Sen. Weather Vane (Christine M. Flowers on Specter)

So we shouldn't pull out the hairshirts and flails to bemoan the loss of a man who was never a conservative to begin with, and who obviously cared more about his personal survival than preserving two-party checks and balances that he spoke so "passionately" about just days before he jumped ship.

It's time to stop catering to liberals-in-moderate clothing. Most of those who defected from the GOP during the last election might say they did so because they were horrified by fiscal excesses of the Bush administration and the mess in Iraq.

But I think the real reason they high-tailed it out of Dodge was because they didn't like having to make some uncomfortable choices on the so-called "social" issues, and used economics as a smokescreen.

It's a lot harder to be a conservative than it is to be a liberal. Liberals want everyone to be happy. (Except for Sarah Palin. Her, they want to waterboard.)

Moderates, I think, don't care if everyone is happy, and secretly think that some of that happiness is undeserved, but they're afraid to actually come out and say it.

Conservatives think happiness should be earned.

Sen. Specter, you didn't deserve us. Bon voyage.

That last sentence sums up my thoughts as well. I rather we throw out the dead wood and allow the cream to rise to the top of the Conservative movement. I thought Ms. Flowers nailed Specter (Sen. Weather Vane) rather nicely, as well as the other wandering moderates. Conservative thinking is not, nor should it ever be, about compromise.

Please go with him...I'm begging you

The alleged percipience of Olympia Snowe:

It is true that being a Republican moderate sometimes feels like being a cast member of “Survivor” — you are presented with multiple challenges, and you often get the distinct feeling that you’re no longer welcome in the tribe. But it is truly a dangerous signal that a Republican senator of nearly three decades no longer felt able to remain in the party.

Senator Specter indicated that his decision was based on the political situation in Pennsylvania, where he faced a tough primary battle. In my view, the political environment that has made it inhospitable for a moderate Republican in Pennsylvania is a microcosm of a deeper, more pervasive problem that places our party in jeopardy nationwide.

I have said that, without question, we cannot prevail as a party without conservatives. But it is equally certain we cannot prevail in the future without moderates.

Please oh please go with him, Senator Snowe. Moderates are merely indecisive pantywastes who have little conviction or consistency. They stand not for principle, but revel in appeasement, fairytale "getting along", and act only on which way the wind is blowing. They will jump parties to secure their job (refusing to see how much THEY have strayed from those they claimed to represent).

They will stick up for the opportunists not on principle, but based on the fear that the negativity surrounding a similar waivering colleague will resonate with their own constituency.

GO...GO NOW! Join Arlen "single bullet" Specter in the arms of the Democrats. It is a good fit, whether you are willing to admit it or not. You're waiting to see how the overnights reflect on Specter's move...because we know you are not capable of deciding on your own.