With the defection of Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., and the looming addition of an alumnus of Saturday Night Live to their august chambers, the Democrats do, indeed, have it all. They have a Democratic president, a Democratic Congress, and a Democratic and soon-to-be veto-proof Senate.

In their midst they have, in Edward Kennedy, a man who left a young woman to drown in a car while he got a night’s sleep before reporting the incident. In their midst they have, in Robert Byrd (aka “Prince of Pork”) a former member of the Ku Klux Klan.

In their midst they have, in John Kerry, a man who testified in front of the Fulbright committee in 1971 and accused some of his fellow Vietnam servicemen of war crimes; in his words, of “Acting in a manner reminiscent of Genghis Khan.” Kerry has yet to name names — who, what, when, where. Not a peep.

And in Specter they now have a man who still hasn’t gotten over the New England Patriots’ defeat of the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl a few years back; and, not long ago, was threatening to “look into it” because of the continuing allegations of the Patriots’ stealing signals. (All right, that’s silly, but it is true.)

Yes, I know, these people are continually re-elected.

One more thing the Democrats have, as so aptly pointed out May 1 by David Sirota  — no excuses.

Terence McManus, New Sharon