This Is Rich

First, Arlen was talking tough. CNET (04.27.06):

"[Senate Judiciary Committee chair Senator Arlen Specter] was contemplating pulling the plug on the NSA spying program by cutting funding--unless, that is, the Bush administration comes clean on how the program works and whether it complies with privacy rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution." NSA spying comes under legal, political attack

"'When you're withholding funds, here you're talking about real authority'", said Arlen. Guy means business, eh? No messing with that feller! So what happened? Arlen folded up quicker than a cheap suit. USAToday (06.06.06):

"A last-minute deal Tuesday with Vice President Cheney averted a possible confrontation between the Senate Judiciary Committee and U.S. telephone companies about the National Security Agency's database of customer calling records. The deal was announced by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the committee chairman, and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. They said Cheney, who plays a key role supervising NSA counterterrorism efforts, promised that the Bush administration would consider legislation proposed by Specter that would place a domestic surveillance program under scrutiny of a special federal court." Senators won't grill phone companies

"In return, Specter agreed to postpone indefinitely asking executives from the nation's telecommunication companies to testify about another program in which the NSA collects records of domestic calls." Arlen wants you to know he wasn't happy about getting rolled. NYTimes (06.08.09):

"In a letter to Mr. Cheney that the senator released to the news media, Mr. Specter said the vice president had cut him out of discussions with all the other Republicans on his own committee about oversight of the administration's eavesdropping programs, a subject on which Mr. Specter has often been at odds with the White House. The trigger for Mr. Specter's anger was a deal made by Mr. Cheney with the other Republicans on the committee to block testimony from phone companies that reportedly cooperated in providing call records to the National Security Agency." Specter's Uneasy Relationship With White House Is Revealed in a Letter to Cheney

Ha! Shooter slapped Arlen silly, is what happened. Today, Dick says he's sorry, and promises to be good. LATimes (06.09.06):

"Vice President Dick Cheney told the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Thursday that he was willing to work with Congress on new rules governing the administration's anti-terrorism eavesdropping program. But Cheney stopped short of promising any action as he responded to a terse letter from Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) the day before." Cheney Vows Cooperation With Congress