Snarlin’ Arlen Tries Stand-Up

When he bolted the GOP in 2009, former U. S. Senator Arlen Specter, R-PA, may have jeopardized his political future but he insured himself of an academic berth, should he fancy one.

Apparently, he did. “Amidst discussions about famous court cases, money’s relation to political corruption and late-night television, students at Penn’s Law School are learning about the United States government from a pro,” Laura Cofsky  reported in The Daily Pennsylvanian on September 26, 2011. “Former U.S. Sen. and 1951 College graduate Arlen Specter is teaching a seminar this fall entitled, ‘Congress, the Constitution and the Supreme Court’ at the Law School.”

In an odd twist on “Whatever Became of…?” stories, the veteran lawmaker rather forcibly retired in 2010 has decided to try his hand at stand-up comedy.

In his three decades on Capitol Hill, Senator Specter was not known as a quipster. Even his friends called him “Snarlin’ Arlen.”

Nevertheless, in semi-retirement he apparently finds comedy clubs therapeutic. “You read that right,” W. James Antle III writes in the March 2012 American Spectator. “The man who invoked Scottish law at the impeachment trial of Bill and Clinton and voted ‘not proven’ has tried his hand at open mic night.”

Here is some of the old barrister’s A material:

• “I called Clinton up on his 65^th birthday. I said, ‘Bill, congratulations on being 65. How do you feel?’ He said, ‘Arlen, I feel like a teenager. The problem is, I can’t find one.”’
• “Bill Clinton is a friend of mine because I was a friend of his. I voted not to impeach him. That a hell of a thing to do considering the evidence.”

Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.

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