Senator Arlan Specter formerly R-PA, now D-PA


Here is what Arlan Specter said back on March 18 (per the Philadephia newspaper)

"To eliminate any doubt, I am a Republican, and I am running for reelection in 2010 as a Republican on the Republican ticket," Specter said in a statement released by his campaign manager.

Here is what Arlan Specter said on April 28 (per the NY Times),

“I’m not prepared to have my 29-year record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate, not prepared to have that record decided by that jury,”

he also said this,

“I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans"

Here is a case where the first statement evidently had a parenthesis that no one knew about. When he said, "... I am running in 2010 as a Republican..." he evidently meant to add "assuming I win the Republican primary which I'm sure I will win". As it turned out, in the 4 weeks between the two statements it became evident to Senator Spector that he would not win the primary (in fact as of the time he made the April 28 statement he was behind by 10 points among self described moderate Republicans in PA. The declaration about political philosophy. I'll give him a break on the hypocrisy charge. I'll also say that based on my discussions with the Pennsylvania DOT, he is, to be kind, a difficult person to deal with. If I was just using the political philosophy statement, it would be so stupid as to be laughable since the Republican philosophy hasn't changed in the month between the statements and no body even alleges this.

Philadelphia Inquirer article
NYTimes article (also the image is from the NYTimes)

Miss California and the Gay Marriage issue

That's Miss California on the left. Her name is Carrie Prejean.

She was asked by the gossip columnist Perez Hilton (who I think is gay) what she thought of gay marriage. Here is what she said,

“We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised.”

and here is what Perez then said, "The way Miss California answered her question lost her the crown, without a doubt! Never before that I'm aware of has a contestant been booed at Miss USA." Later he made a video blog calling her a "..dumb bitch.." and subsequently he removed the video and sort-or-apologized.

Many others in the Gay Community reacted even more strongly.

"It's ugly," said Scott Ihrig, a gay man, who attended the pageant with his partner. "I think it's ridiculous that she got first runner-up. That is not the value of 95 percent of the people in this audience. Look around this audience and tell me how many gay men there are."

Interestly, here is what then candidate (now President) Obama said on gay marriage,

"I'm a Christian. And so, although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue, I do believe that tradition, and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman."

So the question is, given that Miss California and Obama have approximately the same position on gay marriage (Miss California seems to actually be more 'pro' gay marriage and more nuanced than Obama), why isn't the gay community criticizing Obama.

I think the answer is that they assume Obama was disingenuous when he gave his position. They assume he actually wants to legalize gay marriage and will do what he can to get that done but that he has to oppose gay marriage to be elected. More simply put, they assume he is a hypocrite (I do not know whether they are correct on this and don't have a good guess).


Sources:
here
here
here
here
here

Armenian Genocide:
Obama Finds A Loophole

The image is from a collection of photos taken in the early part of the 1900s in Turkey/Armenia in a collection. The caption on this reads, "Turkish hangmen and their victims in Aleppo, 1915". Many of the other images at this site are far, far more gruesome.

The Washington Post today reported on President Obama's remarks while visiting Turkey. While a Senator, Obama signed a letter (as did then Senator Biden and then Senator Clinton) calling on then President Bush to recognize the Armenian massacres of the early 19th century as a genocide. He had on several occasions made the recognition of this genocide part of his presidential campaign. On this trip to Turkey, he did not mention the word "genocide" and was had among other things to say this,

"...'while there's been a good deal of commentary about my views, it's really about how the Turkish and Armenian people deal with the past."

Unfortunately that phrasing makes the victims and the victimizers equal.

Notwithstanding this all, the interesting thing from a technical study of "hypocrisy" is that, based on my definition, Obama can only be charged with hypocrisy for what he says or does, not for what he doesn't say or doesn't do. In effect, he found a loophole in my definition. Thus he would be innocent of the charge of hypocrisy on this issue (although perhaps guilty of 'hedging' or being 'dodgy' or being 'morally corrupt' or something along this line).

By the way, the Obama-Biden campaign post on this issue, has the following< " As a U.S. Senator, I have stood with the Armenian American community in calling for Turkey's acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide. Two years ago [in 2006], I criticized the Secretary of State for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, after he properly used the term "genocide" to describe Turkey's slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915. I shared with Secretary Rice my firmly held conviction that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. The facts are undeniable. An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy. As a senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide."


April 24 is Armenian Remembrance Day in the US. Perhaps I will post script something then if I can decide if there is a general response to this 'dodginess' by the Armenian-American community.

Postscript April 24: The Armenian Weekly had an article quoting the President of the Armenian National Committee of America. He said,

“I join with all Armenian Americans in voicing our sharp disappointment with President Obama’s failure to honor his solemn pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

In falling short of his repeated and crystal clear promises, which reflected a thorough knowledge of the facts, the practical implications, and the profound moral dimension of Armenian Genocide recognition, the President chose, as a matter of policy, to allow our nation’s stand against genocide to remain a hostage to Turkey’s threats.

The President’s statement today represents a retreat from his pledge and a setback to the vital change he promised to bring about in how America confronts the crime of genocide.

Genocide must be confronted unconditionally at the level of American values and our common humanity. As Americans, we should never allow the prevention or recognition of this crime to be reduced to a political issue that can be traded away, retreated from under pressure, or used to advance a political agenda, of any kind."