# RIP Arlen Specter **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 14, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708 "2012-10-14T17:57:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/21 "2012-10-15T11:34:29Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > So you believe Supreme Court justices should be rejected or endorsed based on their politics rather than qualification. > > Anyways RIP to Senator Specter even if I don’t agree with everything he did. Clarence Thomas shouldn’t have been rejected because of his right wing politics, he should have been rejected because he was a sexual predator. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/22 "2012-10-15T12:21:25Z")
I will always remember Arlen Specter for [this](http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20121015_Spotlight_shone_on_Specter_throughout_his_career.html): \*1979: After losing a re-election bid for another term as Philadelphia district attorney, Specter went into private practice. He represented [killer Ira Einhorn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_Einhorn) at his bail hearing in 1979, after the body of Einhorn’s girlfriend, Holly Maddux, had been found in a trunk in Einhorn’s closet. Specter argued that Einhorn deserved to be freed without bail because the prosecution had failed to prove a cause of death or to link Einhorn to the death. The judge set bail at $40,000, which Einhorn proceeded to jump.\* (Einhorn, after paying $4,000 (10% of the bail amount) fled to Europe, spent 16 years living there before being ultimately extradited back to the U.S. and convicted of murder (he claimed the CIA did it and framed him, because of Einhorn’s radical politics)). A guy’s ex-girlfriend is found decomposing in a trunk in his closet? He should be freed without bail (according to Specter). Not one of his finest moments. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/23 "2012-10-15T12:42:42Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Clarence Thomas shouldn’t have been rejected because of his right wing politics, he should have been rejected because he was a sexual predator. Which is why I don’t consider him qualified to shine my boots. Actually, I phrased it like that so I could respond to \*\*Jayjay \*\*with “Okay, you’re right. He IS qualified to shine my boots.” But as a Supreme Court justice? Please. One of the most startling pronouncements by the ever tone-deaf George Bush (I) was his opining that Thomas was the most qualified man in America to serve on the court, nothing to do with his race, when he obviously had searched high and low for the most conservative black man he could find, to appoint him to the court. We’re just lucky he didn’t have to settle for some bootblack, because if that’s what it would have taken for George Bush to appoint a black man to the court, then that’s what we would have gotten. And back to the OP, Arlen Specter would have defended that illiterate bootblack’s reputation when Anita Thomas raised the issue of sexual harassment. He was Bush’s eager attack dog, maligning a reluctant witness to Thomas’s outrageous behavior, and slandering her in an effort to have this cretin serve on the court. Thomas is the legacy of Specter and it will stick with us long after Specter has rotted in the ground. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/24 "2012-10-15T13:16:19Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Anita Thomas :eek: ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/25 "2012-10-15T13:41:02Z")
Welcome to her nightmare… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/26 "2012-10-15T14:04:48Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > So you believe Supreme Court justices should be rejected or endorsed based on their politics rather than qualification. > > Anyways RIP to Senator Specter even if I don’t agree with everything he did. He didn’t say that, and Thomas should have been rejected on his qualifications, which were non-existent. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/27 "2012-10-15T14:41:56Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > :eek: What the Hill was I thinking… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/28 "2012-10-15T14:55:40Z")
Because a few people have asked: yes, Elections is the place for this thread even though Specter was out of office. The forum is for discussing “political news, and politicians and public figures” along with current races. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/29 "2012-10-15T14:56:21Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I will always remember Arlen Specter for [this](http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20121015_Spotlight_shone_on_Specter_throughout_his_career.html): > > \*1979: After losing a re-election bid for another term as Philadelphia district attorney, Specter went into private practice. He represented [killer Ira Einhorn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_Einhorn) at his bail hearing in 1979, after the body of Einhorn’s girlfriend, Holly Maddux, had been found in a trunk in Einhorn’s closet. > > Specter argued that Einhorn deserved to be freed without bail because the prosecution had failed to prove a cause of death or to link Einhorn to the death. The judge set bail at $40,000, which Einhorn proceeded to jump.\* (Einhorn, after paying $4,000 (10% of the bail amount) fled to Europe, spent 16 years living there before being ultimately extradited back to the U.S. and convicted of murder (he claimed the CIA did it and framed him, because of Einhorn’s radical politics)). > > A guy’s ex-girlfriend is found decomposing in a trunk in his closet? He should be freed without bail (according to Specter). Not one of his finest moments. A guy’s ex-girlfriend is found decomposing in a trunk in his closet and Specter got him bail? Sounds like a great job as defense attorney. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/30 "2012-10-15T15:17:50Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > A guy’s ex-girlfriend is found decomposing in a trunk in his closet . . . Do **you** always unpack every single item of luggage right away after every trip? Some guys are just absent-minded. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/31 "2012-10-15T15:21:45Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > A guy’s ex-girlfriend is found decomposing in a trunk in his closet? He should be freed without bail (according to Specter). Defense attorney doing his job. And by the way, Specter was right about the single bullet killing JFK. I believe they had some incorrect details at that stage, but he was right even though people blathered on and on for decades about “magic bullets.” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/32 "2012-10-15T15:25:24Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > So whether or not you’re considered a “moderate” hangs on one issue? Mmmkay. Only because Republicans have made a big deal about that one issue, hence being on the “wrong” side on it shows you are willing to moderate your views and not be in lock step with your party. It’s not actually sufficient in and of itself, but works as quick indicator on whether they are moderate in other views. Before this election, I’d have said that Romney was a moderate Republican. Before the last election, I’d have said the same about McCain. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/33 "2012-10-15T16:54:32Z")
I don’t understand why people simply refuse to understand how the legal system works. Almost every single client a lawyer has is going to be a criminal, they should still try their best to get them off. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/34 "2012-10-15T16:57:54Z")
Not always. Pee Wee Herman probably figured he could get himself off. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/35 "2012-10-15T18:12:37Z")
I’m glad that he’s dead. He did very few good things in life. As a matter of fact, possibly the only really good things he ever did were helping to confirm Thomas and helping to defeat HillaryCare. He was the political equivalent of Benedict Arnold. I’d say that he’s a good candidate for the eighth circle of hell. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/36 "2012-10-15T18:38:35Z")
Does that extend to [all politicians](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan) that change parties? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/37 "2012-10-15T18:43:45Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > I’m glad that he’s dead. He did very few good things in life. As a matter of fact, possibly the only really good things he ever did were helping to confirm Thomas and helping to defeat HillaryCare. > > He was the political equivalent of Benedict Arnold. I’d say that he’s a good candidate for the eighth circle of hell. Were you upset that the Court didn’t have enough perverts before Thomas? Were there just too few uninsured Americans to suit your preferences? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/38 "2012-10-16T06:55:03Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > First; he was put on the Court because of his ideology, not because he was especially qualified. And second, of course politics matters, especially right wing politics. It’s a safe bet that a right winger is going to do anything he can to twist the law in his favored direction, or outright violate it. They do it all the time, after all. Like _Kelo v. City of New London_, including private developers in eminent domain rights? Definitely was a decision showing how the conservative Justices in the Court are all corporatist puppets like Ginsburg, Stevens, Souter… > [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > That’s why they’re selected by the president in the first place, so why shouldn’t the Senate play the same game? Fair enough. I presume then you don’t mind pro-life Congressmen using a litmus test on nominees for the Supreme Court. > [@BobLibDem](#): > > Were you upset that the Court didn’t have enough perverts before Thomas? Considering that Messrs. Clinton and Gore would be in the White House soon afterwards, I’d say it ensured a balance between the branches of government. ---
**Author:** ![Nazarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nazarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nazarene)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/39 "2012-10-16T07:07:19Z")
What did Gore ever do? ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708/40 "2012-10-16T07:40:45Z")
Gore invented the internet, which is _filled_ with all kinds of perverted sicko smut. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-arlen-specter/637708.md?page=3)