As long as we're "shutting people up" can we please ad Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) to the list.

Doesn't matter if you're right or left, it's hard to deny that this one is 1 shingle short of a roof.

I really think she's starting to lose it.

1. Agree w #1 on Bachmann.

2. This ability to change parties "mid-stream"... what does that tell the voters who pulled the lever on a party line?

Speaking of Bachmann:

" I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter. And I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence."

Actually swine fever broke out in 1976, when Gerald Ford was the president; not that it matters, except to some demogogic political figures, like Bachmann, who doensn't seem embarrassed by her erroneous accusations and odious comparisons...and really making a similar political statement, as Rush Limbaugh did about swine flu and Obama- going to Mexico at the same time -shows why Specter, as calculating (and oily) as he is, had no future with the likes and popularity of Bachmann and Palin in Rush Limbaugh land.

"2. This ability to change parties "mid-stream"... what does that tell the voters who pulled the lever on a party line?"

Umm,,, fuck you?!

Perhaps Arlen wants to be a Dem so, if he loses the next election, the Big O will appoint him to some gov't job- which he's more likely to do if Spector is a Republican.

Michael Steele's comment on Spector-Defector was great, saying essentially "Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out [of the party]."

Photo of Biden meeting with Specter on Feb 7th:

http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2009/04/peace-train-republished.html

This alternate theory, like alternative energy, alternative medicine and alternative minimal tax, belongs in the alternative waste basket.

I disagree, epador.

Inside the beltway, there's obviously something wrong. You get folks elected, and after a while (if they're sensitive to it) they become what they professed to despise. Obviously there's an infective agent there somewhere, rather like the swine flu, which induces delusions of grandeur and megalomania. They become the 'only ones' who can do the job right - so they've GOT to stay there, any way they can!

What else might induce an almost 80-year old man, already set for life, to toss out a party affliation just to make sure he has a slightly better chance to be elected?

It might be best to quarantine that whole area and the affected population. Yes, it'll be rough on those in the zone which AREN'T infected with this contagion, but I'm starting to think complete isolation until no sign of the infection is apparent is the way to go here... no matter HOW long it might take.

JLawson:
The alternate theory was that he wanted to shut up Joe Biden. Going over to the Dem side will not shut up Joe, just make him more talkative. Just as Alternative Fuels waste more energy, alternative medicine wastes money and diverts people from appropriate care, and the AMT diverts more money to the government, this alternate theory needs to be debunked.

Arlan went over to the dark side about 30 years ago. He's just jumped under the Emperor's cape before the coup d'etat is complete.

BTW, JL, I believe that Iran and Kim iz Nutz are contemplating turning the DC area into glass, which ought to sterilize the area pretty well.

I suppose it could be called expedited urban demolition and preparation for renewal...

But when Holy Joe Lieberman started the Independent Democratic Party (members:1), because he lost the Dem primary, he did it entirely on principle! And if John McCain had been smart enough to offer him the VP nod, Holy Joe would have refused, on principle!

Yessir, Lieberman is principled, but Spector is a real snake-in-the-grass.

Lorie, You should know that political defections to the winning side have been not uncommon since the Reagan era when the switch was mostly in reverse: Gramm(TX), Campbell(CO), Shelby(AL), etc. Sometimes shortly after election night.

As for blaming someone, the Republican party has been tossing over its members to control the news cycle since the END of the Reagan era: the Trent Lott sacrifice was promoted via the pages of National Review, for example.

National Reveiw (Frum, Lowery) attempted a party purge of "Unpatriotic Republicans" not in support of the war in Iraq.

(I cite NR as one of the half dozen mouthpieces with even 20% credibility with it own public; the RNC has less)

Also (and I mentioned this when it happened HERE, at Wizbang, and it applies to my first (Lott) example above), the attempted expulsion of Larry Craig and Craig's humane defense by SPECTER; I'm no Specter fan ("magic bullet" B.S., etc) but even Specter found the self-righteousness of GOP horn-dogs and closet queens PUBLICLY black-balling an outed bisexual colleague as...cowardly, sniveling, and hypocritical.

Hey, Specter was willing to play Spend-O-Rama with the GOP, but the GOP are not worth covering-up or lying (on spending, etc) for, or requiring acting classes to rewrite and explain GOP history.

On the bright side, you still have Bobby Hindi.

Specter "just wanted Biden to shut up?" No, you had it right the first time. Specter changed parties because he knew the republican primary would be a first class gamble at best and in all probability, a loser. Like virtually every other member of the Senate, Specter is far more interested in power and the accumulation of wealth than in the well-being of the US or the rights and liberties of its citizens. He is a typical political thug.

Bruce Henry
"Yessir, Lieberman is principled, but Spector is a real snake-in-the-grass"

You should be talking about principled. YOu still owe Kim an apology claiming she pulled something out of her ass.

Also you owe apologies to all the service men and women whom have died while you state they have been sucking up your tax dollars for job training. For myself and for them I wholeheartedly say

SCREW YOU.

Oh and Bruce

Try talking about principles when you have found yours. They are where your testicles are hiding.