may come of it -- Republicans like Snowe, Collins and Chaffee may finally see the light and join the ranks against the Dark Side.

This is also another reason we DEMS need to stick together, not point fingers at "who lost us the election" but adhere with the greatest courage and conviction to our principles.

We certainly don't need to divide the way we've been doing these past few days, blaming anyone and everyone.

wonder if ours will stick together when furious george
tries to pass all the legislation that is going to
dismantle the country.

:kick:

has a website http://www.independentjudiciary.com/ that allows people to help achieve a fair judiciary. This is a good place to start.

Next go around, the Dems should fight aggressively to remove these imposters...these Senator's leaders don't hold our values...and must be removed.

Republicans ear-marked moderate Democrats like Cleland, Smith in New Hampshire, and Missouri in 2002 to gain advantage.

We must now make sure that Democratic Senators remain in place in the Dem ares. We must keep Cali, NY, the New england area...We should go after Norm Coleman (MN), Snowe and Collins (MI), Chafee (RI) unless he will switch, Gordon (OR) ... we need to find a way to break through or keep face in the moderate states and we have to find a way to get a Dem Senator from Ohio or Pennsylvania.

Southern Governors like Easly and Warner (NC and VA) should be groomed to move into positions there and Visalick in Iowa as well. We have to keep Wisco and it looks like we will (Kohl, Feingold) and solidify our presence there and North Dakota (Dorgan, Conrad) and rekindle it in Minnesota.

...are our ONLY HOPE RIGHT NOW, but not for switching--the Maine contingent will not switch unless the administration goes totally insane. It's foolish and counterproductive to even target them. They will mitigate the worst of the GOP the insanity because they KNOW they won't get reelected if they go too far right. AND, they can use their position as moderates to beat down the far-right loonies. Just as we are in bad shape, the GOP is in bad shape, because those three can't be depended upon to vote relibly (from a GOP standpoint) on social issues. Snowe/Collins will vote for defense issues, because of Kittery/Portsmouth, which contributes substantially to the ME economy.

Truth of the matter is, in New England, the two Maine (not MI, ME) senators have sufficient seniority to be reelected again and again, regardless of party. They take good care of their constituents, and they are more liberal than a lot of southern democrats. Chaffee has a seat on intel, he would lose it if he swapped...but he WOULD swap IF it made a difference. He voted for GHW Bush this time--not the idiot son--as a form of protest. He started out as a lightweight in his daddy's chair, but he is coming along. But right now, it does not pay for him to swap--he is not in a Jeffords' scenario. That could change two years hence.

I think what we need to do is go after "say one thing, do another" Senators. They are out there, people on the Hill know who they are. We just need pictures or testimony. Where's Larry Flynt when ya need him???

I say go after BAD GOP Senators, not the decent ones who will cross the aisle when the administration goes crazy. And there are plenty of bad ones out there. We just need to shine a spotlight on them.

Well beyond hubris now, the cabal thinks it can get away with anything. Worse than that is that Junior himself thinks he doesn't need his team.

If they try to cross the evangelicals, they've got a comeuppance coming, and it may be just what we need.

...don't flood their congressmen with calls about ending this useless war.