BUT, did you see Drudge headline re him questioning the Patriot Act at the hearing?

This, from the corresponding article, which is pre-hearing:

But in a phone interview yesterday, the senator said his comments should not have been interpreted as a promise to support all of Bush’s nominees. “I never gave him a blank check. I expect to conduct this hearing like I’ve conducted a lot of others,” Specter said, adding that he was not feeling pressure to act differently because of the chairmanship controversy.
He also noted that while the hubbub surrounding the Gonzales hearings had focused on the interrogation policy memos, the committee has a responsibility to explore how Gonzales would handle many other issues.
“There’s a lot more to this confirmation hearing than torture,” Specter said. “There’s the issue of the Patriot Act. … There’s questions about how aliens have been detained, immigration laws, what he’s going to do on terrorism to protect the country. He heads a very powerful department, and the media attention has all been on torture, but there’s a lot more to ask him about.”

This is him saving face, which I can respect and is necessary to some extent. The blank check thing is empty talk and makes him sound in charge. Fine, the judiciary chairman should be, of the committee. But what was the deal during the hearing? I missed. Andy?