Dear Mr. Specter,
I just read a story on CNN.com which made me feel shame to be a Pennsylvanian. The story, which caused me to tumble in shock from the bench on which I sat, detailed your stunt today with regards to a committe vote banning gay marriage, and your subsequent lack of respect for a fellow servant of the United States constitution, Russ Feingold. "Good riddance," I believe, was the language you used when Feingold called you on your pandering and removed himself from your sad, sycophantic presence.
In case you're wondering, I am a white, heterosexual, thirty year old anglo-saxon, raised in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, confirmed in the downtown Moravian church (where I received my spiritual upbringing, and which pre-dates the American Republic) and, as of today, am ashamed that you continue to represent the great state of Pennsylvania in the United States senate.
Why am I ashamed of you, Mr. Specter?
I'll tell you why. Because you swore an oath to uphold the constitution, and every time you violate that oath, as you did today with your toadyish vitriol, you bring shame not only on yourself, but also onto everyone in and from Pennsylvania. So here's my advice to you: STOP. Just stop. Right now.
STOP serving George W. Bush (who seems to lack critical thinking skills) simply because he leads your party or because you share common religious beliefs and START serving the constitution, which is your job. And that means, for God's sake, STOP confusing religious beliefs with moral values. They are not the same thing, and any American worth their salt knows as much.
I'll even give you a road map, so you aren't confused finding your way back to the oath you took. You can start by revisiting your Harry Stottlemeyer workbook, Mr. Specter. We all had them, critical reasoning and logic classes, while metriculating through the Pennsylvania middle school system. Yes, it's an anagram for Aristotle. Here's an example:
"Some cats are black, but not all cats are black."
Well guess what? It works the same for religion and moral values. Confused? Try this one:
"Some moral values are religious beliefs, but not all religious beliefs are moral values."
Get it?
Here's the bottom line, a religious belief CEASES to be a moral value when it practices discrimination, denies people freedoms or rights that are protected for others based solely on characteristics of their being... or favors the selfish needs of religion over the selfless rule of law.
If you're going to deprive homosexuals of freedoms and rights protected for heterosexuals, then you might as well ban the consumption of pork and make it illegal for women to drive cars while you're at it. I don't care what religion is practised by the majority of Americans, it does not make their particular religious beliefs one and the same with moral values.
Please Mr. Specter, wake up from this theocratic trance that has captivated so many Republicans these days. It doesn't suit you, and it won't last. Freedom always prevails, and when people like you join with the President to confuse religious beliefs with moral values for political gain, you are on the wrong side of liberty.
Today you hurled "good riddance" at a servant of liberty who tried to shake you from this stupor. I can only hope that your eyes will open, and that you'll STOP playing the theocrat's lackey. For if you don't, I cannot wait for your election cycle to come up so that we all might have a chance to say "good riddance" to you, sir.
But perhaps if you look close enough, we can already see the future of your kind, on display in your very namesake.
With regards,
A Pennsylvanian