The Specter Menace

By Mark Levin
June 26, 2006

Arlen Specter wants the FISA court to oversee NSA intercepts of enemy communications. I have one question: Why? Why should these judges decide which enemy communications should or should not be intercepted? The Constitution grants the president commander-in-chief power — not the judiciary, and not Congress. Congress can defund the program. But that's all Congress can do. The judiciary has no explicit power over war-making decisions. And past courts have recognized as much.

Those who demand expanded power for the judiciary over the executive claim to be concerned about executive abuse. But where is this executive abuse? And what of judicial abuse? Throughout the Roberts and Alito hearings, Specter complained about the Court second-guessing Congress's legislative will. Yet he encourages judges doing exactly the same thing respecting the president's war-making decisions.

Specter is a stubborn man unencumbered with a fundamental understanding of the Constitution. He has also become a menace whose contribution to the war effort has been to torment the administration with press releases, media appearances, and letters to top officials demanding that they cease trying to win this war. When will the Republican caucus replace him as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman with someone who has better judgment, a better grasp of the law, and a better understanding of the president's duties?