Alito Hearings Weirdness leave me Breathless

Arlen Specter claims he never received a letter from Edward Kennedy. However, his office did reply to Kennedy's office.

Think Progress has it covered. Click on the link and scroll up.

Specter's current position is that he didn't see the letter but did discuss the issue with his chief of staff on the phone "UPDATE: Specter admits he discussed Kennedy’s letter in a phone call with his Chief-of-Staff. He rejected the request then but said if it was really important Kennedy should have mentioned it to him at the gym. (Kennedy explained he hasn’t been to the gym since before Christmas.) Specter has now agreed to get the records."

I have my tinfoil hat on. Specter claimed that he hadn't received Kennedy's letter. Kennedy's office supplied the committee with the reply from Specter's office. Has Specter been caught in a lie ? It would be a very stupid lie. Specter couldn't have forgotten (it hasn't been 20 years).

I think the most likely explanation is that someone on Specter's staff replied (refusing Kennedy's request) without showing the letter to Specter or explaining its contents clearly. I mean Specter may be a whimp but he is not an idiot and would not risk being nailed for lying on TV for no good reason.

How much of the majority staff was inherited from Hatch ? Recall Miranda who was reading Democrats' e-mails. I think it is possible that hard core Republican operatives are trying to control Specter by hiding things from him.

Now if he puts up with that, he is not only a whimp but the worlds whimpiest whimp ever.

I know this all sounds crazy, but why would Specter angrily confront Kennedy, then give him what he wants during the lunch break ?