Calling him out

Good ol' Dan Froomkin shows that once again Arlen Spector's tough words will lead to a complete fold in the end...

Whenever Specter threatens to challenge Bush's authority, it needs to be taken with a grain of salt. He has a long record of talking tough -- then knuckling under.

For instance, Specter last month called on Bush to tell Americans why the White House leaked intelligence to bolster the case for the Iraq war in 2003. But then he let the issue drop.

In December, after James Risen and Eric Lichtblau reported in the New York Times on Bush's extensive warrantless domestic spying program, Specter angrily called for hearings. But when they came, he let Attorney General Alberto Gonzales sidestep many of the most important questions.

Specter has refused to issue subpoenas to back up his requests for the Bush administration to turn over classified legal opinions on the spying program.

And just last week , Specter filed an amendment to a spending bill that would block funding for any domestic eavesdropping until the administration provides Congress with much more information -- but then stopped short of actually saying it should be approved.