Being a Republican these days is not always a beer and hot dogs picnic. GOP members in the House, and especially the Senate, have been taking a beating from the American public. They are all struggling politically in the shadow of the President they used to unquestioningly support, and now some of them may have begun to question their own actions as well. Take for example Arlen Specter, GOP Senator from Pennsylvania. Actually, make that former GOP Senator - because yesterday, Arlen decided to change teams.

Arlen Specter is one of the five oldest Senators still serving in Congress. He’s been there since 1966, and always as a Republican. He’s had two bouts with cancer, but he always came back, and was always one of the staunchest defenders of the ideology espoused by the GOP. But lately, cracks had begin to form in that ideology - Specter was one of only three Republican Senators to break ranks with their party and vote in favor of Barack Obama’s stimulus bill a couple of months back.

So now, just as the never-ending saga of the Minnesota Senate election last fall finally appears about to resolve itself in favor of the Democrats, Specter suddenly defects. He switched sides faster than an Afghan Warlord flipping between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. And with his defection, combined with the likely victory of Al Franken in Minnesota, the Democrats will have their filibuster-proof magic number of 60 seats in the Senate at last.

But hold on a sec. As late as last year Specter was asked, since he seemed to disagree with party policy more and more, why he didn’t just become a Democrat. His answer - “because I’m a Republican”. See, that’s the kind of political non-answer to a direct question that gets you reelected to your senate seat for eight consecutive terms. Well, he ain’t no Republican now - he’s decided to bray with the Donkeys instead of pray with the Elephants.

Unfortunately, this behavior appears to make Specter an obvious hypocrite. Back in 2001, Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords, a Republican, got so steamed at his own party he left and became an Independent. And when he did, Arlen Specter totally ripped him a new one. He even proposed a new rule that would prevent serving politicians from switching parties while in office. At the time he said “that kind of instability is not good for governance of the country and the Senate.” But I guess what’s good for Arlen takes precedence over even that.

Specter has great power in Washington because he’s one of the last surviving secret keepers. Before beginning his career in the Senate, Specter was an attorney and counsel for the Warren Commission that investigated the assasination of JFK. In fact, it is widely believed that Specter is the author of the infamous “single bullet” fantasy that was used to tie Lee Harvey Oswald up into a neat “lone nut” package for sale to the American public. The point being, he’s no stranger to pulling the wool over America’s eyes - and being a Democrat instead of a Republican won’t change that one bit.