Vengeance is Mine, Sayeth the Chairman

Remember back when the Religious Right made Arlen Specter supplicate himself before Their Might in order to keep his job as the head of the Judiciary Committee? Well, rest assured that Specter remembers it well:

(BLOOMBERG) -- Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said he wants to know whether presidential adviser Karl Rove privately assured a conservative activist of how Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers would rule on the court.

Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said he will would look into a statement by James Dobson, president of the Colorado Springs, Colorado-based advocacy group Focus on the Family, that Dobson has had "conversations" with Rove about the woman nominated to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and knows things about Miers "that I probably shouldn't know."

"The Senate Judiciary Committee is entitled to know whatever the White House knew," Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said on ABC's This Week program. "If Dr. Dobson knows something that he shouldn't know or something that I ought to know, I'm going to find out."

It sounds like Specter might just subpoena Dobson, haul him before the Judiciary Committee and make him spill his guts. And that moment, of course, would be wonderful on so many levels.

First of all, it'd be nice to watch Specter exact a little justice of his own by making Dobson squirm under the spotlights. If you've ever seen Dobson live, you know he's always just a split second away from a screaming "No, you're out of order!" meltdown. I'm pretty sure this moment is why TiVo was invented in the first place.

Second, a showdown between Specter and Dobson would only help bring the growing civil war in the Republican Party to the forefront. It's been bubbling for a while, and with Bush, DeLay, and Frist all on the ropes, the moderates have finally seen their last shot at reclaiming the party from the people who are boldly building a bridge to the 12th Century. Anything that brings the day of reckoning closer is not only good for the country, but nicely enough, also good for the Democrats.

Third, such a confrontation would only drive the Religious Right to higher levels of lunacy. If you thought "Justice Sunday" and "Justice Sunday II: Electric Boogaloo" were fun, then stay tuned for what they pull out of the mitre hat when it's not a judge who's getting discriminated against, but one of their own leaders. It would be an event both terrifying and thrilling, like a live speech from Anna Nicole Smith.

Come on, Specter. This is clearly your last term, and possibly your last chance to strut on the stage of a Supreme Court nomination. Bring the pain!