Specter: Defense of Spy Program "Very Strained and Unrealistic"

From HuffPo and Yahoo News: Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is calling Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' defense of the NSA Spy Program "very strained and unrealistic," adding that the congressional authorization to use force in the war on terror "never mentions electronic surveillance." Sen. Specter said that he believes the administration is in violation of a 1978 law, and that he isn't ruling out the possibility of subpoenas for administration documents if they are not provided by the Justice Department. Senate hearings on the NSA Spy Program will begin tomorrow, and Sen. Specter has said: "If the necessity arises, I won't be timid."

Perhaps now the Republicans are regretting that they betrayed their base and allowed Sen. Specter to become the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. I suspect they'll be regretting it even more, and very soon.

This does beg the question: How would impeachment work in this case? If President Bush were impeached or were -- and excuse me if I get giddy -- forced to resign from office in disgrace, wouldn't Vice President Cheney take his place? But if Vice President Cheney knew about the Spy Program and if it's determined that it was illegal, shouldn't Vice President Cheney be impeached or be forced to resign along with President Bush? If that happened, wouldn't that mean the Speaker of the House would become President? I wonder how upset the Republicans would be if this all came about after this year's elections, and if there were a Democratic Speaker of the House instead of a Republican -- Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), for instance.

President Pelosi? It has an interesting ring to it, doesn't it? Wouldn't it be something if President Bush, who stole the presidency in the first place with the help of his brother and the Republican Supreme Court, were forced to put it back into the hands of the Democrats -- but not just any Democrat, one of his most vocal critics and a Democrat who would become the nation's first female President? Ah, sweet justice!