Snarlin' Arlen Reminds Us Why He Needed To Go

And as a bonus, tells us why the Senate fails to live up to his lofty standards.

In his final Senate speech on Tuesday, Arlen Specter promised a "closing argument" documenting what ails our politics. 

 What he gave us was 20 minutes of self-serving gripes, empty name-calling, and petty meanness. It was a fitting end to his querulous career.

Cast as a call for bipartisanship and civility, Specter's last hurrah was instead a perfect example of how the princes of Capitol Hill jealously cling to power, like Tolkien's Gollum clutching his precious ring. Specter's speech exemplified how senators' pretensions to principle mask their political self-interest and narrow ideology.

He reminds me of a old parrot, that can only squawk his unhappiness all day long.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2010/12/specters-farewell-whiny-paean-pork-and-power#ixzz18wQWikLI