Specter's Senate Deal: Snake In The Weeds

After stripping new-to-the-Party Sen. Arlen Specter's seniority (apparently to incline Sen. Specter to remember his "new teammates" when voting in the next 18 months), Senate Democrats have created an opportunity for their newest caucus member to occupy an important (in Senate terms) seat: chair of the Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on crime.

From that position, Sen. Specter -- a former district attorney -- could accomplish a great deal of good by addressing the immoral sentencing system that is one of the worst features of the damnable "War On Drugs."

Instead, the Post-Gazette suggests, the new assignment is perceived as an opportunity for Sen. Specter to bolster his next campaign by showing "law-and-order" Pennsylvanians how tough he can be. Residence in a free county entitles cheerleaders for imprisonment of doobie-smokers to loudly proclaim themselves "freedom lovers," as they often do, but only because America safeguards the right to be wrong.