On the Art of Channeling Kanye West
Senator Arlen Specter and his brash temperament are back in the news.
The incorrigible Republican-turned-Democrat attended a Pennsylvania Progressive forum Saturday, opposite his primary opponent Representative Joe Sestak, where he stormed the stage prematurely during Sestak’s closing remarks.
Explaining why he is best suited both professional and politically for the post, Sestak was unexpectedly greeted by Specter, prompting a moderator to bluntly ask the senator to “get off the stage.”
The forum’s rules were rather strict, holding that each speaker would answer a series of questions while the other was sequestered, according to the blog Pennsylvania Progressive. While the event’s protocol was established at Specter’s request, for whatever reason, he “shredded his own rules,” the blogger wrote.
Two weeks prior, Specter caused a furor on Capitol Hill when he demanded of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann that she “act like a lady” on a joint radio appearance.
Specter’s foes–both Republican and Democratic–are characterizing the episode as his “Kanye West moment,” and further symptomatic of a demeanor unqualified for the United States Senate.
But unlike West, who ungraciously took the floor at the MTV Video Music Award show in September to endorse the efforts of another, Specter’s principle concern is himself. Most damning, though, is that West could give in earnest lessons in civility to the senior Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania.
Cross-posted to Skepticians.com.
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