Pat On The Head And A Food Pellet

So let's get the timeline of events right. Arlen Specter slanders Barack Obama's nominee Eric Holder and leads the effort to question him in the media, perhaps at the behest of Karl Rove. Then Pat Toomey, the head of the Club for Growth, decides he won't run in a primary against Specter from the right. And a couple days later, Specter decides to back Holder.

"I can say with some confidence that there won't be a successful filibuster," Specter told reporters at a press conference gathered to share his thoughts on Holder in advance of tomorrow's Judiciary panel vote on the nominee.

Specter added that the strong recommendations Holder received from former FBI director Louis Freeh and former DoJ No. 2 James Comey were influential in swaying his vote.

"At no time did I challenge Mr. Holder's integrity," the Pennsylvania senator concluded. (But he sure came close, according to Holder himself.) "It was a question of judgment."

Mind you, this MORNING Specter had a letter to the editor printed in the Philadelphia Inquirer, questioning Holder and CITING Louis Freeh as a reason to be concerned.

Maybe that was written before Toomey dropped out.

Is there anyone more pathetic than Arlen Specter?